To Crumple, Scatter, Hide, Bend, Erase (putting green redux)

New Islands Archipelago started with a list of action verbs. I got the idea from Richard Serra who, early in his career, made lists of verbs and created sculptures by enacting these verbs — to crumple, scatter, hide, bend, erase, etc.  — on a material. So, my collaborators and I chose a number of verbs and explored how a single action can become the impulse for character, movement, scenery, costume and music. ... Regardless of where I start, the theme and story are ultimately entwined so they can’t be viewed as separate elements.

— Paul Zimet (via Adam)

The Swamp and the Mall

The [Andrew W. Mellon] Foundation held a follow-on convening in 2005 to probe more deeply into some of these issues. Once again, the discussion was far-ranging, but participants were adamant and united in one recommendation: They encouraged us to support the “Swamp,” the fertile stew of small organizations they believed took risks and did innovative work, rather than the “Mall,” major institutions that were perceived as increasingly risk-averse in their programming.

Diane Ragsdale, "Creating New Work for Theatre: a panel discussion, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, February 16, 2010

My Kind of Theatre = a play with a putting green in the lobby

Starting half an hour before every show, Talking Band will be hosting a variety of activities in the extraordinary 3LD lobby space, to prepare you for the adventure to come.

Attendees can get in a couple of holes on our putting green, enjoy a rousing shuffleboard match, or challenge others to a game of darts. You'll also be able to peruse our art gallery, and bid on original art inspired by ocean journeys. 

Talking Band's New Islands Archipelago at 3LD

Nick Clegg says his hero is Samuel Beckett

This is not a political blog, but these facts from the London Review of Books blog must be noted:

Subjects addressed by party leaders in the Guardian Review’s ‘My Hero’ slot:
Gordon Brown: Nelson Mandela
David Cameron: n/a
Nick Clegg: Samuel Beckett

The Guardian Weekend magazine, 24 April 2010. Question: ‘Which living person do you most admire, and why?’
Gordon Brown: Nelson Mandela (‘for inspiring us never to give up, even in the darkest times, on the fight for justice and, with his wife, Graca, for championing the movement against poverty and for education that has changed hundreds of millions of lives’)
David Cameron: Nelson Mandela (‘for his grace and complete lack of bitterness’)
Nick Clegg: J.M. Coetzee (‘he writes with a simplicity which lays bare what really matters’)

Question: ‘What is your favourite book?’
Gordon Brown: ‘There are so many that have made a big impression on me – the one I’ve read and loved most recently was about the female winners of the Nobel prize.’
David Cameron: ‘Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves.’
Nick Clegg: ‘Life & Times of Michael K, by JM Coetzee.’

I'm reminded of many years ago when there was a small tempest between France and the UK after Margaret Thatcher made a critical remark about the French Revolution. A pundit pointed out that no American politician would even have an opinion about the French Revolution, unless it had been vetted by committee and tested with focus groups. (Gordon Brown, based on his responses above, is clearly an American.)

Madeleine George's "Precious Little" coming to Pittsburgh's City Theatre

Our final three plays represent bold new work by some of the hottest talents of the American stage" says Tracy Brigden, City Theatre's artistic director.

City Theatre fills final open slots in 2010-11 season

madeleinegeorge.com

Madeleine on Adam's blog

Richard Foreman leaves St. Mark's Church

Foreman's Announcement

"I would simply say that theatre is something which engages both the eye and the ear. The two public senses are seeing and hearing; the senses of taste, touch, and odor are more proper to intimate, nonpublic situations." — John Cage

No Such Thing As Silence: John Cage's 4'33" by Kyle Gann