Auditions in Austin: Two Neo-Nazi ingenues for Am I White by Adrienne Dawes, Salvage Vanguard, December 3, 2013

Salvage Vanguard Theatre is holding open auditions for the world premiere of Am I White, an original play by Adrienne Dawes to be directed by Jenny Larson in October 2014.

When Neo-Nazi terrorist Wesley Connor returns to prison after a failed bomb plot, he is confronted with the two identities that most threaten his position within the White Order of Thule: fatherhood and his own mixed race heritage. Inspired by the true story of Leo Felton and Erica Chase, Am I White travels between linear narrative, recurring dreams and minstrel show nightmare to discover if a singular self exists in post-modern, “post-racial” America.

Casting two non-AEA actors for the roles of POLLY and RYAN:

Polly (19-25) - White, Female - member of White Order of Thule; Wesley's teenage girlfriend. {This role sings one song - please prepare 16-32 bars of a "lover's lament" to sing}

Ryan (21-31) - White, Male - Wesley's cell mate, member of the Aryan Brotherhood, also plays Interlocuter in minstrel show scenes.

AUDITIONS: TUESDAY DEC 3RD 7:30-10:30PM at Salvage Vanguard Theater 2803 E Manor Rd. - click for map

To request an audition appointment: please email headshot/resume in Word or PDF format to Adrienne at adrienne@salvagevanguard.org. Auditions will consist of 1 minute monologues and prepared sides from the script. Callbacks are scheduled for December 5th 6-9pm. Rehearsals begin in late August/early September 2014. Performs for three weekends starting in October 2014.

Scottish Rite Theatre Fires Emily Marks, Cuts Short Charlotte's Web

Following is the Statesman article of July 26, only 79 words of which are available outside the www.mystatesman. subscriber pay wall:

 

Shows canceled, camps moved amid leadership changes at Scottish Rite Theater

By Andrea Ball, American-Statesman Staff

‍Scottish ‍Rite Theater fired its executive director this week, forcing the group to cancel eight performances and throwing into question the fate of its summer camps.

Emily Marks, who served as the group’s leader and artistic director since January 2012, was terminated by the board of directors Tuesday. Since then, the board has canceled its remaining performances of “Charlotte’s Web.” The ticketing agent has been contacted and all customers will get their money back, said board President Todd Smith.

Meanwhile the summer camps have been disrupted. Girls Thrive Theater has been relocated to the Salvage Vanguard Theater, Marks said. Arrangements are not yet made for Puppet Pandemonium.
Marks — who also did not publicly discuss the reasons behind her departure — said she is proud of the work she did at the nonprofit. Before working at the theater, Marks founded Girls Rock Austin, a nonprofit focused on female empowerment through music.

“I am incredibly proud of the work our team accomplished at the ‍Scottish ‍Rite Theater,” she said. “We have served over 12,000 children since January 2012. I am incredibly grateful to the original board and organizational infrastructure for hiring me, and remain proud of the excellent programming we provided in an incredible space.”

Smith also declined to comment on Marks’ firing.

“The ‍Scottish Theater has a long history of providing quality child programming over the years and it is our intention to continue providing high-quality, wholesome entertainment for children and their families,” Smith said.

The theater was built in the late 1800s and was purchased more than 100 years ago by the Austin ‍Scottish ‍Rite fraternity, which started the children’s theater in 2004 as a family programming venue.
Although the organization was created by the ‍Scottish ‍Rite, the theater is an independent nonprofit with an annual budget of about $300,000.

AM I WHITE by Adrienne Dawson, staged reading at Salvage Vanguard Theatre, June 18

[Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd. -- click for map]

presents

a workshop of
Adrienne Dawes'
Am I White
Tuesday June 18th@ 8pm.
When Neo-Nazi terrorist Wesley Connor returns to prison after a failed bomb plot, he is confronted with the two identities that threaten his position within the White Order of Thule most: fatherhood and his own mixed race heritage.
Inspired by the true story of Leo Felton and Erica Chase, Am I White travels between linear narrative, recurring dreams and minstrel show nightmare to discover if a singular self exists in post-modern, “post-racial” America.
Featuring: Cyndi Williams, Jacob Trussell, Jamie Rhodes, Florinda Bryant, and Ben Wolfe
Directed by Jenny Larson; Video Design by Lee Webster
Seating is limited (studio space has only 50 seats) but you can pay what you wish - tickets sold at the door.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

GUEST BY COURTESY by Jenny Larson and Hannah Kenah, April 18 - 20, 2013

 
[Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd. -- click for map]

and the Fusebox Festival present

Guest by Courtesy

created by Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson, written by Hannah Kenah
performed by Jason Hays, Hannah Kenah, and Jenny Larson, with an original score by Graham Reynolds

Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd.
April 18 - 20 at 3 p.m.

Click to purchase tickets via the Fusebox Festival


Click for Austin Live Theatre review, November 8, 2011



Come ye. Come ye and observe this sorry entry into that hopeful realm of female comedy.
In the deeply pro-feminist setting of a masonic hallway, Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson stage a two-women, one-man, two-arms, one couch, imaginary props, terrible miming, genre-bending, era-bending, woman-bashing, man-worshipping show that plumbs the depths of desperation and duration.

 
Guest by Courtesy pretends to answer the question, what the fuck should a girl do with all her spare time, and decisively proves that women are not sane. Two cousins – one poor and single, one rich and married – wage their bizarre relationship over the course of a failing afternoon tea. The work was developed by Jenny Larson, artistic director of Salvage Vanguard Theater, and Hannah Kenah, company member, performer and writer for the Rude Mechs, and scored by Graham Reynolds, Austin’s best-loved composer of all things brilliant.
Come and see them not know what kind of show they are making. A dance show? A clown show? A play? Discover how much you can tolerate. Test the limits of your patience for women floundering.
“Larson and Kenah, with perfect comic timing and tempo, keep us laughing for a good solid hour” – Austin Chronicle
Special thanks to our guest directors Will Davis and Kathy Catmull, and the extraordinary understudy, stage manager, and jack of all trades Jay Byrd.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: Salon Vanguard party fundraiser at the Eponymous Garden, November 13

Salon Vanguard
A benefit soiree

Tuesday, November 13th 2012
7pm- 10pm
At the Eponymous Garden, 1202 Garden St. Austin, Texas (click for map)
 


Tickets $60 for 2/ $45 for 1
available on-line via



 

Come enjoy an evening of intimate performances by Graham Reynolds of the Golden Hornet Project, world-class violinist Roberto Paolo Riggio, and author Spike Gillespie. As the jubilee begins, Church of the Friendly Ghost will serenade us with a string trio. And in the spirit of a Marie Antoinette rager, powdered wigs and all, our hosts will lead us in titillating parlor games and other coiffured shenanigans. Hank Cathy of Digestible Feats has created our decadent specialty cocktail, and our cracker jack team from last year will provide the array of delicious eats!

Admission includes drinks, eats, entertainment and one raffle ticket!

"SVT's fundraiser (Salon Vanguard) was just crowded enough to feel convivial, with the catered feast and the live jazz and the old-timey pop tunes and the sidecar-making bartenders and the parlor games and the guest performers perfectly arranged within the elegant architecture and landscaping of Eponymous Garden.”
-Austin Chronicle 2010 “Top 10 Favorite Arts-Related, Ah, Things From the Past 12 Months”

(Click to return to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: Maurice Sendak's Really Rosie, Scottish Rite Theatre, September 22 - October 28

Maurice Sendak's Really Rosie

www.scottishritetheater.org/

Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., September 22, September 29, October 13, October 27
Sundays at 2 p.m. September 23 - October 28
Scottish Rite Theatre, 18th St. at LaVaca (click for map)

Tickets $9.27 for children, $11.34 for adults
available on-line through







The Scottish Rite Theatre is proud to present a unique production of Maurice Sendak's classic family musical. Rosie dreams of being a star and through force of personality makes everyone around her a part of her big break! Directed by Jenny Larson, with musical direction by SRT Artistic Director Emily Marks and starring a cast of young Austin rock musicians, including Lex Land as "Rosie", James Robinson, Matt Puckett and Claire Puckett of Mother Falcon, Hannah Hagar and Cole Wilson.

Staged as a rock show more than musical theater, this production features all new arrangements by the ensemble. Emily Marks created a band from scratch with the cast and they spent a month working up the tunes as though they were their own new material. The result is a fresh take on a 70s era milestone in children's theater.

Upcoming: Dream Cabinet, Salvage Vanguard at the Eponymous Garden, October 20 - 31

DREAM CABINET
by Sterling Price-McKinney
directed by Jenny Larson


Salvage Vanguard Theatre Company at the Eponymous Garden, 1204 Garden Street
October 20 - 31 (exact dates and times not announced as of 9/09)
A dreamscape on loop, a reoccurring nightmare, a fevered dream. Dream Cabinet rehearsals have begun... a "Made in the SVT" production, running Oct 20th- 31st at the Eponymous Garden. "There is only this and nothing more.”
 

Click to read feature by Georgia Young at www.austin.culturemap.com, May 3, 2012

The Eponymous Garden, Austin, TX

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Civilization (All You Can Eat) by Jason Grote, Salvage Vanguard Theatre,

By Catherine Dribb

It’s strange. The concept is great, but the play is strange.

Just a warning.

The show opens with actors engaged in movement who quickly scatter when the initial dialogue begins, and the audience meets the first character, a hog, played by the talented Jude Hickey. And the rest is, well, an unveiling not only of hogs but also of porn stars, bigots, directors, hippies, self-help-book authors and (of course) actors.

It’s a strange show. But what was I expecting?

Under the direction of Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theater presents Civilization (All You Can Eat) by Jason Grote, a playwright simultaneously watching two productions of his show go up in Washington DC and, you guessed it, Austin. While I can’t speak to the D.C. show, the Austin cast is strong, rivaled only perhaps by the set designed by Connor Hopkins and the visual concept for the show, which I found compelling and effective, if under used.

From George Washington eating Twix bars to a giant man-hog strangling a runaway porn-star teenager, the show will surprise and shock you with both laughter and poignant disillusionment.

That’s not to say the writing is brilliant. It isn’t. The script appeared to be the weakest part of this production. Scenes dragged not because of boring actors or bad directing but because the dialogue isn’t engaging. Like I said, the concept is great. The writing wasn’t.

Civilization is described as a “parable of the Obama age,” where “desperation, desire, and existential dread connect the lives” of the characters. Hilarity mixes with overwhelming disillusionment as the audience empathizes with the characters trying to make a small difference in the world, to embody the change they long to see. They want to be effective and good at something, however obscure or shunned by society. They want to felt, noticed, loved, successful: these are basic longings of most of the angsty offspring of baby boomers.

Barack Obama said change was on the horizon. But is it, really, when compared to the stars staring down on us from millions of miles away? Is it, when a thousand or a million butterflies can change the course of history without any rhythm or warning? What really drives this world? What really matters?

Pertinent questions. I can’t say Civilization (All You Can Eat) adequately expressed or, for that matter, answered them (but wasn’t that the point?). But the concept was there. The disjointed chaos emphasized by the apparent links among these characters’ lives reminds us where the playwrightwanted to go, despite the fact that he never took us there.

Got a free night next weekend? Go see Civilization. It’s fresh, creative and different. And funny as hell. Disjointed, but amusing. Featuring Florinda Bryant, Michael Joplin, Heather Hanna, Griçelda Silva, Mical Trejo, Annie La Ganga and Jude Hickey. The set is brilliant, the acting is fresh and the play is short… under an hour and a half with no intermission.

Hey, George Washington… is that a Twix bar you’ve got hidden under that Declaration of Independence?

Maybe. Then again, maybe not.

Civilization (All You Can Eat). And then some.

Upcoming: The Laramie Project 10 Years Later in repertory with Part 1, Zach Theatre, April 22 - May 13

Found on-line:

presents

The Laramie Project 10 Years Later

April 22, 2012 - May 13, 2012

Kleberg Stage

Written by MOISÉS KAUFMAN, LEIGH FONDAKOWSKI, GREG PIEROTTI, ANDY PARIS and STEPHEN BELBER

Directed by DAVE STEAKLEY | Starring the original ZACH cast: JASTON WILLIAMS,JANELLE BUCHANAN, MARTIN BURKE, MEREDITH MCCALL, ROBERT NEWELL, SARAH RICHARDSON and JENNY LARSON, with HARVEY GUION
Please arrive early for parking.

Student Tickets: $18 One Hour Before Showtime (with Valid ID)
Bar opens 1 hour before showtime. Drinks welcome inside the theatre.

Please note: THE LARAMIE PROJECT plays in repertory with THE LARAMIE PROJECT 10 YEARS LATER.
Part 1 will play in repertory with Part 2 on Saturdays April 18 – May 13. It will be possible to see both parts on the same day with a dinner break between. See our calendar for individual show times.

A decade passed and we return to Laramie to see what has changed — and what hasn’t. The results are surprising, life-altering and unforgettable!

Guest by Courtesy by Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, November 4 - 19

by Michael Meigs

On their opening night Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson attracted an audience with lots of youngish faces more often lit by footlights, spots and stage lighting than by house lights. Those audience members were happily anticipating an entertainment that had been in gestation for two years. The two well known and well liked Austin actresses had presented workshop versions of Guest by Courtesy in May and November 2009 as part of the SVT's Works Progress Austin series.

They begin your evening with a lengthy cryptic tableau, a kōan of the brash physical comedy that is to come. The brightly lit black box performance space is anchored by a sofa set at center stage, draped with a white sheet. Two pairs of motionless bare feet are on view, the only parts visible of two persons seated or more likely reclining beneath that cover.

There's a silent motionless prologue going on here for those who aren't busy finding seats, climbing past audience knees, texting, listening to the hectic top 40s soundtrack or chatting: whose feet are we seeing? The pair at stage left are slim and almost self-effacing but there's a gauze bandage wrapped around one big toe; the pair at stage right are strongly defined, forthright with fiercely rampant big toes, the sort of feet that might be used for kicking butt. You have about twenty minutes to place your mental bets; I got mine wrong.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Guest by Courtesy by Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, November 4 - 19

Found on-line:

cordially invites you to ~

Guest by Courtesy

by Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson

Nov 4th - 19th at 8 p.m.
at Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 E Manor Rd
$15 admission; Pay-what-you-wish Thursday November 10th (at the door only)

Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/201618 or 1-800-838-3006 www.salvagevanguard.org

“Have I failed today? Or have I not?” –Emily Post

Women are crazy. This condemnation is often spoken in popular culture as fact. As infuriating as it can be to hear radio personalities or TV sitcoms trade on this condemnation, it seems the best way to defy it is, in fact, to embrace it.

Guest by Courtesy is the story of two cousins. One is married, wealthy, and fancy; the other is single, poor, and drab. We find these cousins unfolding their bizarre relationship over the course of a failing tea party. The cousins are little girls, society women, clowns, bitter rivals, and family.
Between the high physicality, the archetypal characters, and the bawdiness of these two cousins, the play possesses some kinship with theatrical clowning. As with any good clown, the cousins are simple, but they possess love and heartbreak beyond their own comprehension.
Will these women, hovering at the edge of sanity, go crazy in the end or instead manage to set the world on its head?

For MATURE AUDIENCES only.

Created by Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson
Script by Hannah Kenah
Featuring Jason Hays, Hannah Kenah, and Jenny Larson
With Original Music by Graham Reynolds
Lights by Megan Reilly
Set by Connor Hopkins
Costumes by Jessica Gilzow



[images: www.salvagevanguard.org]

Arts Reporting: Salvage Vanguard Season, 2011-2012

Salvage Vanguard Theatre artistic director Jenny Larson has announced the program of the SVT's own productions. The venue will be hosting many other companies, including the Trouble Puppet Theatre Company, Palindrome Theatre Company, Gnap! Theatre Project, the Church of the Friendly Ghost, Spank Dance, KDH Dance and many more. On the SVT's plate:

Nov 3rd- 19th 2011. Guest by Courtesy by Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson

The story of two cousins. One is married, wealthy, and fancy; the other is single, poor, and drab. We find these cousins unfolding their bizarre
relationship over the course of a failing tea party. The cousins are little girls, society women, clowns, bitter rivals, and family. Will these women, hovering at the edge of sanity, go crazy in the end or instead manage to set the world on its head? Original score by Graham Reynolds.

January and February 2012 (dates tbd) WPA - Works Progress Austin.

Featuring the development of two Austin grown pieces: Pig Pile (working title)- a collaboration between playwright Sibyl Kempson, SVT, Rude Mechs, Physical Plant, and Rubber Rep. Set to premiere in the spring of 2013. And Séance (working title)- a séance re-enactment at the Eponymous Garden with the creative team of Sterling Price McKinney and Jenny Larson.

February 16th- March 10th, Civilization (all you can eat) by Jason Grote.

A man-eating pig, a showbiz sell-out, a daughter gone wild, and a comedian all dance around issues of violence, racism, sex, and just getting by, in this absurd reflection of American life. Featuring Florinda Bryant and Cyndi Williams. Directed by Jenny Larson.

Upcoming: Party On The Vanguard, fundraiser at the Salvage Vanguard, June 7

Received directly:

presents

Party on the Vanguard 2011

Salvage Vanguard Theater's annual fundraising extravaganza
Tuesday June 7, 7- 11 p.m.

Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 E Manor Rd (click for map)
$15 admission - for tickets and information email jenny@salvagevangaurd.org or call 474-7886 ext 14

Join us for a celebration of Salvage Vanguard Theater and the eclectic and enigmatic arts programming of the east side! The price of admission includes:

One! The pleasure of viewing the artistic stylings of some of your favorite east Austin artists: Trouble Puppet Theater, Gnap! Theater Projects, Church of the Friendly Ghost, and Spank Dance. Two! Yummy eats and drinks. Three! A raffle ticket to win a pair of 3-day 2011 ACL passes. If you cannot attend, you can still buy raffle tickets online! Go to http://www.salvagevanguard.org/donate.shtml to enter. Raffle tix are $5, or 3 for $10, or 7 for $20

The Party on the Vanguard is SVTs annual arts variety party. Each year SVT showcases the work of their resident artists and company members. Thisyear a puppet from the mischief makers of Trouble Puppet Theater will be our guide through this night of modern dance, rock n roll with Leatherbag (curated by Church of the Friendly Ghost), some funny funny from the Gnap! + Merlon Works, and an interactive art installation. The evening ends with a dance party!

Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon, Austin Playhouse, February 25 - March 27

Neil Simon's set-up for Laughter on the 23rd Floor is simple and classic, if you can abstract from the biographic aspects of it. A newcomer enthusing about his new job discovers that his work colleagues are eccentrics, each more bizarre and devastatingly verbal than the previous one. Their employer, initially unseen, has enormous stature with the public, but they all know that he is a generous, distracted borderline psycho. Set 'em ricocheting off one another, bring the boss in, interrupt it from time to time as the newcomer addresses the audience with a rueful smile. Eventually, toward the middle of the second half, pressures from craven commercialism and the indifference to genius of the unwashed bring about the disbanding of the work unit, with much sentiment among its members and the megalomaniac disbelief of the boss.

With slight adjustments and a naval theme, you could be on board ship with Mr. Roberts or with Captain Queeg or with William Bligh. Or before Agincourt with Henry V. These few, this band of brothers, they bind together and then disappear into memory, greater and even more eccentric than they really were. This particular ship is an office in a New York skyscraper where the eccentrics are comedy sketch writers, the boss is a neurotic comedy star on live television in the early 1950's, and the newcomer is a surrogate for the playwright, Neil Simon.

Simon and his brother Danny did indeed write for live television before Simon embarked on his series of sweet and often nostalgic comedies. Sid Caesar saw a review they'd put together in a Catskills resort and hired them to write for his Show of Shows with a team that included the most successful writers, comedians and writer-comedians of the time. The Wikipedia article on this piece offers a table linking Simon's eccentrics with the real live eccentrics who probably inspired them, including Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbard, Carl Reiner and more.

Images by Christopher Loveless: Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon, Austin Playhouse, February 25 - March 27

Images by Christopher Loveless, received directly:

Laughter on the 23rd Floor

by Neil Simon

directed by Don Toner

Feb. 25 - March 27

Austin Playhouse Main Stage, Penn Field, 3601 S. Congress (click for map)

Tickets are $26 Thursday and Friday and $28 Saturday and Sunday.

All student tickets are half price!

For Tickets, Call (512) 476-0084 or click here to order tickets online.

Hot on the heels of our most successful show ever, we're thrilled to bring theatrical legend Neil Simon's nostalgic comedy Laughter on the 23rd Floor to the stage! Set in 1953, Laughter recalls Simon's days as a young writer on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. The play is a fast-paced and very fun comic romp through the behind-the-scenes antics in the writers' room.

Laughter features an all star cast including Kimberly Barrow, Brian Coughlin,Huck Huckaby, Jenny Larson, Jason Newman, Steve Shearer, Blake Adam Smith, David Stahl, and David Stokey!

Directed by Don Toner, Costume Design by Buffy Manners, Lighting Design by Don Day, and Sound Design by the Gunn Brothers.

Click to view additional images by Christopher Loveless at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Austin Playhouse, February 25 - March 27

Received directly:

Laughter on the 23rd Floor

by Neil Simon

directed by Don Toner

Feb. 25 - March 27

Austin Playhouse Main Stage, Penn Field, 3601 S. Congress (click for map)

Tickets are $26 Thursday and Friday and $28 Saturday and Sunday.

All student tickets are half price!

For Tickets, Call (512) 476-0084 or click here to order tickets online.

Hot on the heels of our most successful show ever, we're thrilled to bring theatrical legend Neil Simon's nostalgic comedy Laughter on the 23rd Floor to the stage! Set in 1953, Laughter recalls Simon's days as a young writer on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. The play is a fast-paced and very fun comic romp through the behind-the-scenes antics in the writers' room.

Laughter features an all star cast including Kimberly Barrow, Brian Coughlin,Huck Huckaby, Jenny Larson, Jason Newman, Steve Shearer, Blake Adam Smith, David Stahl, and David Stokey!

For more information, visit our website!

Upcoming: Salon Vanguard party fundraiser, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, December 2

Received directly:

Join Salvage Vanguard Theater for the 2nd Annual

Salon Vanguard

benefit soirée.

December 2, 7 - 11 p.m.
Eponymous Garden, 1202 Garden St.
Tickets $50 individual, $80 couples
Email jenny@salvagevanguard.org for tickets and information

Buy a ticket for Salon Vanguard, a benefit soiree, and receive complimentary food, expertly made cocktails, and intimate performances from Austin artists Owen Egerton (author and performer), Margery Segal (dancer and choreographer), and PJ Raval (film maker). Plus the Church of the Friendly Ghost, SVT’s resident music makers, will set the mood and serenade you with a jazz trio on the back patio. Your distinguished hosts for the evening will be SVT company member Adriene Mishler, directing savant Dustin Wills, and Westen Borgehsi from White Ghost Shivers.
Throughout the evening, they’ll lead the soiree in group songs, fun-filled parlor games and an old-fashioned good time.

Salvage Vanguard Theater is a hub for Austin artists, audiences, and arts organizations. SVT creates and presents transformative, high-quality artistic experiences that foster experimentation and conversation. Since 1994 Salvage Vanguard Theater has been producing new American plays. Since June 7, 2007, Salvage Vanguard Theater has been cultivating an arts facility located on Manor Road. It is a facility in Austin that allows both visual and performing artists to incubate ideas, create and develop new artwork, and present that artwork to the general public. More than 30,000 artists and spectators now make use of the space over the course of a year. As a result of the eclectic and energetic work happening at SVT, and by SVT, they are able to reach thousands of people in and around Austin, creating a true center for the arts on the east side.

Upcoming: The Biography of Physical Sensation, Rubber Repertory at Salvage Vanguard Theatre, October 14 - 30

UPDATE: Feature by Cate Blouke for the Austin Statesman, October 13

UPDATE: "The Care of Feeding of Audiences," Travis Bedard's anticipation of the participatory experience, CambiareProductions.com, October 14

UPDATE: Review by Cate Blouke for the Statesman's Austin360 "Seeing Things" blog, October 19

UPDATE: Reflections by Sarah Coleman at the UT blog Performing Arts Management, October 19

UPDATE: Review by Avimaan Syam for the Austin Chronicle, October 21

UPDATE: Bastion Carboni and Georgia Young discuss their experiences at the same performance for austinist.com, October 21

Received directly:

The Rubber Repertory in association withg the Salvage Vanguard Theatre

proudly presents

Biography of Physical Sensation

Based on the life of Jamie Damon

Directed by Josh Meyer and Matt Hislope

October 14-30, Thursdays-Sundays at 8 p.m.

Salvage Vanguard Theater 2803 Manor Rd.

Featuring Jenny Larson, Katie Van Winkle, Matt Hislope, Josh Meyer, and Marcella Garcia.

Lighting Design by Megan Reilly

Tickets: Order online here, or call 1-800-838-3006

YOU PICK YOUR PRICE $15-$25

Very limited seating – 40 seats per performance. Advance purchase recommended.

In their first new show since The Casket of Passing Fancy, Rubber Repertory pushes the limits of audience participation to even more fateful extremes. Each night, an audience of 40 will be given the chance to experience a human life through actual tastes, touches, smells, and sounds. This reinvention of the traditional biography forgoes narrative in favor of pure physical experience, placing audience members in the center of over a hundred pivotal moments of perception.


Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: An All-Female Staged Reading of The Taming of The Shrew, Austin Shakespeare at the Curtain Theatre, March 25 - 27

Click for ALT review, March 26


Received directly:

Austin Shakespeare presents an all female cast in

The Taming of the Shrew

A Slapstick Comedy for the Lighthearted
written by William Shakespeare, directed by Ann Ciccolella
Friday, March 25 – Sunday, March 27 at 8 p.m.
at Richard Garriott’s Curtain Theater on the shores of Lake Austin, 7400 Coldwater Canyon Dr. (click to view Google map)
Tickets $24, available at www.nowplayingaustin.com or at the door.
Discount tickets available.
or follow Austin Shakespeare on Twitter: @austinshakes

After the success of packed houses during the run of Mary Stuart, Austin Shakespeare continues its 25th anniversary season with an all-female cast in a staged reading of the classic Shakespeare comedy. The Taming of the Shrew will play at Richard Garriott’s own Curtain Theater, a scaled replica of an Elizabethan outdoor theater nestled along the banks of Lake Austin, March 25 through 27 at 8 p.m.

“In Shakespeare’s time, only men were allowed on stage, even to play the female roles,” said Ann Ciccolella, artistic director of Austin Shakespeare. “We wanted to turn the tables and see a full cast of charismatic women to bring this comedy to life on a stage that resembles one of Shakespeare’s own.”

The story is based on the beautiful merchant’s daughter Bianca, and her admirers Lucentio, Gremio and Hortensio. Her father insists that she will not marry until her after her older, shrewish sister, Kate does, so Bianca's suitors persuade fortune-seeker Petruchio to court her. Bianca's suitors pay for any costs involved, even Kate's dowry, but Kate shows in no uncertain terms how opposed she is to marrying anyone.

The Taming of the Shrew is among one of Shakespeare’s earlier comedies and it shares characteristics with his other romantic comedies such as Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play is lighthearted, with slapstick humor, disguises and deception, replete with a happy ending.

The Curtain Theater is located in the heart of Garriott’s Castleton Village that is tucked away in a pecan grove along Lake Austin and features a fort, ship, lighthouse and jail. The Curtain Theatre is off City Park Rd., near Rts. 2222 and 360. (click for Google map)

THE CAST for TAMING OF THE SHREW

Jill Swanson as Petruchio, Gwen Kelso as Kate; with Babs George, Jill Blackwood, Linda Nenno, Karen Jambon, Kara Bliss Galbraith, Bernadette Nason, Jenny Larson, and Mary Alice Carnes.

ABOUT AUSTIN SHAKESPEARE

Now in its 25th anniversary season, Austin Shakespeare (formerly Austin Shakespeare Festival) presents professional theater of the highest quality with an emphasis on the plays of William Shakespeare to Central Texas. Bringing to the public performances that are fresh, bold, imaginative, thought- provoking, and eminently accessible, Austin Shakespeare connects the truths of the past with the challenges and possibilities of today. Founded in 1984, Austin Shakespeare offers fall and spring sessions of "Shakespeare Studio," the organization’s professional actor training courses. In addition, actors, teachers, parents and students are welcome at the "Shakespeare Aloud" year-round weekly reading group. Austin Shakespeare also offers summer camps for high school students at St. Edward's University, and camps for children at Scottish Rite Children's Theatre, downtown. Austin Shakespeare is a member of the Austin Circle of Theatres, and is funded in part by the City of Austin through The Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Images: A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits by C. Denby Swanson, Salvage Vanguard Theatre, February 11 - March 6

UPDATE: Robert Faires interviews playwright C. Denby Swanson, Austin Chronicle, February 11

Received directly:

Photos by Chris Shea for A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits by C. Denby Swanson, which features puppetry by Connor Hopkins and is based on the narrative of an 18th century English physician to the king who after investigating the matter believed that countrywoman Mary Toft had given birth to a stillborn rabbit.

It's directed by Jenny Larson with music by Graham Reynolds. The cast includes Robin Grace Thompson, Nitra Gutierrez, Halena Kays, Shaun Patrick Tubbs, Connor Hopkins, and Matt Hislope - with Josh Meyer as "The Stork." video design by Lee Webster, light designs by Megan Rielly, sound design by Buzz Moran, and costumes by Jessica Gilzow.

See additional images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .