Circus Girl by Rocky Hopson, Hat Tree Theatricals at the Museum of Human Achievement, June 6 - 16, 2013

by Dr. David Glen Robinson


Circus Girl, written by Rocky Hopson, is a coming-of-age play like few others. Set in the 1890s in the Midwest and Rocky Mountains, the play proceeds initially like the adventures of one of many “Little Nells” of the dime novels of that time. If those stories had finished with any of the realism and hard times of that age depicted in this play, very few “Little Nells” would have survived to tell the tale. 'Circus Girl' is the name given to a very young orphan by her circus family; the circus travels, but then settles in Kansas City when the owner buys a theatre for a home base. All dreams are shattered when the Panic of 1893 causes a riotous run on America’s banks. The bank forecloses on the circus’s theatre loan; the performers and owner lose everything, and Circus Girl is cast loose in depressed America with absolutely nothing.
The first point of appreciation of the play is the beauty that's presented on stage against the background of decay. The costumes are at times truly sumptuous and approach period accuracy, at least as far as I could evaluate. The sweetness of many of the characters also provided a sometimes-relieving contrast with the corruption surrounding them. Impressive, too, were the patterns of overwrought oratorical gestures presented in the monologues. These gestural systems were taught formally in that era.
Dawn Youngs was notable for her adept use of this style in her role as a suffrage reformer and traveling lecturer. Old photographs of the era were projected; particularly enjoyable were the many pictures of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Early films of circus acts were a treat shown as a pre-show; they were, of course, a couple of decades out-of-period, but who cares.

Setting in the American Midwest of the 1890s and later was a fascinating choice by playwright Rocky Hopson. The period is called the Gilded Age for its optimism and immense growth economically, politically and socially. It was also the nadir of monopolistic capitalism. 

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which we take for granted today, had been enacted in 1890, and its reforms were just taking hold by the time of the Panic of 1893, that giant jolt to the system, as Circus Girl starts. Labor unions were organizing and starting their struggles; Upton Sinclair’s pivotal reform novel The Jungle would not be published until 1906. The gold and silver mines in the Rockies were playing out.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .

CIRCUS GIRL by Rocky Hopson, Hat Tree Theatricals at the Museum of Human Achievement, June 6 - 16, 2013

Hat Tree Theatricals
presents

 

Circus Girl
by Rocky Hopson
June 6th - 16th, Thursdays-Sundays at 7:30
at The Museum of Human Achievement. (located across from The Blue Genie)
Thursdays are pay-what-you-wish and there will be ASL interpretation on Thursday, June 13th.

Purchase tickets here: http://thehattreetheatricals.com/

Circus Girl takes you on a journey through America during the 1890s—from Kansas City to Chicago to Denver. It is the story of Circus Girl, a young performer who has lived in the circus or vaudeville her entire life. She knows very little about the outside world, and suddenly has to fend for herself in rapidly changing and precarious surroundings.
Much like our present decade, the 1890s were a time of exciting innovation as well as economic crisis and uncertainty: New technologies like the recording of sound and film changed the way people perceived the world and themselves in it. The Chicago World's Fair took place in 1893 and was considered the biggest event in human history.
On the flip side of that was the Panic of 1893. The railroads had overbuilt and went bankrupt. The banks closed. The country was in chaos. —Amidst this upheaval Circus Girl is out of a job and left alone. She has to adjust to her new environment or be sucked into the harsh reality of a country in turmoil. Through the eyes of Circus Girl this challenging new play shows an epic struggle between fantasy and reality that also reflects the problems and turmoils we face in 2013.


Circus Girl is written and directed by Rocky Hopson, starring Kim Adams, Jen Brown, Dallas Tate, Zac Crofford, Dawn Youngs, Judd Farias, Kelly Hasandras and Michelle Keffer and designed by Monica Gibson, Jamie Urban, Ia Enstera, Steven Shirey, and Lee Webster.

The Hat Tree Theatricals is Rocky Hopson and Michelle Keffer.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Photos by Stephen Pruitt for The Cruel Circus by Connor Hopkins, Trouble Puppet Theatre Company at the Salvage Vanguard, May 8 - 25, 2013

Performance photos by Stephen Pruitt for the








production of

The Cruel Circus
by Connor Hopkins
May 9–May 25, 2013 (8 pm Thursdays – Saturdays, 6pm Sundays.)
Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road, Austin, TX 78722 - click for map
Arrive early (at least 15 min. before showtime) for preshow music by Cami Alys!

Tickets: $10-$20 at at the door or on-line via

(photo: Stephen Pruitt)

(photo: Stephen Pruitt)

 Frankenstein meets the island of misfit toys . . . and goes to the circus. A mysterious tinkerer brings to life an entire world of strange circus performers — some polished and complete, some clumsy and misshapen — then disappears, leaving them to make sense of who they are and what they are made for.

A new work of dark whimsy from the company who brought Austin award-winning productions of The Jungle, Frankenstein, Riddley Walker, and most recently, Toil & Trouble. Trouble Puppet deploys bunraku-style tabletop puppets to create graceful, lifelike, compelling drama for adults. This production features beautiful, complex puppets of remarkable design, by Connor Hopkins. Come see the handwalker, unicyclist, lion-tamer, acrobats, human cannonball, and fuselier!


Click to view additional performance photos by Stephen Pruitt at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

THE CRUEL CIRCUS, Trouble Puppet Theatre Company at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, May 2 - 25, 2013

[workshopping and performing at Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd. -- click for map]

presents an original play:

The Cruel Circus
written and directed by Connor Hopkins

May 9 - 25, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 6 p.m.

 A mysterious tinkerer brings to life an entire world of strange circus performers some polished and complete, some clumsy and misshapen then disappears, leaving them to make sense of who they are and what they are made for.

A new work of dark whimsy from the company who brought Austin award-winning productions of The Jungle, Frankenstein, Riddley Walker, and most recently, Toil & Trouble.

Featuring performances by Zac Crofford, Travis Bedard, Seth White, Rob Jacques, Jose Villarreal, Gricelda Silva, Ellie McBride, Caroline Reck, and Brock England

Preshow music by Cami Alys; Music by Justin Sherburn; Sound Design by K. Eliot Haynes and Bernard Klinke; Lighting Design by Stephen Pruitt; Costume Design by Monica Gibson (with Lucie Cunningham)

ASL interpretation available for selected performances by Parker Dority and Shelby Mitchusson.

Made for adults. But children 10 and up, accompanied by adults, are welcome.
Tickets: Sliding scale, $10 - $50, available now through





(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Opinion: Dan Solomon's Top 10 Arts Events of 2012, Austin Chronicle

In today's weekly Austin Chronicle:

Top 10 Arts Events of 2012

Remembering the year onstage in dynamic acting, atmospheric design, and unexpected beauty

By Dan Solomon, Fri., Jan. 4, 2013

in no order:

Zac Crofford (Trouble Puppet Theatre Co.)

1) FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY FOR 'TOIL AND TROUBLE' (Trouble Puppet Theater Company) Trouble Puppet has proven itself good at everything, and when it pulls off the unexpected – like compelling, well-articulated stage combat – it just serves notice that they're still finding new ways to impress you.

2) NOEL GAULIN IN EVERYTHING Gaulin had a hell of a year – screaming, jumping, moving-as-if-on-strings, and otherwise turning himself into a live-action cartoon character in The Bear, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and Vodka, Fucking, and Television.

3) RACHEL WEISE'S DIRECTION Yeah, my wife wrote one of the lovely plays Weise directed this year, The Man Who Planted Trees. But I also loved her staging of The Bear by Anton Chekhov, and I've never even met him.

4) THE SCRIPT FOR 'MESSENGER NO. 4 (OR ... HOW TO SURVIVE A GREEK TRAGEDY)' (Cambiare Productions) Will Hollis Snider's charming and inventive epic blended Back to the Future, The Matrix, and Euripedes into something altogether new.

5) THE FINAL MINUTES OF 'JUBILEE' (Rub­ber Repertory) Making your cast jump up and down for an interminable amount of time sounds boring, and making boring-sounding things beautiful was what Jubilee did best.

6) THE ATMOSPHERE OF 'DREAM CABINET' (Salvage Vanguard Theater) Few productions set a mood more effectively.

7) EVERYTHING ABOUT 'LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL' (Summer Stock Austin) I'm not made of stone, you guys.

8) BETH BRODERICK IN 'JUST OUTSIDE REDEMPTION' (Theatre en Bloc) Broderick stole every scene by balancing charm, humor, and gravity.

9) KACY TODD IN 'HOLIER THAN THOU' (Poison Apple Initiative) Todd carried the emotional climax of a play consisting of interconnected monologues – no mean feat.

10) SOUND DESIGN FOR 'SPACESTATION1985' (Natalie George Presents) I didn't love the play, but the sound by Buzz Moran made the outer space setting come to life.

ONCE THERE WERE SIX SEASONS, environmental puppetry by Glass Half Full Theatre, February 21 - March, 2013

(performing at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd. - click for map)

presents

Once There Were Six Seasons

opening February 21, 2013

We’ve leaped into full pre-production mode for Once There Were Six Seasons, a new work focusing on the effects of climate change on traditional societies which will open on February 21st, 2013. The title comes from a true story Caroline heard in Orissa, India, from a story passed down to a man from his grandmother:

In earlier times, in this grandmother’s lifetime, there used to be six seasons in that part of the world. The farmers still used an ancient method of observing animal behavior to determine when and what to plant. Now, that region only has two seasons (Summer, and Rains), and the animal behaviors that farmers counted on to grow their crops have been distorted by the rapidly changing planet. Farmers can no longer rely on their traditional methods, and communities are slowly collapsing as people move on to settle in the city slums.

Stories like this are happening all over the world, and we’d like to invite you to learn more of them with us in February.

The performance will make use of very small puppets existing in vast landscapes on the SVT Mainstage, with visible puppeteers affecting changes in the landscapes and on the puppets themselves. This is a genre of puppetry we have been gradually crafting, which we are calling “Environmental Puppetry.” In this style, the focus is on the changing landscapes rather than the articulations of the puppet’s body. If you are familiar with our piece, “Bob's Hardware” performed in the 2010 Winter Austin Puppet Incident, it’s in that genre.

Donate

Glass Half Full has received a very small amount of City of Austin funding for this project, which will have a workshop performance for two weeks only in February 2013. If you are interested in donating to this project, or learning more about our process of creation, please get in touch at info@glasshalffulltheatre.com or click on our donate button below:



Otherwise, we hope to see you when we present Part One in February.

Thank you from myself and on the behalf of the collaborating team on this show:
Parker Dority, Gricelda Silva, Noel Gaulin, Rommel Sulit, Connor Hopkins,
Kyle Zamcheck, Ia Ensterä, Stephen Pruitt, Zac Crofford, and Eliot Haynes.


Caroline Reck
Producing Artistic Director
Glass Half Full Theatre
caroline@glasshalffulltheatre.com
 
(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

The Jungle, Trouble Puppet Theatre Company at the Salvage Vanguard, September 17 - October 4

Connor Hopkins' The Jungle is a deeply serious work using high craft to dramatize the worst days of American industry.

Upton Sinclair's 1906 work, first published in serialization and then as a novel, caused a tremendous stir. He tells the story of an penniless immigrant family, crushed by corrupt exploitation, indifference, and unsanitary conditions of the Chicago meat packing industry. Sinclair's ambition had been to shake the American public into awareness of the inhumanity to the workers practiced by management and by capitalists -- an aim mirrored in Trouble Puppet's tag from the work, "They were slaughtering men there, as surely as we were slaughtering animals."

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .