Notes from Justine: Winter 2011 Writer/Director Forum

Notes from Justine Winter 2011 Writer/Director Forum Rehearsals

WEEK 1 – DECEMBER 1-4: A Time and Place for Everything

What a great time I had on Monday, November 14 observing Forum Week 1 rehearsals!  Each of these shows is about a very specific and very different place and time.  It’s a rare treat to see inspiration coming from these unusual settings.  Each setting (detailed below) creates a world that has its own rules and imperatives.  The clarity of these backdrops helps each story being told to hold us captive and keep us questioning as the plot points are revealed

THE GOLDEN TICKET

Written by Jennifer Barclay, Directed by Anais Koivisto

Featuring: Kati Rae Cowardin, Joey Lozada & Thami Moscovici

Set in the not too distant future, The Golden Ticket is about a contest to receive an experience once common but now rare and precious, an uncertain daughter with a mom desperate to give something of her own youth to her child, and a daughter seemingly uncertain of the value of anything…as teens tend to be.

GARDEN OF ASHES

Written by Jan O’Connor, Directed by Estefania Fadul                  

Featuring: Cindy de la Cruz & David Harrell

Oscar, a record keeper for the "cremains" of thousands of unclaimed dead in a large city, is visited by a young woman looking for her long lost love.  An office filled with records, books, organization and…remains- lost remains, unclaimed humanity.  Who could be so uncared for they were not even claimed?  Or was it the lost who choose not to care?

Pedestrian Casualty: Bronx, USA

By Nina Mansfield, Directed by Christina Neubrand     

Featuring: Manny De La Cruz, Shannon Harris, Alexandra Hiotakis, Keenen Jones, Darla Juniper, Josh Mahaffey, Norma Perez-Hernandez & Austin Young

A school teacher.  A student.  A car crash.  The Bronx; high school, teachers who care, students who don’t, or is it the other way around?  Does anyone care?  In fact it’s possible they all care.  Sometimes caring isn’t enough and what’s broken doesn’t get fixed, just more broken.

This is a very strong threesome of plays.  Original ideas told clearly and with sympathy to the human problems at the center of complicated situations.  The three formidable ladies at the helm of these plays have ideas and a clear understanding of the material they are working with.  I am excited to see these plays blossom into full production.

Extra thanks go to this week’s Assistant Directors/Stage Managers Francesca Galbo and Taylor Reynolds for being such a great part of our discussions and helping create smooth transitions throughout the night!  Also what a great treat to have Lighting Designer Ryan Metzler attend the same rehearsals as I did.  Why didn’t we think of that earlier…? Perhaps this could be the beginning of a beautiful policy…

WEEK 2 – DECEMBER 8-11: Strange and Stranger

Watching Week Two’s rehearsals on Monday 11/21 I was struck by all the many many ways humans can be strange, weird, unusual, odd.  There’s flat-out insanity of course, there’s awkwardness that just might be normal but might be quite quirky and there’s the inherent strangeness of lying.  People are so bizarre when they know they aren’t telling the truth aren’t they?  Most of the time we don’t know what is making them act so odd but as an audience we are let into their internal machinations and can enjoy the weirdness.  Of course these three plays also have stories and situations to go along with their odd inhabitants.

‘FRAILTY THY NAME IS WOMAN’

Based on the works of William Shakespeare,

Adapted & Directed by Katherine Sommer

Featuring: James Bascomb, Samantha Cains, Kevin Hoffman,

Lilli Stein & Nick Zappetti

This is an exciting mash-up of two great plays by the Bard.  When you put together Ophelia and Lady Macbeth clearly the theme is madness.  It’s fun to see these two ladies take their journeys through sanity and out the other side together.  What do they have in common?  More important in my mind was the question what do these two women need from each other?  Wouldn’t it be a different world if Lady M. could advise Ophelia?  Could the Lady learn to keep herself together if she had the presence of the fair Ophelia to shore her up?  Although it’s a pair of tragedies the result is surprisingly fun.

THURSDAY MORNING

Written by Elizabeth Swearingen, Directed by Jessy Grossman                     

Featuring: Daniel Blatman, Olivia Boyle & Lesley Noyes

Sweet young love is here.  Or is it?  Um, that’s always the problem at the beginning isn’t it?  Is this real?  Are these feelings going to last?  Does he/she REALLY LIKE ME???  Some of the most eternal questions of life are present in this slice of life.  They may not be the meaning of life or even the answer to why the sky is blue but we’ve all been there and we feel the urgency and importance of that sweet moment keenly with the two young people breaking their fast together for the first time.

Azaleas

Written by Erin Leigh Steiner, Directed by Laura Hirschberg            

Featuring: Rory Kulz & Chanel Thomas

What happens when the one you love is no longer the one you trust?  This is about murder!  Whodunnit?  He said/she said. She says she doesn’t remember and he says it was her… but why? And they love each other so they are going to stick together whatever may come.  But, still, why?  Why would they kill him?  What is the real reason for the tension in this moment?  How could it not be the dead body!?  People can be weird and sometimes the dead body is not the real skeleton in the closet.  What are they really upset about?  Could it be their relationship?  And what are they going to tell the police?

I loved Assistant Director/Stage Manager Caroline Angell’s summation of the evening; An evening of Love and Murder!  Perfect.  I really enjoyed getting to know her through our discussions after each play!

WEEK 3 – DECEMBER 15-18: Brief but Not Slight

This Monday, November 28, I observed the final week of this December Forum.  There are four plays in this one yet the evening stays well below two hours.  Clearly they are short.  Yet while not lengthy these plays are not insubstantial, they address issues of guilt (lots of guilt), loss, betrayal, and the human need for contact.

THE STAKEOUT

Written by K. Alexa Mavromatis, Directed by Sarah Simmons

Featuring: Kiley Rothweiler & Anna Drezen

In this piece we see two young girls watching someone.  Over the course of the play we will discover who he is.  We also see the girls’ relationship develop as they learn things about each other they may or may not have known but are only now coming to understand.  Will they find the courage to approach this mystery man?  Should they?

FRIENDS

Written by Karin Diann Williams, Directed by Karyn DeYoung    

Featuring: Nathalie Frederick & Kea Trevett

Here again we have two young girls but these two are not friends.  It’s even hard to understand why they are together.  They are different.  One of them is a bit strange but then what teenager isn’t a bit strange?  In the end they are reaching for something.  It might be human connection.  It might be a bit of magic in their lives.  Whatever it is I think they need it.  I hope they find it.

He Says His Name Is John

By Laura Rohrman, Directed by Ashley Scoles

Featuring: Hazen Cuyler, Josiah Laubenstein & Caitlin Morris

A dream apartment seems to be the central issue in this play.  What is wrong with this amazing apartment??  But there may be other things wrong here.  Is this couple as happy as they seem?  What has happened to her job?  And then there’s this guy John, their real estate agent.  But the new neighbor looks just like him…

SIDEWALK CRACKS

By Brit Hawkins, Directed by Gretchen Ferris 

Featuring: Kate Dickinson, Billy Roberts and Jodi Savitz

Sometimes you know the difference between right and wrong.  And then you do it anyway.  A classic love triangle.  He is cheating on her, with her.  It’s simple and so is the play but then it’s complicated.  Real human situations are always complicated and so is the play.  On the verge of a stereotype the play sidesteps that completely by being real and making us care.  These people are trying.  They are imperfect and needy and it leads to a mess that can’t be easily swept under the rug.  I particularly enjoy the depiction of a mistress who is not the obvious other woman.  She is her own woman, not an extension of anyone else.

There is a lot of exciting work here.  It doesn’t hang together in any obvious way but when I spoke with the Assistant Directors/Stage Managers Gina Femia and Kitty Lindsey about how they viewed the evening as a whole they had enlightening viewpoints to share.  Gina said that these plays are all in some way about people wanting to be seen and accepted for who they are and Kitty added that in these plays we see people confronting their insecurities and facing the qualities in themselves they are least proud of.  I thank them both for their wonderful insights throughout the evening!

This Forum is going to be an exciting and enlightening trio of evenings!

Justine Lambert
Artistic Director
Looking Glass Theatre - http://www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com/

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LookingGlassNYC
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THE GOLDEN TICKET

Written byJennifer Barclay, Directed by Anais Koivisto

Featuring: Kati Rae Cowardin, Joey Lozada & Thami Moscovici 

The Season is Upon Us- Fall Season HIGHLIGHTS from Artistic Director Justine Lambert

The Season is Upon Us!

You might think that since our first full production is opening in October we’re having a calm start to the season, but Fall is already barreling full steam ahead.  We’ve been so busy, in fact, with getting our programs up and running that I have barely had time to look up from the computer and appreciate the artists I’m working with.  Here’s a quick rundown of what to look for this season!

Our Fall acting internship is well under way with 12 wonderfully talented performers working in the office, taking improvisation classes with our Fall acting instructor Naima Moffet-Warden and getting ready to perform in our Writer/Director Forum in December.  The rising stars are: Joey Lozada, Olivia Boyle, Samantha Cains, Cindy de la Cruz, Nathalie Frederick, Josiah Laubenstein, Norma Perez-Hernandez, Kiley Rothweiler, Nathaniel Ryan, Jodi Savitz, Chanel Thomas and Nick Zappetti.

Dragonslayer -- A free developmental reading this Saturday, September 24 at 7 p.m.  I co-wrote this with long-standing collaborator Judy Sheehan.  This is the first time I’ve had the honor of co-authoring a piece with this consummate professional.  One of the original co-creators of Tony-N-Tina’s Wedding, Judy has had eight shows (I hope I counted them all!) produced here at Looking Glass.  I’m so excited to go on this journey as we create an entire world and one amazing character together.

Calamity Jane Battles the Horrible Hoopsnakes -- Already cast with rehearsals underway, this family show is a piece of laughter and childhood.  Inspired by our own Jacquelyn Honeybourne’s love of the traditional American Tall Tales, E. J.C. Calvert has written an original story about the plucky heroine as a young girl faced with an unusual and hilarious situation involving scaredy snakes- wait, I meant scary snakes of course… or did I? ;-) Runs October 15 through November 20.

Co-Op Theatre East Residency-- We are so excited by our new partnership with this amazing company.  They will be an artist in residence for the entire season starting this Fall with bi-monthly workshops and Radio COTE, their 2nd annual radio play festival on November 15.

Staged Readings of New Works – The 5 shorts for $5 bucks series returns! Title TBA. On Wednesday, October 26, we’ll be holding the third of our exciting new short play reading series.  Based on the set of the current show (in this case it will be Calamity Jane, so who knows??!), so far the themes have been “Submerged” and “Naked.”  With an open call for artists to create “on theme,” we’ve already had amazing and inspired work come out of this series from veterans and rookies alike.  I am truly excited about the potential for growth and new projects this program is bringing us.

Big Benefit Party- Our Fall benefit party is set for Tuesday, November 8 from 6-10pm.  That’s right, Election Day!  So put it in your calendar; after you rock the vote, come rock with us.  Planning is well underway; our interns have begun soliciting (and getting!) exciting raffle prizes and musical guests are banging down the doors (well…they’re emailing) for the opportunity to perform.  It’s going to be a blast!

theater IN ASYLUM’s Frankenstein – This exciting Fall space grant recipient presents their re-imaging of Mary Shelley’s classic November 15-19.  I enjoyed reading this proposal so much, and I can’t wait to see this show happen in our space.

Winter 2011 Writer/Director Forum -- Of course, this half of our season will culminate with our semi-annual festival of new works in December.  We have a very full Forum with ten talented directors currently in the process of choosing their projects and getting geared up for the big meeting in early October.  We have a perfect mix of experienced artists and new blood this go round and I am not exaggerating when I say this one promises to be one of the best. With planning started earlier than ever and the ideas flowing so smoothly already, I can’t believe I have to wait until December to see these shows!

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Justine Lambert
Artistic Director
Looking Glass Theatre - www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LookingGlassNYC
Find us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/LookingGlassTheatreNYC
Follow our blog! http://lookingglasstheatre.blogspot.com/

Notes From Justine- Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum, Week 3

Notes from Justine
Forum Rehearsal 5/31/11 -More Relationships and So Much More

I ended last week talking about how Assistant Director/Stage Manager Karyn DeYoung saw both of the Week Two plays as relationship plays…behold this week starts off with every artist in the room referring to the first two of these wonderfully diverse offerings as “relationship plays!”

THE TRACKS ARE ELECTRIFIED
Written by Jane Miller, directed by Abigail Strange
Featuring Tyler Gattoni & Bethany McNamara

How long are you willing to wait?

This show is about a young couple on a subway platform. First there’s banter. They seem happy, cute, if quirky. Then Rosy wants to play a game to pass the time, Max is reluctant. Why, we wonder? Does he dislike games, silliness? Is he easily embarrassed? There doesn’t seem to be anyone else waiting for the train at this time of night. Why not indulge her? When he finally gives in to her wheedling it turns out the game is a little scary. It also turns out her motives weren’t so simple. She knows her boyfriend’s issues and has chosen this moment to bring them up. This seemingly happy relationship may be in peril just as the train finally begins to pull into the station…

BACK IN THE BOX
Written by Mary Flanagan, directed by Gretchen Ferris
Featuring Rob Getz, Elyssa Mersdorf & Emilio Paul Tirado

When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it. ~ Yogi Berra

Back In the Box starts with a couple and a complication. This play takes us farther into the workings of a dysfunctional relationship. Helen is clearly unhappy. We don’t always know why as we watch her journey towards escape. What is she escaping from? Is it spousal abuse or cruelty of some kind? Not precisely. The issues here are subtle. There is indeed something wrong- too much of a good thing, perhaps. Love turned to need, dependence turned to obsession. I find myself hoping Helen’s journey will be a smooth one after the blackout.

FIRE THIEF
Written and directed by Laura Hirschberg
Featuring Emily Daly, Arielle Hader, Timothy Mele & Kevin Russo.

Prometheus brings the spark of inspiration to man. Is it worth it? Come play with fire.

I am inspired and delighted to discover that our talented director Laura Hirschberg is also an impressive talent as a playwright! Fire Thief is full of complex ideas that unfold with wit and clarity.

What a difference. And yet I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge the importance of relationships here too. Of course in Fire Thief they are relationships between gods. The fire Prometheus steals is the fire of inspiration. He steals it to bestow it upon his own favorite creation: mankind. Of course in doing so he incurs the wrath of the Gods but more importantly be betrays two people (well, gods) he loves. His journey of self discovery includes allowing an unusual relationship to grow; the one between himself and his creation. If he can love us mere mortals for more than just our finer traits (such as theatre I’d venture) perhaps he can survive what’s coming to him.

Big thanks to Assistant Directors/Stage Managers Jessy Grossman and Sarah Outhwaite. They were a delight to work with. Full of insight and ideas, they were an integral part of our discussion throughout the evening.

Week Three of the Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum opens on June 16. I’m excited to see this thought provoking, wit filled grouping of three with all the finishing touches!

Justine Lambert
Founding Artistic Director

Notes From Justine- Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum, Week 1

Notes from Justine
Forum Rehearsal 5/16/11

And they’re off! My first observation for the Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum last night was an exciting start to the process that will culminate in the Forum Awards on Monday June 27th. Three very different plays; (although two have a suicide theme…) these are extremely strong offerings with experienced Forum artists represented in each and every project.

First I observed IN THE CHANGELING,written by Maiya Pendleton, directed by Melody Erfani, featuring Heather Burgher, Lash Dooley, Andrew Dunn, Andrew Gelles, Sarah Miles, Kathleen O'Neal, Alzie Rejouis, Marianne Riera & Adam Tyrer. The tagline for this show is “In high school it is all about the drama...a reimagining of the classic by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley.”

Another classic translated to a High School setting. So different from Forum Producer Aliza Shane’s Misanthrope (Forum Winter ’06) yet similar. Why do artists want to set universal stories in High School? Because it’s a universal experience here in the US and one that brought out the worst in many of our lives. High School was miserable…so it’s the perfect place for drama! This compelling script follows the “It girl” and her machinations to get what she wants. She doesn’t mean to hurt anyone but then she doesn’t really mind when she does either. Will she get what’s coming to her? What is coming to her anyway? We sympathize, even while feeling appalled at the effects of her plotting. After all, who doesn’t “want it all”… but at what cost?

Next up was RISK,written by Yasmine Rana, directed by Ashley Scoles, featuring Brooke Hills & Jonny Schroeder. This plays description is (like the play) poetic and intriguing “Two lovers must decide whether to take the risk to love or become engulfed in the flames of hate.”

Spoiler alert; below I will give away a major surprise that comes out in the first 3rd of the play. Yasmine’s intense drama is about something none of us can imagine. What if you were about to go blow yourself up, with others…? How would you or anyone handle it? We understand that the emotional questions usually left unasked would not sit quiet at such a moment. But would you get the answer desired? Can the questioned party possibly know how to answer under such circumstances? Beautiful language examines an ugly situation in this challenging and powerful drama.

Finally I observed DOUBLE CROSS written by Annie Berke, directed by Katherine Sommer, featuring Benjamin K. Glaser, George Hutchinson, Stacy Ann Strang & Hannah Tamminen. The witty description of this play is: “Charles and Samantha are a happily married couple until the daily crossword drives a 5-letter word for "triangular tool" between them.”
Here we have a comedy of character. This married couple fights. They’re not even nice to each other. They seem to be trying to improve their behavior but they end up hurting each other. Even their innocent bystander friends get hit by the emotional shrapnel flying around. Clearly they shouldn’t be married to each other. Or should they? The surprises lie in the people and what they truly need from one another. The result? Comedy!

The charming and ever helpful Assistant Directors/Stage Managers, Anais Koivisto and Mary Trotter were both engaged and engaging in our discussions. I thank them for their work and insight all night long!

Week One of the Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum opens on June 2. I can’t wait to see these plays in performance. It’s going to be a thought provoking and highly entertaining night!

Justine Lambert
Founding Artistic Director

ASK SOMEONE ELSE, GOD Rehearsal Photos

Rehearsal Photos From

ASK SOMEONE ELSE, GOD

8/11/09

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Woman: Ugh! Nineveh! [She spits]
Jonah: You have a strong opinion.

Featuring: Janelle Mims, Will Ellis, Ricky Dunlop

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Bound Man: You know, you might find it fascinating: one can’t tie oneself up like this

without assistance.
Jonah: I wouldn’t think so.
Bound Man: Essentially, it is impossible.
Jonah: Yet there you are.
Bound Man: Here I am.
Jonah: Obviously you had assistance.
Bound Man: Yes, but it’s not usually called that.

Featuring: Will Ellis, Hanlon Smith-Dorsey

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Captain: Well, what sort of scream was it? Fury?
First Fisherman: Aaaahhhhh!!!
Captain: Or terror.
Second Fisherman: Iiiiiiieeeeaaaa!!!

Featuring: Courtney Kochuba, Kristen Niché-Jeter, Adriana Disman, Will Ellis, Mary Regan

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Jonah: One does feel the impulse to cry out for salvation. An absurd impulse. To cry out for release from the logical consequences of a chosen course of action. ... [Another splash]

Uh! Cough! Ah! Help! Help! Help! Save me! Sa …

Featuring: Will Ellis, Ricky Dunlop, Courtney Kochuba, Kristen Niché-Jeter, Adriana Disman, Mary Regan, Hanlon Smith-Dorsey

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The Looking Glass Theatre proudly presents the world premiere of ASK SOMEONE ELSE, GOD, a surreal comedy about the prophet Jonah-written by Kenneth Nowell and directed by Shari Johnson. ASK SOMEONE ELSE, GOD opens Wednesday, September 9. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m from September 9- October 4.