August Wilson’s Century Cycle > Spoiler-free scene breakdown Premiered: 1988. Setting: The Hollys’ boarding house, Pittsburgh. 1911. 11 characters (a fairly large cast for a drama, including 2 children who would typically be double-cast; not an easy play to produce) Long stage directions before the first scene describe the children of freed slaves moving north.…
Today is my last official day teaching a compressed winter term “Special Topics in American Literature” course devoted to August Wilson’s Century Cycle. Last night I had a dream that Wilson wrote an eleventh play that I didn’t know about; or that I somehow missed covering one of his ten cycle plays. In my dream,…
August Wilson’s Century Cycle > Spoiler-free scene breakdown. Premiere: 2003 Setting: Aunt Ester’s parlor, 1839 Wylie, Pittsburgh. 1904. Prologue (late at night) Troubled Citizen Barlow arrives, seeking Aunt Ester. Eli (handyman and “gatekeeper”) tells him to come back Tuesday. Citizen tries to push past him; they tussle, upsetting a lamp. Ester picks up Citizen’s hat…
I was honored to play Alquist in Artistic Prosperity’s virtual production of RUR over the summer. I’m glad to see Čapek’s play is getting some attention in the Guardian. Not many plays introduce a new word to the language. One that did was Karel Čapek’s RUR: Rossum’s Universal Robots that had its premiere in Prague…
Stunned by Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman and the rest of the cast in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Loved the documentary aesthetic in the opening sequence. Loved the intimacy of the cinematography and acting. Some of my favorite monologues were cut or trimmed, but I recognize a movie can express in a montage or a camera…
We’ll cover all 10 plays, but each student will only be responsible for reading an overlapping list of six plays. The movie adaptation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom opens on Netflix this weekend, and we’ll be covering that play on Monday.
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. This episode introduces the Cardassians, who years ago attacked Picard on the Stargazer when he approached them during a diplomatic mission. Worf grumbles that the Cardassians have no honor. Indeed, during the teaser they attack the Enterprise. Still, Picard listens to Gul Macet’s complaint: a Federation starship has attacked…
Screeeech . . . hisss . . . squaawk. These are familiar sounds to anyone who’s ever used dial-up internet or called BBSes. It seemed especially noisy late at night. Have you ever wondered why all that noise was necessary? And did you know you could have muted your noisy modem? Source: Why Did Dial-Up…
All 3 acts and the epilogue to R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) are now available on YouTube. I’ve loved this quirky play for almost 30 years. I’m thrilled that I got the chance to play Alquist, a humble builder who witnesses the Robot rebellion and its surprising aftermath. (I also designed the set backdrops in Blender…
I’m proud of the daughter for her involvement in this Equity audio production. (Some of the screams mentioned by the reviewer are hers.) One would be hard-pressed to find a more perfect production for the pandemic, as the radio drama comes with no visuals and forces one to shut out the outside world for the…
My big finish as Alquist in a Zoom-based production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots).
Obviously I would have preferred to see it live, but the pandemic-era video presentation — with clever graphics that indicate stage actions and pop-up text that augment the recorded performances — was subtle and touching.
The daughter plays Laertes in Seton Hill’s free, live Zoom production of Hamlet (with a film noir theme) which opens tonight at 8. (The first half will be performed tonight and next Friday; the next half will be performed Saturday and next Saturday.) Free tickets to Seton Hill’s livestreaming video production of Hamlet Through the…
Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 anti-fascist novel adapted for radio by Berkeley Rep.
For my birthday I treated myself to Episode 2 of RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots) — the play that introduced the word “Robot” to the world 100 years ago.
The first act of Artistic Prosperity’s virtual production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) is online. I designed the set backdrops and I play the humble builder Alquist. The first act is something like an office comedy, but the story takes a few twists and turns before the epilogue. Oct 12: Replaced link with new version.
We rehearsed and recorded a Zoom recording of RUR during the lockdown. I really enjoyed being able to do theater while so much of the rest of society was shut down. Here’s a “human interest” promo (which also includes actors who played Robots). Stay tuned for news about seeing the full production. Artistic Prosperity -RUR…
A very current short play by Bill Irwin. Very creative use of Zoom as a performance space. I didn’t expect it also to cover so much else. Very touching.
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Still recovering from his ordeal with the Borg, Picard visits his brother at the Picard family vineyard. In the village of his boyhood, Picard’s roadside encounter with his nephew Rene is just perfect, as are the domestic scenes with his warm sister-in-law Marie and his brittle, jealous older brother…