Andrew Child - Page 4

I am not from Los Angeles. I have lived here for less than two months, and before that, had not so much as visited. Thus, though it is clearly a beloved cultural gem, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater with its kitschy, retro lobby and fizzy energy holds no sentimental value for me and cannot conjure any fond memories of simpler times.

Upon entering the Dorie Theatre at the Complex Hollywood tonight and seeing an enlarged black and white image of a shirtless man on a dimly-lit stage as 90s music blared through the speakers, I turned to my friend and asked, “Did they pump this place with cheap cologne or have I been transported back to Abercrombie & Fitch?” The effect was perfect.

The Roxbury International Film Festival, New England’s largest film festival celebrating works by and about people of color is happening through June 26 with in-person screenings, online viewing options, and plenty of exciting events. I was able to catch three of the documentary highlights from this year’s festival.

“HowlRound is a place where you can share your learning, experiences, and expertise in service of a future in which resources and power in the theatre can be shared equitably in all directions,” explains Jamie Gahlon.

Guerilla Opera’s artistic director, Aliana de la Guardia, hosted a warmly informal Zoom preview of the company’s current work in progress, Island of Hope, Island of Tears (working title) which served effectively as a promotion of a planned in-person workshop as well as an opportunity to engage in dialogue around the opera’s themes.

As long as the current standard theatrical canon is taught in schools, young artists will continue to riff on the sanctified artists from their syllabi. Thus, America has seen a recent trend in irreverence toward the works of Anton Chekhov.

There is a lot good about Enigma Chamber Opera’s new meta-comedy adaptation of Mozart’s The Impresario, but the highest praise must be reserved for its formatting as a highly scroll-able hour-long entertainment (mainly because it is actually at most a 20 minute performance trapped inside a redundant overdrawn explanation of and apology for itself).

Streaming this weekend, Boston Experimental Theatre Company’s latest offering, Zahhak, the Legend of the Serpent King! is another sample of a paired down performance that actually works.

“This particular group has an appetite for learning, cultivating their voices, growing their voices, and being genuinely expansive artists,” explains Company One’s HowlRound/ Mellon Foundation Artist in Residence, Kirsten Greenidge of the current Volt Lab.

With limitations on gathering, like many arts spaces in the city, the Strand Theatre in Upham’s Corner has been closed for a year now.

About two years ago, theatre artist and educator Adil Mansoor sat down at his mother’s dining room table to record discussions with her about Sophocles’ Antigone through an intergenerational Muslim lens with the hopes of generating a pseudo-adaptation of the text.

“It took me a while to realize this but, I have a unique voice. If I can put into words what others feel but can’t express, then that’s my role.” In a recent post to her blog titled The Complex Art of Being a Biracial Actor, Troilo opened up about the complexities facing actors who may not be simply Black or white.

Before the shutdown, the final piece I reviewed for Broadway World was Boston Ballet’s rEVOLUTION which included Glass Pieces, a hypnotic embrace of the geometrics of a theatre space by Phillip Glass and Jerome Robbins.

I was finally fortunate to chat with two members of different Boston arts boards about the way they engage with their roles. Cheryl D Singleton has been a stalwart member of Boston’s theatre community as an actor, director, improviser, and board member since moving here in 1986.

In 1891, years before Sigmund Freud would revolutionize the way the human mind is perceived and the significance of symbolism, childhood and sexuality on a person’s psyche, German playwright Frank Wedekind challenged the taboos around the sexual tension of young people with a play that would challenge censorship in the theatre for nearly a century.

After registering for a performance by Zoom Theatre, you get an automated email which explains that you will be able to be heard by the actors and other audience members during this virtual performance.

When performance spaces were shuttered, many companies shuttered their imaginations in solidarity with the rows of seats, choosing to hibernate until they could return to live, in-person events and allowing both to collect dust in the meantime.

In a 2002 public report on the spread of HIV through commercial sex, the World Health Organization defined sex workers as “(sic) people who receive money or goods in exchange for sexual services, and who consciously define those activities as income generating even if they do not consider sex work as their occupation.”

The first time composer/ lyricist Elizabeth Addison saw Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play on Broadway, she felt self-conscious. The piece takes an unflinching swipe at racial tensions in ways that famously ignited passions of theatre goers of all races.

As organizations convene to release comprehensive anti-racism plans, put out public relations fires as past transgressions come back into focus, and tighten their deadly clutch around maintaining a season subscription model, op eds and interviews circulate as leaders are asked, “what’s next?”