We did it - In My Mind's Eye = Great 09/01/2011
 To all of you who came out to make "In My Mind's Eye" the wonderful success that it was - Thank you! To those who didn't - what's your problem? We enjoyed a sold-out weekend and though I haven't seen the numbers yet, we were able to raise a good deal of money for Soulstice Theatre and their amazing 10th season.  The cast was overwhelmingly talented and it was exciting to see actors challenge themselves with roles very outside of their comfort zones. A patron made this remark on his blog; "I was amazed at the pure human emotion channeled. I write not as a drama critic, but as a human being, that this was a tremendous show." - Michael Timm Our goal in putting this show together was to provide a fun engaging production of Hamlet and I think everyone walked away with something from the show.  The "In My Mind's Eye" page will soon be updated with links to pictures - fun info about the show - and all sorts of goodies. For now if you would like to read thoughts on the show click here or here. For more information on Soulstice's upcoming season click here. Now we look toward the future though - and we have just released this press release: Fools for Tragedy has just finished the very successful run of “In My Mind’s Eye” – to pretty positive remarks. One woman did call it the 7th circle of hell – but here at Fools we will take that as a compliment. However we don’t just want to stop there – we have some great idea’s for our upcoming season and would love for you to be a part of giving these ideas shape. We will be looking for everybody who can a hand – in whatever way possible. You wanna act? We got room for you… just… y’know… be good at acting. You like lights? We will need tons of lights. If you just want to give us a small amount of money and tell us to do something amazing with it, we would love for you to fill that role. The Mercutio Story (untitled) – Our next take on Shake – we will be presenting this piece in conjunction with Fresh Page Productions A short but very compelling take on the classic lover’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The piece will explore the role of Romeo’s tragic companion in the sweeping Shakespearean epic. We are looking to put this on in an urban/industrial setting so if you are interested in guerilla style theatre – this is the project for you. We are certainly looking for a large and dedicated group of young actors and any aged creative minds to put this together. We would love help on the story-building, creative input on design and whatever you want to throw your hat into. If you just want to see it happen, we can do it without you… you will be missed though. Waiting (working title) by Jordan Gwiazdowski – The tale of two actors waiting, before their first rehearsal of “Waiting for Godot”, for the arrival of Samuel Beckett. The show will be small, intimate, and very simple in production. This will be a much more traditional stage production with a few fun twists. Again – we are looking for creative minds in general. This show will most likely be pre-cast, but if it is something you are interested in auditioning for, we will most certainly see you. We have a few other ideas in mind – but we don’t want to spoil them all. Fools will be holding a meeting around the end of September to discuss the future and all of it’s fun possibilities in this city. Want to join us? Email: jrdngwz@gmail.com 2 Comments Now is when I get really busy. 07/31/2011
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is over. We ended the show to a fantastic evening performance with a brilliant audience. The show featured many of our resident fools and received the following review: Dirty Rotten Slickness - Russ Bickerstaff (Express Milwaukee) or the more comprehensive Curtains blog from Russ as well. Here we are now - the very first officious rehearsal is Monday night and I have so much stuff to do. I need to eat; for starters. I need to figure out a way to keep people from stealing my stuff from the fridge in Bucketworks and start cleaning up after themselves. Oh - and I need to figure out all the blocking. I also need to meet with Aaron and Erica of The Alchemist to talk and give them money. We are starting to get a set built and hopefully have some great hands signed on for the performances. The community has shown such a great amount of support to this little dream of ours and I would love to be able to provide an entertaining and provocative experience in return. If you have any interest in helping out - please let me know. Now that we are a month away I am much more aware of what needs to be done - and what I do not have the skills to do. Pictures and a blog will be posted tomorrow after the first rehearsal. Just a few shots from our very fun read-thru. August kicks this mother into full gear.                Transition 06/27/2011
Here we are - we are breathing. I am twenty four - and I was right. My birthday sucked. But it has been a week - I'm over it. I am breathing and as long as I am here we must continue to create. In My Mind's Eye - Holy moses do we have a fantastic cast. We got together this Sunday minus our Claudius and Ophelia and rocked through the script. I saw some corrections I need to make - but the actors are spot on. The characters will be a fun challenge for all of them - but the group is fully capable. I am so excited to watch this begin. I am also excited to announce that we have cast the uncastable role - finally - Andrew Parchman has stepped in to take on the role of Masque. A role originally for Clayton Hamburg and then recast with Micheal Black, but both of them are jerks... so what a blessing to have a very nice and talented young man taking up the reigns of a very fun character. We will be beginning table reads on an availability basis and start working out the scenes - first in the text and then in the flesh. A good number of our fools are appearing in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" this July - presented by GCTheatre. It is directed by our biggest fool - Brian Bzdawka. The show is already hilarious and we are just getting started. So many things in my life are pointing towards a transition - and so many great moments with great people are helping me find that transition. I am twenty four. No more f*cking around. Madness 06/21/2011
I recently apologized to one of my cast members for my recent behavior as of late. To deconstruct and then reconstruct a piece like Hamlet requires a certain amount of immersion into madness. This has had a horrible impact on my social life. Not only am I finding deep meaning and method to the madness of the tragedy - I have also gone to such lengths as depriving myself of sleep and destroying things that I love. I have started filming. It is the worst thing in the world. This may explain my lack of updates on the website or the horrible disposition, attitude, and tolerance I have towards everyday life. I assure you - this is all for pure art. Also - our rehearsal space is up in the air right now - I tried going through Bucketworks - but they seem to be pretty thinly spread right now and have not been able to contact me back at all. So if anyone knows a empty open space available all August? That would be great. We are still plugging ahead though - we have a readthru scheduled for next Sunday when we can just get into the words and start playing with some Shakespeare. The entire cast should be present - this will be a ridiculous meeting of talents. I am proud to announce that we have hopefully cast our (Hamlet the Masque) for the final time. After the readthru I will announce who it is, but he is an outstanding and exciting edition to the project. Yesterday was my birthday - I am now 24 - I am over it. I am ready to meet my ghost and continue on with the exciting projects Fools for Tragedy has in store. We are currently looking for people interested in becoming creatively involved with us (creative writing teams, directors, anythingers). None of this really matters until - In My Mind's Eye - is a reality, and it looks like it may be so soon. Russ Bickerstaff Sucks On a Pink Banana 06/10/2011
I only named the blog this because I told Mara I would. They were selling drinks called Pink Bananas and we all were partaking. Everyone had a Pink Banana in The one-acts at the 10th Street Theatre (In Tandem). First off - the theatre - there is no bad seat in this house - the theatre is intimate and comfortable with a gorgeous stage; complete with a turntable. This is a place to do a show. The walls are lined with past productions - there are flyers and art everywhere - yet unlike a lot of established theatre spaces in Milwaukee - none of this seems desperate or corporate. You are here to see a show - whatever it is - your view will not be obstructed. I asked the "bartender" for a beer - he told me they supplied Miller and Horny Goat - I ordered a cocktail. I'll have a gin and... gin. A few olives? Sounds great. Take a seat. The show begins. Cookie - left a taste in my mouth. I normally don't like sweets anyway - but this was a not the most fortunate way to begin the evening. I understood some of the ideas that the playwright was trying to make - but execution was bad and I will not blame that completely on the actors. I can blame the good jokes that were lost on some of the actors though. That ended. The Grade - It was exactly what I needed to wash the cookie out of my mouth. It was quick - funny - conceptually interesting - and had a great bit of physical comedy with Sammich Ditloff and some other girl - her name I could not be bothered to learn. I just don't have a playbill in front of me - so... Who Died - This was definitely the most mature piece of the evening. The presentation of ideas through the writing was a bit simplistic - but was executed very well. Some of the lines were blunt and brilliant - reflecting the fact that the most beautiful poetry is just stealing the accidentally beautiful moments of life. Beth something-or-other delivers a fractured and astoundingly haunting performance. Some of the moments get lost though as the performance doesn't give the audience the time to digest a lot of the ideas coming out - however it was already the longest piece... so... I digress. The piece was written like a sad tragic poem. It is about death - I think it is about death in many more ways than are clearly stated - but I won't ask. I'm not supposed to. Dilemma - A take on To Be or Not TOBE about Facebook - the speech is redone... but about facebook. Rob Maass is very funny. Much funnier than the first scene. The scene is clever. The acting is solid. Just not memorable. Loaf - I loved this one. Everything about this little piece was stupid funny. The actual piece walks along this razor edge of absurd comedy - and the acting dynamics work very well for it. Ellen Dunphy plays a horrible goth girl named Period. That is great. It is just a very entertaining scene. And then - a scene where a girl talks to a tape recorder. Cute way to end the show. I want to say something at this point. The tape-recorded voice was spot on. Marion Araujo - while not being featured as a huge part of the show - played two relatively straight roles pitch perfect. Her roles, while most people probably will not remember them, added a great deal two both scenes she was in. It was a great night of local fun theatre. If you aren't a horrible shrewy prick like myself - you will love every minute of it. Desperation. The air reeks of it. Many small clues point to it. It seems to be an overwhelming theme. You may notice right away the thrift shop tag on the leg of Faustus' pants, the way he holds his journal, or the fact that in the last hour of this great storied individuals life - he has chosen to come to an empty warehouse in downtown Milwaukee to speak to a group of 30 or so strangers. We watch as a man desperatley tries to leave some last vestige of genuine truth and prove to himself and his closing-night audience that his life had meaning. This is the latest offering from YOUNGBLOOD; a group who in many peoples opinions has been delivering some of the best independent theatre in Milwaukee for the last few years. "An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening" is just that - not much further explanation needed. John Faustus (the embodiment of the classic Faustian tale) sold his soul to the devil for great power, and over the last twenty years he has used this power to travel through time and experience things that only a deal with the devil could afford a man. This is his final hour. Here we are. Since the show is only 55 minutes long - I don't want to talk too much about what actually happens - and not much actually does happen. You meet a man - you hear his story - you laugh - you sigh - the show is over. What I will talk about is what this all means to us - as human beings - for this is ultimately what this show is about. Michael Cotey delivers a swift and brilliant performance as John Faustus - he makes the character wonderfully human. This is not a perfect man - this is certainly a man with flaws. An audience member can identify with his portrayal because at any moment in the play he could be any one of us. One of my favorite dynamics came about as he degraded to an almost infantile tantrum - something we had not seen this character to be capable of - but when Cotey reached there it was a moment completely in the skin of his character and totally believable. Cotey did something remarkably well that is hard to find in a lot of theatre - he played someone that was genuinely human - and he did a wonderful job representing us. However John Faustus is not totally human. He is only half the show - there is another part to the story of John Faustus. A part that is everything but human. "Apology..." is viewed not only by the general theatre-going audience - but by the imposing gaze of Mephistopheles. The devil sits by static, still, and silent as Faustus laughs, cries, screams, ponders, drinks, and eventually dies. A perfect representation of eternity. Faustus speaks of living in the now - the power of being within the moment. The shadow behind him reminds us that these moments are fleeting. Faustus talks about his great power - the stories that follow him. We know these stories are only so famous because the devil backs him up. There are some really fantastic lines about the vastness of Hell - bringing us back to the fact that in a few moments - this lovely and poignant man will be swallowed by the unforgiving maw of eternity. John Faustus has sold his soul. Sitting in the audience was something I would liken to my experiences sitting in church; Cotey's best lines were punctuated with audible sighs and "mmmhmms" from the audience. In the end - are we better people? No, we are still just people - but we have learned a little bit about what it means to live in a hell that you have created for yourself. Don't worry too much about the future - you never know if tomorrow is coming or not. The past has no use for your regret - it is just that - passed. This is the moment to cherish. In the words of John Faustus, "be happy with the world that spills from your hump." | MKE INDIE THTRAn overview of what we are doing and what we think about what others are doing. ArchivesSeptember 2011 Categories |
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