14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival Blog
Would you like to know more about your humble correspondents? Your bloggers are interviewing your bloggers...
Hey Erin Pike, what's your middle name?:
It starts with an E. That's all she'll say, lest she be stalked.
What do you do in real life?:
Erin works for Starbucks and at the 5th Avenue. She's a company member at Annex, and she interns for Brendan Kiley at The Stranger. "I have ten lives."
How did you start doing 14/48?:
Andy emailed out of the blue, having gotten Erin's name and info from someone at On the Boards with a glowing recommendation. He asked if she'd blog. She said yes.
Plug Something:
Erin will be doing Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards in June.
1. The Queen Anne Justice League, by Louis Broome, directed by Jennifer Jasper
Evan Whitfield, Heather Gautschi, Erin Fetridge, Karen Gruber Ryan, Christine Marie-Brown
2. Remote Assessment, by Susan Stahl, directed by Jose Amador
Amy Hill, Shane Regan, Mik Kuhlman, Nick Edwards
3. Have and Have Not (or Cornucopia), by Nick Stokes, directed by Paul Budraitis
Dave Clapper, Ryan Spickard, Jill Snyder
4. Waiting for The Dating Game, by Emily Conbere, directed by Erik Van Beuzekom
Sylvester Kamara, Alyson Scadron -Branner, Teri Lazzara, Adria LaMorticella
5. Universal Corner, by Patty Miles Van Beuzekom, directed by Stan Shields
Scott Nollette, Brandon Felker
6. For Love and Love Alone, by Josef Krebs, directed by Nik Perleros
Trick Danneker, Zoey Belyea, Mark Fullerton, Amanda Williams
7. I Am at War With You, by Sean Nelson, directed by Wayne Rawley
Corey McDaniel, Keira MacDonald, Colleen Robertson, Tracy Leigh, Deniece Bleha
Ripped off of Nick Stokes' facebook wall:
Nick Stokes, "couldn't find realism if it smacked him upside the head. Even if he was looking for it. Even if he searched like he searched for his 3-yr-old's baby at 4 am."
One can only wonder at this point about the specialness of the team(s) Mr. Stokes has conceived.
For the theme SPECIAL TEAMS:
1. The Queen Anne Justice League, by Louis Broome, directed by Jennifer Jasper
2. Remote Assessment, by Susan Stahl, directed by Jose Amador
3. Have and Have Not (or Cornucopia), by Nick Stokes, directed by Paul Budraitis
4. Waiting for Chuck Woolery, by Emily Conbere, directed by Erik Van Beuzekom
5. Universal Corner, by Patty Miles Van Beuzekom, directed by Stan Shields
6. For Love and Love Alone, by Josef Krebs, directed by Nik Perleros
7. I Am at War With You, by Sean Nelson, directed by Wayne Rawley
Actors are trickling in, coffee's a-flowin' and I'll be back as soon as there's something new to say.
Tomorrow's theme has been drawn and we're primed to do the whole thing all over again. In less than twenty-four hours 14/48 will present to you seven world premier plays on the theme:
"SPECIAL TEAMS"
I'll be sticking around for the late show tonight to write on the three shows I've yet to cover.
With that, ten-thirty is under way.
Okie dokie. We've reached intermission and, as I suspected I might, I opted to sit the first half through, to write something more informed during intermission. And here I am, needing to amend some of my initial impressions from tech. Forgive the rush as I try to get info out before the continuation of the show. SPOILER ALERT.
HOW BARBARA BUSH RESCUES AMERICA
This play went off without a hitch, to laughter throughout. "How Barbara" imagines an America in which Sarah Palin (rather, a caricature of Sarah Palin) has become president of the USA. Bumbling and fumbling through a presidency she doesn't want and is too incompetent to handle, Palin puts a world of fury into the hearts of Barbara Bush, Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton. Vengeful in large part over Palin's undue success, in part over the damage she's doing to the progress of womankind at large, Bush, Pelosi and Clinton conspire to plant themselves in Palin's ear, to become the de-facto controllers of her office, her policies. Palin, profoundly pliant, kowtows to the wishes of her peers. This is through-and-through farce, a fun and irreverent poking-fun of the powerful.
THE FEAST
"The Feast" is an affecting 'torture/love play.' A captive--smart, handsome, and kind--is tied to a stool, upon which he is mercilessly interrogated for information. He's being pushed to sell out a friend or peer, Decker. And the torturer is brutal.
The sufferer, in the throes of his suffering, escapes to the mental haven of his memories with his wife. There he finds strength to resist and, in spite of how easy it would be to end his misery (to talk), he manages silence.
It's a play about love and sex, and the strength they can provide. And, as I said during tech, it's very visually moving. Trick Danneker kills it.
WHIRLPOOL BATH
"Whirlpool" is set in a hotel room in Cincinnati, where the Cincin-Indy film festival is taking place. Occupied by three aspiring artists, one a writer/director, one a producer, one an actor. As the play begins the trio debate the merit of a recent film by an "underground darling" indy auteur, whose claim to fame is full-frontal-art-shock-gratuity. They conduct the familiar, "is it or is it not art" debate, to laughs.
When The Auteur appears in the room the conflict becomes clear: "Can we endure the insufferableness of this guy in the interest of our fledgling 'careers?'" The line between the perversity of his films and the perversity of his character quickly disappears, and it doesn't take long before the possibility of group sex comes onto the table.
Very funny, maybe a little close to home for an aspiring artist, the play balances the potty-mouthed with the profound, and represents an opportunity to laugh at toil in the way good comedy can.
THERE ARE THREE RAVENS
This is among my favorite plays of the evening. Dark dark dark, "Ravens" is a portrait of an unhinged woman and an exploration of the sinister depths to which she stoops in self-interest. It's a play about how a predator catches prey. It's a play about wicked patience, merciless and selfish strategizing, and cold blood.
To my surprise, the audience met much of the play with laughter. I don't think I'm being dense in not thinking "Ravens" is funny, I think this is the old phenomenon of laughter rising from discomfort, and the body needing to react somehow.
Catch these plays at ten. I'll see ya then.
(As I ended up spending most of the second half typing this post I'll plan to write on "Hold," "The Fourth Wall Kid," and "There Are At Least Two Lukes at Ballard High School" after the ten o'clock show. Thanks for your patience, I'm sure Erin's on top of what I'm missing.)
