“It’s really hard to do acting and make a living unless you’re really good—and a Caucasian man.”
View More Asaki Kuruma on Writing, Immigration, and the Racial Dynamics of Philadelphia Theater
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SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE TEN: ALEXANDRA TATARSKY, CINDY SPITKO and JOY CUTLER
In episode ten, we’ve got nothingness Goethe in a secret secret place, grief clowning in West Philly, and autobiographical anatomy in Rittenhouse.
View More SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE TEN: ALEXANDRA TATARSKY, CINDY SPITKO and JOY CUTLER
SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE NINE: THOMAS CHOINACKY, SARAH VAN AUKEN & JAMES HARO
In the SoLow Fest this year, some 30+ artists are creating cheap cheap theater in formal and informal spaces around the city. Challenging the idea…
View More SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE NINE: THOMAS CHOINACKY, SARAH VAN AUKEN & JAMES HARO
MISSED CONNECTIONS & OTHER CURIOSITIES (Simpatico): A Craigslist cabaret
There’s a wonderful movement these days in the Philadelphia theater world to give voice to our younger generation. Dwindling arts funding, as well as the…
View More MISSED CONNECTIONS & OTHER CURIOSITIES (Simpatico): A Craigslist cabaret
Plato’s Porno Cave: The Trial (Little Berlin): Surrealist party, imagery orgy
To the left of the pyramid was a little shanty you could enter and perform a primal scream. A glass window on either side faced in on a small chamber with an apple and, if you hit the right decibel with your scream, the apple would explode. The mechanism for blowing up the apple failed pretty quickly (it worked a few times before the forces of chaos seeped into the mechanism), but that didn’t stop the crowd going in and screaming periodically while the Eye played master of ceremonies from his pyramid throne.
View More Plato’s Porno Cave: The Trial (Little Berlin): Surrealist party, imagery orgy
RITU COMES HOME (InterAct): Two gay men who practice Safe Charity become parents
Jason (David Bardeen) and Brendan (Jered McLenigan) ease the paucity of Ritu’s (Rebecca Khalil) existence by sending monthly checks through an aid organization. The last thing in the world they’d ever expect would be for their charity case to show up in their living room.
View More RITU COMES HOME (InterAct): Two gay men who practice Safe Charity become parents
SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE EIGHT: DUO OF GROSSNESS, TRIO OF MADNESS
In SoLow, you redact the boring stuff—these tickets and grants and five-year-plans and most importantly the stages and lobbies and flashy pricey venues—which are meant to indicate to the audience member, yes, see this show and not those.
Let’s imagine that when SoLow redacts these walls, what results, remarkably, is not dust and rock and paper shreds, but sand.
A big pile of sand.
SoLow is like a sandbox.
To give you a clearer picture of what’s being built in the sandbox, freelance writer/performer Julius Ferraro conducts a series of flash interviews of our artists.
View More SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE EIGHT: DUO OF GROSSNESS, TRIO OF MADNESS
Beautiful woman in row g [29] (Philadelphia): Simpatico presents craigslist themed MISSED CONNECTIONS AND OTHER CURIOSITIES
You can tell a lot about a city by looking through its craigslist pages. Jobs, apartments, M4W, rants: it’s all there. An exploration of wants…
View More Beautiful woman in row g [29] (Philadelphia): Simpatico presents craigslist themed MISSED CONNECTIONS AND OTHER CURIOSITIES
You’re not in Kansas anymore: Photos from The Cabaret Administration’s OF OZ
Following its traditional adaptations of The Nutcracker and Frankenstein, The Cabaret Administrion undresses Frank Baum’s children’s classic in a spectacle of ballet and burlesque. Director…
View More You’re not in Kansas anymore: Photos from The Cabaret Administration’s OF OZ
WICCANS IN THE HOOD / TRADING RACES (Brainspunk): Let’s talk about race, baby
Brainspunk Theater keeps the conversation on race going with a pair of one-acts by Kansas City writer Michelle T. Johnson, WICCANS IN THE HOOD and TRADING RACES: FROM RODNEY KING TO PAULA DEEN.
View More WICCANS IN THE HOOD / TRADING RACES (Brainspunk): Let’s talk about race, baby
SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE SEVEN: KEVIN MEEHAN, AMELIA CHARTER & ELIZABETH WHITNEY
SoLow is about play.
There are some plays in it.
There are some . . . things . . . in it which are not plays.
But, SoLow is about reducing the boring stuff—the stages and lobbies and tickets and grants and endless marketing strategies—which stands between the artist and the audience, so that everyone can play.
To give you a clearer picture of what’s being played around with, freelance writer/performer Julius Ferraro conducts a series of flash interviews of our artists.
View More SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE SEVEN: KEVIN MEEHAN, AMELIA CHARTER & ELIZABETH WHITNEY
SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL (Plays & Players): 60-second review
In SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL, Eric Bogasian’s revolving cast of characters—an aging rock star, a homeless bottle man, an 80s yuppie, and a handful of others—have little in common except their masculine hedonism.
View More SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL (Plays & Players): 60-second review
Full House (Quince): You deserve a cabaret!
Downtown theater company Quince Productions – the punchy, LGBTQ-leaning bunch that puts on GayFest! every August – opens their sixth annual Full House cabaret series this Thursday in its ancestral home, the Red Room at the Society Hill Playhouse, and it’s looking as wicked, delightful and boozy as ever. (Boozy because your ticket includes the price of a drink.)
View More Full House (Quince): You deserve a cabaret!
MICHAEL THE REBEL (Humble Treasure): Tearing up the German Society library
Director Manon Manavit had not heard of Heinrich von Kleist when she found a copy of his Michael Kohlhaas on a street in Montreal. It’s easy to understand why she was attracted to the text.
View More MICHAEL THE REBEL (Humble Treasure): Tearing up the German Society library
SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE SIX: STEVEN WEISZ, MELISSA RAUB & ROBERT GROSS
SoLow is lo fi.
SoLow is lo stress.
SoLow is lo budget.
SoLow is happening, and to give you a clearer picture of what’s in store, freelance writer/performer Julius Ferraro conducts a series of flash interviews of our artists.
This episode we have modern dance in center city, astral projection installation performance in Kensington, and #sexualharassment on #Twitter.
View More SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE SIX: STEVEN WEISZ, MELISSA RAUB & ROBERT GROSS
THE REAL THING (The Wilma): Exquisite dialogue shines through spotty production
Tom’s Stoppard’s dramedy THE REAL THING is set on a constantly evolving stage transforming into different locations in the UK during the early 1980s. Sky-high walls disappear, doors emerge out of nowhere, and scenes fluidly fold into the next with the help of nimble cast and crewmembers. First off, a man sits building a house of cards in a perfectly done up living room, while awaiting his wife’s return. The card house collapses with her sudden entrance, as does their marriage when he confronts her with the passport she left behind – on her trip out of the country. The whole scene feels rather put on, and the fake English accents don’t help.
View More THE REAL THING (The Wilma): Exquisite dialogue shines through spotty production
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, STAYS IN THE WHITE HOUSE (New City): A New Perspective on First Families
New City Stage Company’s West Wing Festival on presidential politics concludes with a satirical take on the past and future occupants of the White House. Imaginative, amusing, and cynical, it considers how their private relationships and distinctive personalities might have impacted our history and could influence world affairs.
View More WHAT HAPPENS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, STAYS IN THE WHITE HOUSE (New City): A New Perspective on First Families
Erik Ransom Takes New York by Storm!
New Jersey native Erik Ransom developed a huge following in Philadelphia with his original work COMING: A ROCK MUSICAL OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS, for which he wrote the book, music, and lyrics, and also starred as glam-rock protagonist Damian Salt.
View More Erik Ransom Takes New York by Storm!
SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE FIVE: Meredith Sonnen, Sam Henderson and Asaki Kuruma
SoLow Fest 2014 sweeps the city this June. Floods of performances. Floods of performers. Get swept up!
To give you a clearer picture of what’s in store, freelance writer/performer Julius Ferraro conducts a series of flash interviews of our artists.
This episode we have Ingrid Bergman in South Philly, theatrical memoir on Vine, and porn at Quig’s.
View More SOLOW FLASH INTERVIEWS 2014, EPISODE FIVE: Meredith Sonnen, Sam Henderson and Asaki Kuruma
INCORRUPTIBLE (Arden): Laughter in the monastery
The set of Michael Hollinger’s witty INCORRUPTIBLE looks like it has been there for hundreds of years, transporting one back to the days of monks…
View More INCORRUPTIBLE (Arden): Laughter in the monastery