A STREETCAR STRAIGHT TO HELL, The Exchange Artists at the Blackheart, October 31, 2013

by Dr. David Glen Robinson

For this Halloween edition of The Exchange Artists’ Hot Nights series, they changed the name to Hot Bloody Nights. Other key elements remained the same, including the typically high performing skills exhibited on-stage, teaming up with a musical group, location in an upscale watering hole, a one-night-only run, and creativity unbounded. The Exchange Artists haven’t missed a beat with this series since they started it more than a year ago.

The show was based loosely, repeat loosely, on A Streetcar Named Desire. The opening scenes introduced characters familiar to some, and this is where the good acting and clever stage-play were found. But this was all set up and prologue to the finale of charnal horror worthy of the best horror movies of the 40s and 50s--and of a good Austin Halloween night downtown.

Aaron Alexander choreographed the fight scenes and enacted most of them with athletic skill and superb timing. Rachel Wiese played the disturbed visiting relative who lit the fuse to the conflagration. All the actors showed great skill in operating the set, the props, their costumes, and themselves. When actors make the difficult look easy, then the outcomes of their actions are surprising rather than predictable.

Rachel Wiese (photo: The Exchange Artists)

Some of the credit for this particular success goes to the directors Lindsey Sikes and Rachel Wiese. The producers, who put it all in motion, were Bridget Farr and Rachel Wiese, who each add another winning feather to a producer cap.

Even reviewers acknowledge the essential uselessness of reviews written after a performance run has finished, but in the case of Exchange Artists’ Hot Nights series, a posted review serves as a memory marker in time and space. The marker says that we found them; they were here in such-and-such a place, and they made the core transaction of theatre art with an audience.

This is the deep artistic satisfaction a theatre enthusiast seeks and deserves. The audience at the Exchange Artists’ Halloween show did their work in finding this brief, satisfying show. The call now is for the like-minded community to remain alert for the next Hot Nights show. And then please seek it out, wherever it may play (Hint: the Blackheart Bar is a favored venue). The rewards are great.

LADIES' MAN by Georges Feydeau by the Exchange Artists at the Blackheart, April 25, 2013

present

The Exchange Artists are thrilled to present the third date in their Hot Nights series matching a bit of theatre with a hot local band. Georges Feydeau’s 20 minute one-act LADIES’ MAN, which will begin at 8pm, reveals one evening in the life of two cousins who have unknowingly fallen for the same cad. The play will be underscored by the infectious pop concoction that is ADRIAN AND THE SICKNESS. Adrian’s bombastic rock and roll will come back after the play for a full set starting at 9pm. Velvet Dust, a new online Austin fashion magazine, will host a pre-show, Marie Antoinette-rocker beauty bar with glitter and dust and oooh-la-la for all! Show stylist Laurel Kinney of Trophy Boutique will also style models to walk the space and set the mood for the evening. The Blackheart Bar will provide specialty themed cocktails. This one-time-only event will be Thursday, April 25th, 2013 at The Blackheart, 86 Rainey Street, Austin, TX, 78701. The doors will open at 7:00 pm. The cover is $5 cash at the door.

So what are Hot Nights? That’s easy! Short Play. Long Set. Big Party.

LADIES’ MAN features Vanessa Marie as Angelique — a young widow who married her elderly husband for money and is now seeking a younger, more dashing suitor; extravagant and now independent, Angelique is used to having her way — and Briana Miller McKeague as Valentine — Angelique’s younger cousin, sweet and naïve with a habit of not thinking before she speaks, Valentine is a bit silly though genuine and eager to have the lifestyle of her older cousin. The Exchange Artists’ Bridget Farr directs with support from Rachel Wiese.

ADRIAN AND THE SICKNESS has been wowing live audiences with sweet melody and sheer sonic power since their debut in February 2004. Guitarist Adrian Conner also plays lead in Hell’s Belles, an AC/DC tribute band so fearsome that Angus Young is a devoted fan. She’s a deft soloist and a sure hand with a stinging riff. She’s also a formidable pop-rock songwriter, penning honest, forthright songs spiked with catchy, irresistible hooks. Her original music has been called “exciting, rambunctious and kinda scary” in Guitar Player Magazine (2007). In 2008, Adrian’s endearing melodies as well as her scalding six-string caught the attention of fellow Austin resident, songwriter and bassist for the Go-Go’s, Kathy Valentine, who produced the band’s fourth CD, B.F.D. (2009). Adrian and the Sickness released B.F.D. under their own label, Fantom Records, which charted on CMJ stations across the US and Canada, in early 2010. Today, Adrian and the Sickness continue their rock-n-roll pursuit, touring the US and Europe, and constantly writing and recording new music. In July 2011 they launched their fifth independent release "Criminal/Dog Days" and their first on 7-inch vinyl. Adrian and the Sickness is an action-packed world-class rock experience and it's coming straight at you.

Velvet Dust is an online, contributors-based quarterly magazine dedicated to the arts and the community. We operate as a platform for emerging designers to showcase their work. Our team and our contributors explore fashion and culture through styled editorials, photography, journalism, interviews, video art, and other forms of digital media.

About The Exchange Artists: As Exchange Artists we create theatre inspired by cultural exchange at home in Austin, TX and abroad. Through international collaboration and community engagement we empower our artists and audiences with fresh perspectives, new experiences and a strengthened sense of connection.

LADIES’ MAN with ADRIAN AND THE SICKNESS will be Thursday, April 25th at 8:00 pm at The Blackheart, 86 Rainey Street, Austin, TX 78701. The doors open at 7:00 pm for pre-show Hotness and the cover is $5.00, cash only.

For more information visit www.exchangeartists.org.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: Chekov's The Bear by the Exchange Artists with Whiskey Shivers, Blackheart, August 30

THE BEAR by CHEKOV and WHISKEY SHIVERS, Exchange Artists at the Blackheart, August 30
 

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The Exchange Artists

Present

Chekhov’s THE BEAR together with

THE WHISKEY SHIVERS

August 30^th, 2012

The first in a series of HOT NIGHTS at The Blackheart

The Exchange Artists are pleased to introduce Hot Nights, a new event series pairing short works of theatre with hot local bands. This inaugural event combines Anton Chekhov’s comical short play THE BEAR with the equally rollicking and always foot-stomping folk band THE WHISKEY SHIVERS. This one time only event will be Thursday, August 30^th, 2012 at 9:00 pm at The Blackheart, 86 Rainey Street, Austin, TX, 78701. The doors will open at 8:00 pm. The cover is $5 at the door. Cash only.

The night will begin with a few songs from the band, which will lead directly into the THE BEAR, a 15-minute performance underscored by THE WHISKEY SHIVERS. Then there will be a short break to check out the specialty ‘Russian’ and ‘Bear’ themed drinks created by The Blacheart Bar, and after the break THE WHISKEY SHIVERS will play a full set of their rockin’, growlin’ foot-stompin’ fun. So what are Hot Nights? That’s easy! Short Play. Long Set. Big Party.

Anton Chekhov’s THE BEAR is often referred to as a face in one act. It was first produced in 1888 in Moscow and has been frequently revived in Europe and America ever since. In the play, landowner Grigory Smirnov visits the excessively bereaved widow Elena Popova to collect a debt owed to him by her late husband. When she refuses to attend to money matters on the 7^-month anniversary of her husband’s death, Smirnov becomes enraged and refuses to leave her house, provoking a battle of wits and wills. Pistols are proposed, the two prepare to fight, and then something horrifying and unexpected happens.

THE BEAR features Noel Gaulin as Grigory Stepanovitch Smirnov, Briana McKeague as Elena Popova, and Doug Costello as Luka. The project was conceived by The Exchange Artists’ newest producing partner, Bridget Farr, and will be directed by Rachel Wiese.
The five young men of THE WHISKEY SHIVERS came to Austin, TX from all corners of the US looking to do one thing: knock the dust off roots music. A freewheelin', trashgrassin', folk tornado, the Whiskey Shivers take traditional instrumentation, soak it in gasoline and send it into outer space. Breakneck speeds, killer grooves and impeccable musicianship: it's enough to make Bill Monroe himself do a double-take as he spins in his grave. With upright bass, fiddle, washboard, banjo, guitar, and reasonably priced merchandise, Whiskey Shivers adds a fine layer of grit on top of the hard-driving rhythms of traditional bluegrass. They've been called everything from "trashgrass" to "hardcore roots" to "crazy-assed redneck music" — whatever the words, the meaning is the same: Whiskey Shivers brings the house down.

About The Exchange Artists: As Exchange Artists we create theatre inspired by cultural exchange at home in Austin, TX and abroad. Through international collaboration and community engagement we empower our artists and audiences with fresh perspectives, new experiences and a strengthened sense of connection.

THE BEAR together with THE WHISKEY SHIVERS will be presented Thursday, August 30^th at 9:00 pm at The Blackheart, 86 Rainey Street, Austin, TX, 78701. The cover at the door is $5.00, cash only.
For more information, visit www.exchangeartists.org.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Auditions for The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono, The Exchange Artists, August 7 - 10

The Exchange Artists inviteyou to audition for an adaptation of Jean Giono’s The Man Who Planted Trees on August 7, 8, 9, and 10 (Tuesday through Friday) 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. at Tapestry Dance Academy, 2302 Western Trails Boulevard Austin, TX. (click for map) 

Please rsvp to reserve a night. No need to prepare material, but plan to stay the whole hour and a half. We will run the audition like a workshop. Dress comfortably for movement. For questions and to rsvp email exchangeartists@gmail.com. We are casting a small and diverse ensemble.

The Man Who Planted Trees will be performed at Sparky Pocket Park located at 3701 Grooms Street, in Hyde Park, Austin, TX 78705 (click for map), Thursday - Sunday evenings at 8pm, October 4 through 20, 2012. 

This internationally beloved short story by French author Jean Giono is a beautiful allegorical tale of each individual’s responsibility to be a steward of our natural resources. Set in Provençe between 1913 and 1947, the story follows a single man who plants one hundred acorns every day for more than thirty years. He restores a desolate landscape through his labor, a gentle reminder that our lives and our livelihoods are in direct connection with the earth.

This adaptation by The Exchange Artists brings the simple tale to life with an immersive play that utilizes dance, text in both French and English, an original score by Rohan Joseph, illustration by Katie Rose Pipkin, and the natural beauty of Sparky Park.

Auditions for Actors and Dancers for The Man Who Planted Trees, Exchange Artists, March 8 and 9

AUDITIONS POSTPONED TO FALL, 2012

The Exchange Artists seek actors and dancers for an adaptation of Jean Giono’s The Man Who Planted Trees to take place October 4-20, 2012. The one-hour performance will integrate original music, artwork, choreography and verse. It will happen both indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. An archive of past works including photos, video, and critical reviews can be found at www.exchangeartists.org.

The Man Who Planted Trees is a beautiful, allegorical tale, a gentle reminder that our lives and our livelihoods are in direct connection with the earth.

Cast: 2 actors (men, differing ages) 2 dancers (modern training or theatrical movement experience preferred).

Upcoming: The Story Seekers, Exchange Artists at the Elizabeth Ney Museum, March 25 - April 10

Found on-line:

present

[image: Kelly Bland, by Kimberley Mead]

The Story Seekers

by Katherine Craft

March 25 - April 10

Thursdays - Sundays at 7 p.m.

A new play on the grounds of The Elisabet Ney Museum

304 E. 44th Street, Hyde Park neighborhood, Austin

Tickets are a suggested $15 donation and can be reserved by emailing exchangeartists@gmail.com or calling (979) 255-8292.

A band of children live as prisoners in an alternate world, never changing as long as the storyteller who trapped them holds the endings to their stories in her book. Some of these characters are familiar – Lupe, who escapes La Lorona; Abini, the Yoruban miracle child; and Hans, who followed the Pied Piper out of Hamlin – but there are other children caught in the forest as well. Only when a young princess, Bet, flees her comfortable castle after catching a glimpse of the future through a magic window and finds herself trapped in the storyteller’s world do the children find hope of escape. Hope in the form of a gardener’s son: Bet’s best friend Gil.

THE STORY SEEKERS, a new play by Katherine Craft, developed in collaboration with Exchange Artists actors, transforms the grounds of Hyde Park’s landmark castle into the setting of a fantastical drama. The performance is participatory in nature with actors leading the audience throughout the grounds as the stories and the mysteries of the space unfold.

THE STORY SEEKERS cast includes Karen Alvarado, Isaac Arrieta, Kelli Bland, Jen Brown, Bastion Carboni, Bridget Farr, Emily Kennedy, Sidharth Khanejar, Steffanie Ngo-Hatchie, Mindy Rast, Michael Slefinger, Karina Dominguez Smith, and Frederic Winkler. Set and lighting design is by Spencer Pharr, Costume design by Katherine Craft, with Props and Crafts by Katie Richter. Choreography and direction by Rachel Wiese.

In the event of any rain cancellations, makeup performances will be held April 15, 16, and 17. Please bring a flashlight and wear shoes for walking on the museum grounds.