The Ikarus Play

Photo:  Emily Ann Banks (Kara) and Kendra Mittermeyer (Deedee).  Photo by Christie Marie Clark.


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I have a new one-act going up at Open Source Gallery soon.  It’s an adaptation of the Daedalus/Icarus myth called The Ikarus Play, based on sculpture by Sana Obaid.  It will be performed Sunday, August 6th at 6 and 7 pm, and Monday, August 7^th at 7 and 8 pm at Open Source Gallery, 306 17^th Street (near Sixth Avenue), Park Slope.   Featuring direction by Christie Marie Clark, costume design by Cathy Small, Kendra Mittermeyer as Daedalus and Emily Ann Banks as Icarus.  Admission is free. 

Nearest subway stops are the F/G/N at 4th Ave./9^th St., or F/N at 7^th Ave./9^th St. 

If you want to read on, it gets complicated:

I’ve worked with Open Source and its artistic director, Monika Wuhrer, for ten years.  I’ve premiered six plays there, all based on art being shown in the gallery:  painting, sculpture, local artists, European artists.  Monika and I met last summer, when she suggested that Sana would be a great person to work with.  Sana and I Skyped in May; she is intelligent, candid and funny.  I immediately wanted to have her come over for dinner.  Sana’s art is not inherently political; she is interested in metaphoric walls between people, and walls of self-preservation.

Until now, Open Source has never had a problem getting an artist and their art to Brooklyn.  They got an NEA grant to bring Sana here (she’s based in Karachi), and then applied for an artist visa, which the State Dept. denied.  So there’s still a show (video), but there’s no artist.  And no art juxtasposed with the play.  Which I find deeply troubling.  But, damn it, there will be a play!

For more details:  http://open-source-gallery.org/

Photo:  Emily Ann Banks (Kara) and Kendra Mittermeyer (Deedee).  Photo by Christie Marie Clark.

Venus von Merkel

Abover:  Detail of "Venus von Hamburg" by Cristian Bors and Darius Ritiu. 
Photo credit:  Anja Matthes, courtesy of Open Source Gallery


It's been a busy theatrical summer, which I'm winding up with a new play, "Venus von Merkel," which opens this Friday.  It's much broader and more overtly political than I'm used to writing.  But thanks to Open Source Gallery, I have the opportunity.  

All the info is below.

Dramahound Productions and Open Source Gallery are pleased to announce the world premiere of a one-act play by Anne Phelan, Venus von Merkel.  It will be performed September 18 and 19 at 7:30 and 8:30 PM at Open Source Gallery, 306 17^th Street, Park Slope.   Admission is free. 

The play was commissioned by Open Source Gallery, and is inspired by its current exhibition Venus von Hamburg, Cristian Bors and Marius Ritiu’s sculptural take on the Greek debt crisis. It features Alexandra Gellner (Romeo & Juliet, The Cradle Theatre Company; Pericles, The New Ensemble Workshop; Coffee & Biscuit, HERE Arts SubletSeries, NYC Fringe) as Aphrodite, and Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum (Robert Moses, in Les Frères Corbusier’s Boozy; Bernie Madoff in Woodshed Collective’s The Confidence Man; Old Testament God in Les Frères The Franklin Thesis) as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The director is Christie Marie Clark (Anne Phelan’s They All Know Me, Thespian Production Slam-a-Thon; Clown Love, Strawberry One-Act Festival; The Diner, Caravan Play Festival) with costume design by Anna Slocum.  

Venus von Merkel imagines a surreal summit between Merkel, dressed as a pirate of the Caribbean, and Aphrodite, representing the Greek people.  It is a satirical, questioning exploration of globalization, the euro crisis and their the human cost. 

This is Anne Phelan and Dramahound’s sixth production at Open Source; previous plays include Brooklyn Lighthouse; Deconstruction (featuring Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum); Mi Tigre, My Lover (featuring Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum); a reading of The Tiger Play; and Olmsted in Autumn.

Open Source Gallery is a 501(c)3 owned and curated by Gary Baldwin and Monika Wuhrer.  Directions:  To reach Open Source, take the R train to Prospect Avenue.  306 17^th Street, near Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn NY.  646.279.3969

open-source-gallery.org

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The Mermaid Won't Sing

"The Mermaid Won't Sing" is a new one-act by me, inspired by Tom Bovo's photograph "Harbor- Fog."  It will be presented twice, at 4:30 and 6, on Saturday, July 18th at 440 Gallery, 440 Sixth Avenue (near Ninth Street), in Brooklyn, New York.  It's directed by Christie Marie Clark, and features Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum as Barnaby, and Shannon Marguerite as Aphrodite the mermaid.  Admission is free.  The play was commissioned as part of Tom Bovo's solo photography show, "The Other Side of Summer." 

The Other Side of Summer

"Harbor- Fog" photo by Tom Bovo

Tom has got another solo show at 440 Gallery, and once again, he's commissioned me to write a play based on a photo of his (I chose the above).  It's called "The Mermaid Won't Sing," directed by Christie Clark, featuring Shannon Marguerite as Aphrodite the mermaid, and Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum as Barnaby.  The play will run one afternoon only, Sat., July 18 at 4:30 and 6PM. 

Tom has many events for his show.  This Saturday, there's an opening reception, 5-8.  Sat. the 25th, I'm giving a talk on mermaids (really not for children, nor is the play) at 4.  Sun. August 2nd, Jody Mullen is singing a pop and standards set; and Sunday, August 9th, there's a closing reception, 4-7.

440 Gallery is at 440 Sixth Avenue (near Ninth Street) in Brooklyn, New York.  The nearest trains are the G, F, R at 4th Avenue/Ninth Street.  For more information, www.tombovo.com or www.440gallery.com

The Return of the Skull Beneath the Skin

"The Skull Beneath the Skin" is back by popular demand next weekend-  Saturday, March 15 at 5:30 and 7PM at 440 Gallery, 440 Sixth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  Admission is free.  It features Cotton Wright and Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum, pictured above,  as Bertha Roentgen and Dr. Wilhelm Roentgen, the man who discovered xrays and won the first Nobel Prize in Physics. 

The play is written by me, directed by Christie Clark and the costume design is by the illustrious Meganne George.  It's being produced by Ellen Chuse, as part of her solo show of drawings and paintings, Finding the Root.

Photo by Tom Bovo.

The Skull Beneath the Skin

(Photo credit:  Wikipedia)

Tom Bovo has a solo photography show, Genius Loci, at 440 Gallery (440 Sixth Avenue, near Ninth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn).  He commissioned me to write a play for it. 

Genius Loci is photographs of leaves.  After looking at the photographs, I decided that some of them reminded me of x-rays.  So I have written a ten minute play about Wilhelm Roentgen, the discoverer of the x-ray.  It's called "The Skull Beneath the Skin," and it's directed by Christie Marie Clark.  Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum plays Roentgen, and Cotton Wright plays his long-suffering wife, Bertha.  The costumes are by Meganne George.

Performances are Saturday, November 16 at the gallery at 4:40 and 6 PM.  Admission is free.  Wine and seltzer provided.

They All Know Me

We had a good run this past week.   Here are the usable production photos that I was able to take on Saturday.  Everybody did good work, the ladies are back to school, and I'm thinking about my September reading of The Tiger Play.

Katie Newcomer as Elena in "The All Know Me"

Jeremy Rafal, and Katie Newcomer  in "They All Know Me"

Rehearsals for "They All Know Me"

Here are the photos that I took at They All Know Me rehearsal yesterday.  The actors look great despite the lighting and my camera work. 

First photo:  Katie Newcomer as Elena in "They All Know Me."

Second photo:  Katie Newcomer as Elena, and Jeremy Rafal as Tiongco  in "They All Know Me."

Third photo:  Jeremy Rafal as Tongco, Katie Newcomer as Elena in "They All Know Me."

The show runs this Thurs., Fri. and Sat. at 8; there's also a Sat. matinee at 2.  The theatre is Joria Productions, 260 West 36th, 3rd floor, in Manhattan.  Tickets at the door, or via Brown Paper Tickets.  

They All Know Me

So on Sunday afternoon, director Christie Clark and I start rehearsals for They All Know Me.    The actors are:  Katie Newcomber as Elena, Katharine Scarborough as Hannah and Jeremy Rafal as Mr. Tiongco.  Katie and Katharine are classmates of Christie's at The New School; Jeremy is an alumnus of The Acting Studio.  Yes, we still made them all audition.

The play is about cultural dislocation.  We live in such a connected world now-  I can email or Skype with my friend in Bratislava, or my friend in Montreal, and think nothing of it.  But cultural differences still exist, and one afternoon about ten years ago I was in a business meeting that ended very badly.  My friend Jelka (who unfortunately is no longer with us) and I were the New York office of a medical personnel company, and we had a meeting with a man from Manila who was a recruiter. We went to our favorite coffee place, the desperate-for-work recruiter arrived, and things went down hill fairly quickly.  After Jelka died, I thought that afternoon and Jelka needed to have a play written about them.

The play is part of Thespian Production's Slam-a-thon III showcase at Joria Productions, 260 West 36th Street, 3rd floor.  It runs August 23 & 24 at 8:00, and August 25th at 3:00 and 8:00.  Tickets are available at the door, or at Brown Paper Tickets.   

For more information:
thespianproduction.com

The First Mention

I have a ten minute play going up in a showcase produced by Thespian Productions the third week in August (23rd, 24th and 25th).  Three shows at 8, and a matinee at 3 on the 25th.  It's called "They All Know Me."  Briefly, the play is about cultural dislocation.  Two women in Manhattan run a web staffing business.  They have a meeting with Constantine Tiongco, a recruiter from Manila.  The meeting doesn't go so well.  

It's at the Joria Productions Theatre, 260 West 36th Street, 3rd floor.  Tickets via Brown Paper Tickets.

The director is Christie Clark, who I haven't worked with before and is great!  We had auditions Tuesday and Wednesday, with more to come.  Yesterday, we cast Jeremy Rafal in the role of Mr. Tiongco (he studies with James Price at The Acting Studio, and gave a wonderful audition).  We haven't decided who the two female roles will go to yet (though there are excellent possibilities),  but we've got plenty of time.

Our first mention came up on theatreonline.com:  http://www.theateronline.com/pb.xzc?PK=39493