Here’s a great example of what I meant by “play” a few posts back:
A few items of interest presented themselves today.
The first is a fantastic piece courtesy of the New York Times’ video site detailing a new theatre piece that involves the use of mobile phones and computers. I confess, I initially had a few doubts about this, but seeing the participants’ reactions, thinking about the intimacy being created (especially via modern technology), well… I’m a believer. Check it out.
Still with the Times is a video covering the recent art show in Baghdad called The Art Of Reinvention (along with a written article). Fascinating for the way politics is so deeply interwoven with art -art’s taken on a whole different significance for the people of Iraq. To quote the article,
“Isn’t it pessimistic?” a person in the crowd of visitors asked the exhibition’s curator, Asad al-Sagheer, as he described an unsettling composition of death masks, painted in thick strokes of red and blue. The artist, Halim Qassim, found inspiration in Baghdad’s central morgue, near his home in Babalmuabhm, a place once overflowing with corpses.
“He thinks there’s beauty in the faces,” Mr. Sagheer said, “even after they’ve been killed.”
Closer to home, people are getting the role arts and culture plays in daily life. Apparently the National Endowment for the Arts is getting additional funding as part of President Obama’s stimulus package, and artist Chuck Close thinks there’s no better time than tough times -now -to be an artist, despite his opinion that the Depression didn’t produce especially good art.
“When we’ve had major times of financial distress in this country.. .a lot of people argue that some of the best work was made. I don’t think it was America’s greatest hour; art… the best period for me in American art was the 50s and early 60s… That could be seen as a time when America opened its arms to … immigrants, and we became a beacon as a free and open society, and attracted some of the best and brightest from all over the world.”
I’m still searching for a way to get my Take 5 interviews into some kind of widget, so I can stick a nice little player on the side of this blog, as well as my blog over at Myspace, but in the meantime, here’s a link to interviews I’ve done recently with Erin Karpluk, Emm Gryner, Bill Nowlin, and George Stroumboulopoulos. You don’t have to listen to all of them; just choose which file you want from the list.
More to come soon.
For those who missed Letterman lastnight…
Full rumination on Phoenix’s transition -real or not -at my Myspace blog.
So, there I was, writing about how I wasn’t going to be covering theatre so much anymore… and I went and saw an awesome work lastnight I felt compelled to write about. Naturally!
The formal review of Andrew Moodie’s Toronto The Good will be posted at New Theatre Review tomorrow, but in the meantime, I can tell you… I loved it. Why? Fully fleshed-out characters, strong dialogue, an involving story about important themes. But it was never preachy, never judgmental, never pretentious. Nothing turns me off faster than going to the theatre and getting a finger wagged at me. That isn’t helpful, not is it dramatically involving.
Northrop Frye said you should always describe what is there… so? Toronto The Good is smart, funny, sad, thoughtful, and really well-acted and staged. And deeply relevant to the times and conditions we’re living in. That’s huge for me, and, I suspect, for a lot of other people that might find theatre to be a bit too… uh, thee-uh-tah-ish. Toronto the Good brings all the issues of modern, urban living up close and in your face -and there’s a rap scene too (how often does this happen in the theatre?). You’ll find yourself thinking, more than once, “I’ve seen that” or “I’ve done that” or “I know someone like that” or even “Oh Gawd, that’s me…” Such is the power of Moodie’s writing; he manages to raise some really important issues around ideas of race, ambition, opportunity and modern relating, but at the same time, keeps the personal touch that makes good drama so appealing.
Kudos to everyone. Bravo.
My first on-camera interview, with director/producer/actor Garry Marshall, is now up at my Myspace blog.
Busy times.
The past two weeks alone, I’ve interviewed a variety of neat and interesting people (on radio morning show Take 5 in Toronto) about a myriad of topics: Erin Karpluk spoke to me about the CBC TV show she’s on (Being Erica), Emm Gryner chatted about her new album Goddess, Rounder Records co-founder Bill Nowlin talked about his company’s five-time Grammy-nominated album Raising Sand, and George Stroumboulopoulos spoke with me about One Million Acts of Green. I also did an on-camera interview with Garry Marshall about the newly-opened Happy Days musical (I’ll put a link up as soon as the video’s ready, so be patient!), which was very exciting.
Regular readers to this blog will also know I interviewed actor David Jansen about the collectively-created theatre piece Ubuntu, as well as director Simon Rice about Toronto-based Praxis Theatre Company’s adaptation of Albert Camus’ Stranger. Next week, expect chats with director/actor/playwright Andrew Moodie, actor Kevin Hanchard, and Sarah Forbes-Roberts, co-owner of Toronto sex shop Come As You Are (Sarah’s the woman behind next weekend’s Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair -perfect timing for Valentine’s Day, methinks…).
Anyway, some of you will have noticed my moving away from theatre writing and reporting. There’s a reason -and it has everything to do with my inherent curiosity about the world around me. I’m branching out to explore stories that run the gamut from environmental-meets-social media (like One Million Acts of Green) to pop culture (ie -television, film, and music) to the just plain fun (like Ms. Forbes-Roberts and her fantastic fair). So in the coming days and weeks, expect to read more about my thoughts on all this stuff, and less on the performing arts. I still love ’em (deeply -I saw the COC production of Fidelio today, in fact -beautiful) but I love a lot of other things, too. The topics I pursue still have a distinctly arts-and-culture bent, as befits my own interests, but this feels like a natural progression in terms of range and breadth.
“Play” doesn’t just refer to what happens in theatres; the term also encompasses what we do in childhood, the very thing we forget moving into adulthood. It’s also the thing we all want to re-embrace, and what artists -of any discipline do (bravely) embrace. If the “play” really is “the thing,” to quote Hamlet, then Play Anon is about just that -playing, in a lot of different areas, free from the shackles of “should.”
As someone once told me (speaking about themselves) many years ago, “I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I am one of the most curious.” That describes me too. Here’s to a new day, and a new Play Anon.
When people think of warfare, images of fatigues, guns, and tanks come to mind. Taken for granted is the gender of the soldiers. But female soldiers do exist. Really.
Colombian director/ playwright Bea Pizano explores this fascinating reality in her new work, La Communion. It’s being read as part of this year’s Groundswell Festival put on by Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre. La Communion portrays the experiences of a young woman who’d been kidnapped by guerillas at the age of twelve. It isn’t just based on imagination, either; Pizano actually met and spoke with several women who’d been kidnapped and forced to be part of Colombian guerilla groups during their childhoods.
Bea Pizano talks about women, drama and warfare, tomorrow on Take 5.
Just after 9amET.
Listen local: 89.5FM
or
Online: ciut.fm
Click the “listen live” button on the top right.
Community radio.
Worldwide community.
The popular Albert Camus novel L’Etranger tells the story of Mersault, who kills an Algerian man and is put on trial. It’s been adapted for film, and has influenced music and pop culture since its publication in 1942.
Toronto’s Praxis Theatre Company has transferred L’Etranger to the stage, where it’s become Stranger, a collectively-adapted work exploring the themes of Camus’ work with some contemporary touches.
Thursday morning on Take 5, I’ll be speaking with Stranger’s director and Praxis’ co-Artistic Director, Simon Rice, just after 9amET.
Local: 89.5FM
or
Online: ciut.fm
click “listen live” on the top right
Enjoy!
So far, there’s been reaction from two of Canada’s opposition parties: the NDP and the Bloc. Verdict for both? Thumbs down to Jim Flaherty et al. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (leader of the third opposition party) spoke briefly with reporters too; the rise or fall of the Stephen Harper’s Conservatives essentially rests with Ignatieff and the Grits. What did he say? He didn’t. While he likes some elements, he and the party have issues with other things tabled within Flaherty’s report. He’s going to announce the Liberal reaction tomorrow at 11am.
It was with particular interest that I’ve been noting the expectations and hopes centred around the release of today’s budget; in some ways they very much mirror the expectations and hopes surrounding the start of the Obama presidency. Lord knows there are many, many issues at hand right now -the economy being the biggest. But as an arts-lover, I don’t necessarily think art and the economy are at odds. James Bradshaw reported on the connections between the two recently. Arts economy is economy, period. It’s work, it’s money, it’s energy. It seems like Heritage Minister James Moore understands this. There’s been a nice allocation of money ($160 million, in fact) put towards the arts sector. President Obama gets the relationship between the two as well.
But in the same way there’s an inherent connection with arts and economy, there exists the same between the latter and environment. Everything is everything, and it seems like more people are aware of that, even as there are those who cling desperately to the old ways. James Clancy, President of the National Union of Public and General Employees, lays out the intimate connections between environment and economy in a convincing piece on Green Nexxus. He says: “This is the opportunity of our lifetime; to lead the transformation to a stronger economy and a cleaner environment.” I’d add, “and a vibrant arts scene” to that.
Binding everything is our access to share and deseminate information. The Globe and Mail created a Wiki on Public Policy in anticipation of the budget, and it was a neat bit of interaction. CBC and Cisco started One Million Acts of Green back in the fall (encouragingly, they’re seven months ahead of schedule in hitting their target, too). The budget announcement this afternoon featured live blogging by various media. Part of President Obama’s stimulus package includes money for technology. Now that’s forward-thinking… make that present-thinking, and present-embracing. Michael Geist has thoughts about the Conservatives’ allocation of money for technology and comparisons to spending in other countries. It all underlines the ways in which the internet have re-shaped our perceptions and understandings around the most vital issues of the day.
Now, let’s wait to hear what Mr. Ignatieff will say tomorrow morning. I’ll be watching online, and wondering who will be adding voices to the discussion.