Dontcha know that where I am ain't where I was

BIG theatre update.

Groundswell by Ian Bruce at the New Group
This was the best play I've seen in a long time. Groundswell is a beautiful South African play with three men and absolutely incredible acting, particularly by David Lansbury, who played Johan. What I loved the most about this play was that the unique personal stories it told in a fascinating political context revealed harsh accusations about fear, guilt, empathy and charity that resonate in the lives of its audience. The direction and design was also of an incredibly high quality, and I definitely hope to see more of The New Group's work!

Here's the synopsis from the website (http://www.thenewgroup.org/season3.htm):
On the barren, diamond-diving coast of South Africa, Johan and Thami, an ex-cop and a gardener from starkly contrasting backgrounds, maintain a beachfront guest lodge during the off-season while looking for a way out. When Smith, a retired businessman, shows up one foggy night, the two men think they've found an ideal investor for their scheme to buy into a government-run diamond concession. Soon, these rootless men find themselves in a power struggle fueled by greed, desperation and entitlement. GROUNDSWELL is a psychological thriller about hunger and hope, and the glittering promises of a transforming society.


August: Osage County by Tracy Letts
I have finally seen August: Osage County, and none too soon. On the Saturday eve before its Broadway closing I went to see it with a new theatre friend and I'm really glad I did, because it's a pretty phenomenal piece of work. The writing, acting and directing are all masterful, and the play had the powerful effect of evoking memories of my grandmother and staying in her house, although mine are all good memories. Mr. Letts knows how to set up a joke or a premise without being obvious about it and bring it back at exactly the right moment to evoke a heartfelt response from his audience. However, showing how theatre company can define a show, my company made me extremely aware of the misogynistic viewpoints hammered into the show, so I walked away impressed but not thrilled. I absolutely loved Phylicia Rashad though! And Amy Morton was excellent, as well.

Jamboree with Odyssey Productions
I went to see a fun night of one-acts at The Red Room put on by a group run by a whole lot of Dartmouth kids. They created five plays in five days on the theme "What if 2009 wasn't THIS 2009?" Particularly awesome acting from Teale Sperling and Matt Cohn. The night was long but it was a lot of fun, and I loved Beaver Builds A Dam by Daniel Diamond (directed by Marina McClure) and Year of the Love Curriculum (written by Victoria Moy, directed by Rachel Karpf) was a lot of fun and I thought did the best job with the limited resources of the space and time given. The reason I was there in the first place was because Beth McGregor, who was Stanford Drama '05, was in one of them (The Voice Crying in the Wilderness by Eugene Oh), so that was fun, and I happened to be sitting next to another friend of hers in the audience, Benjamin Scheuer, who turns out to be an incredibly talented composer and musician. Awesome times.

Production attendance has slowed as I have delved into the depths of the Ruffled Feathers workshop. But I got a job! Assistant directing "The Bereaved" by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by May Adrales. I'm excited! So I won't be attending many shows in August, either, unfortunately, but I will be rehearsing! Hurrah!

It's laundry time.
~Alex