Habermann's Mill

Last week, I went to the movies during the day (something I rarely do) to see a Czech/German/Austrian production, Habermann's Mill, about the expulsion of ethnic Germans from the Sudetanland after World War II. I think the subject is fascinating, and it's rarely written about. Unfortunately, the NY Times review was correct. The screenplay is all over the place in terms of story (not only in so far as who's story is it, but why is this story important). I had really hoped that it would be better. It's based on a novel of the same name by Czech writer Josef Urban (not to be confused with Josef Urban the set designer, whose archive is up at Columbia). This Josef Urban says that his novel is based on a true story. I have not been to find the novel in English.

The Second Son

Last year, my brother gave me Rosa and Shadow and Light for my birthday, two wonderful novels by Jonathan Rabb, set in Berlin between the wars. In one of multiple trips to the Strand last month (I'm spending too much time and money there, and I don't mean on the candy counter) I ran across the third book of the trilogy, The Second Son. The books are all about Nicolai Hoffner, an inspector on Berlin's police force. The Olympics are in town, but things cannot be good for a half-Jewish government employee. And they're not- they descend to hellish remarkably quickly, though not in a way you would expect. Hoffner loses his job, which is his life, only to go to Spain in the midst of the Civil War to try to find one of his sons who has disappeared there. I inhaled the book, and have since sent it to my brother so he can finish the trilogy.
It was sad saying good-bye to Nicolai. He's so lifelike on these pages, to close the last book made me feel as if I'd lost an uncle. I am hoping that perhaps the trilogy could grow to a quarter- it worked for Lawrence Durrell.
Link above to Rabb's page on Macmillan's site.

Playwriting Class Update

For the past month, I have been busy getting ready for my Fall class at Chelsea Repertory Lab, which begins Sunday, September 11th. I have finished my lesson plans and figured out which one-acts we'll be reading (Cheryl L. Davis, Alexander Pushkin and John Millington Synge, among other writers). We've already enrolled some new students, and I'm interviewing another on Thursday afternoon. There's a description of the class on this blog, and in the ad section on Playbill.com. If you are interested in learning more or signing up, email chelseareplab-at-yahoo.com.
The students from the Spring's Advanced class are showing their work this week in our Emerging Artists One-Act Play Festival at Shetler Studios, which runs Wednesday through Sunday. There are two bills of short plays being produced, and two bills of longer plays being read. Contact chelseareplab-at-yahoo.com for reservations.

The Coolest Video Ever

Gothamist had this video posted last week, which it picked up from Laughing Squid. I think I've overdosed on cute animal videos, but this is really something. Someone had their wedding at the Mystic Aquarium, and they hired Connecticut Mariachi to play it. After the wedding, they serenaded Juno the Beluga whale in her tank, and she (seriously) danced for them. Gothamist describes it as 1:45 of pure happiness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZS_6-IwMPjM
Link to Gothamist in title.

New Class

I am teaching a new Beginning Playwriting class at Chelsea Rep Lab (Shelter Studios), beginning Sept. 11th. Here is the info:

The class runs for ten weeks, taught by award-winning playwright Anne Phelan, at Shetler Studios. Each class is on Sunday, 1-4 PM, beginning Sept. 11th (no class Sept. 25th, Oct. 9th, or Nov. 27th) until Dec. 4th. It will consist of in-class writing exercises, reading and discussing each others’ work, script analysis, learning Samuel French style (the professional standard), and reading and discussing a one-act play each week. Students are expected to work on plays they begin in class outside of class (plan on 5 hours per week of writing time). By the last class, you will have started at least nine one-act plays, and have completed a minimum of two.

The class will conclude with public readings of the students’ work by student actors from The Acting Studio, including the opportunity to go through the rehearsal process with a professional director.

The purpose of this class is to get you into the habit of writing, and to help you find your voice as a writer. Even playwrights who are not beginners can get a lot out of it. It will also give you playwriting tools (working from visual art, music, news articles, etc.; the ability to think critically as a playwright about your and others’ work) that you can use in the future.
Tuition is $250, payable in full in cash at the first class on Sept. 11th.
For more information, contact anne@annephelan.com.

Stage Door

George S. Kaufman wrote a lot of plays, with several collaborators, Moss Hart and Edna Ferber among them. Other than The Royal Family and The Man Who Came to Dinner, they are rarely revived, I assume because the casts are so large.
But this August, you get a chance to see one of Kaufman and Ferber's less revived plays, Stage Door. I have never seen it produced; I've only seen the movie (with an incredibly young Eve Arden cracking wise), though many years ago I used a monologue from it for auditions. Chelsea Repertory Company (I teach playwriting in their Lab) is reviving Stage Door at Shetler Studios' Theatre 54. Directed by John Grabowski, it runs August 4-6 and 11-13 at 8, August 6 and 13 at 2, August 7 at 3 and August 10 at 7. Tickets are $20 at the Door (I already have mine), or $18 through Smarttix (link above). It features a cast of 31 (!- when was the last time you saw 31 actors on stage in a straight play?), among them my playwriting student Gregory Cohan.
Here's the plot summary: The Footlights Club in New York City provides a home for the struggling stage actresses who meet the challenges of surviving the Depression and the ups and downs of the Broadway theater with charm and grit. Terry Randall, a headstrong and witty girl from the Midwest, is determined to become a leading actress on the Great White Way. While pursuing her career, she becomes involved with two completely different bachelors - the left-wing arrogant playwright Keith Burgess and David Kingsley, a well-groomed elegant film producer. Also residing at the Footlights Club is Jean Maitland, who lands the Holy Grail - a seven-year film contract; Kaye Hamilton, whose lack of stage success leads to suicide; Pat Devine, a nightclub dancer; and Linda Shaw, a society girl who shocks her mother by having an affair with a wealthy married man. Terry sticks to her guns and wins both the leading role in a Broadway play and the affections and respect of the man she loves.

Jerusalem

Yesterday, I finally saw Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem (which a friend of mine assured me was robbed of the Tony for Best Play, because who's not going to vote for a play about a boy and his horse with puppets?). I really enjoyed it, but I was disappointed because there were three cast substitutions, and that impacted on the shape of the play. These three actors were perfectly talented men, but there were pacing problems in Act 2, to the point where I didn't actually fall dead asleep, but I completely zoned out and closed my eyes twice. Jay Sullivan was fine as Lee (covering for John Gallagher, Jr.). Mark Rylance did a tremendous job as Rooster (I expected no less), as did Mackenzie Crook as Ginger and Danny Kirrane as Davy. Butterworth's play takes you to interesting places in the human psyche, places where you don't expect to go, ably abetted by Ian Rickson's direction. I think that Geraldine Hughes as Dawn had a hard row to hoe (two acts of Rooster's particular brand of insanity, and in Act 3 she shows up as the ex-girlfriend with their young son), but I believed that she still loved him, despite the fact she accepted that would come to nothing.