Hello (New) Theatre Institute!

The creation of the Theatre Institute at Sage has been well-covered by local media, including this very paper:

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2011/03/03/news/doc4d6e922eb12d0599082500.txt?viewmode=fullstory

To add to that news, it is good to report that work on the endeavor continues well. An open house over the weekend yielded a great number of parents, students and teachers interested in the program's offerings. The Saturday training school will begin next week with a stage combat camp to run during the April spring break. Auditions were held last week for two touring productions that will go into local schools during May and June. Finally, an advisory committee has been organized to help the Institute plan for the future.

All good news for now. Look for the opening of Seussical next week, which will be playing through the middle of April with morning school performances.

In a world where nothing seems to happen too quickly, the good will and support behind the Theatre Institute at Sage has been a sudden pleasure.

The Heiress Collaborative

Do you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice? I know that students get tired of mine. It's often when I close my mouth and allow the students their say that some very exciting learning begins to happen. Swallowing my pride, I decided to apply the same principle to directing and turned over the responsibility to the cast of The Heiress.

I did hedge my bets a bit, casting myself in the production so that I still get an occasional say. The process is new to me and imperfect, but we are finding our groove. The cast began with an entire week of discussion around the table, analyzing the text and characters to the point where we were nearly all on the same page. Together we also trimmed the script to keep its length under two hours. We are working on a three-quarters thrust stage, so each cast member is an "extra eye" on the seven scenes of the play, working with me to make sure that the staging reads to all members of the audience. Administratively, the cast worked with an artist on the poster design and put together a youtube video promoting the play. We are also collectively responsible for running lights and sound, assisting with costume changes and load-in of all physical aspects of a show, like a self-contained unit.

The Heiress is a perfect play for this experiment. It has a cast of nine, which usually gives us just enough people working behind the scenes while others are onstage. Were it a musical or more complexly structured piece, the collaboration may not work, but The Heiress is relatively simple and straight-forward. It has only a single set and two acts and falls into that category of play where it seems that people just stand around talking. It's definitely a challenge making that type of play seem active and the students are learning a lot about storytelling.

Leaders are definitely emerging on all fronts. Several people have stepped forward as strong directors, while others enjoy the more administrative and technical aspects. All are pulling double duty as actors, which for me has been personally stressful. As a director, your brain is wired to analyze and control the action, but as an actor you must let go and just allow yourself to be in the moment. It's not a comfortable combination, a tightrope of sorts, but a situation that I am definitely learning from. Sometimes the collective voice feels like too many cooks in the kitchen, while at other times it yields some very fresh results. Again, it is a tightrope walk for us all and one of the first situations where I find myself giving notes to (and getting notes from) others actors.

The Heiress opens Wednesday, February 23 - Sunday, February 22. For more information, go to www.sage.edu/capa.

Snow Days at Sage

True confession--teachers love snow days as much as any student. If you don't have to be shoveling your driveway or raking your roof, then sitting around in pajamas and drinking hot chocolate beats teaching a class--occasionally.

Like everything else in the world, a good beginning begets a good end. The trouble with all of the snow days front loaded into the semester is that it has been hard settling into a groove. It can take two weeks just to learn student names, establish the tone of the course and get everyone headed in the right direction. A semester that begins in fits and starts really feels like it hasn't started at all. I'm still a foreigner in a classroom of strangers.

Not to say anything of meetings postponed, guest lectures canceled and work groups that still haven't worked. I am on a committee that hasn't yet met this semester, but we are communicating on an e-mail thread that is surely threatening a Guinness record. Reply all...reply all...reply all. Finally, despite the dedicated work of the facilities crew, it is extremely difficult to park on campus. Just the thought of going to work is daunting.

So, if the time off been in February, I wouldn't feel as disjointed, but I guess you take your jammies and hot chocolate when you can get it.

Sage in London

As mentioned by fellow blogger Bob Goepfert, Sage is in London. Our department is offering "Arts Immersion", a course that sends students to shows, concerts and museums all over the city. The students have really committed themselves to seeing everything. For instance, yesterday two students did a Thames River ride, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Greenwich and a show at the National Theatre. Those attractions alone could be enough for one trip, but that is how zealously students have approached their trip.

Every student has shared different highlights. The Crown Jewels have been a favorite. Our show at Shakespeare's Globe has had many mentions and the visit Westminster Abbey is way up there. The shopping on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Portobello Road has been popular. Students have been quick to note the bloody, lurid history that makes its way into most attractions. Ancient murders, tortures and ghosts are very salable to tourists in the 21st century.

As for myself, I have been gorging on theatre. London is a mecca for, if not quality theatre, then quantity theatre, with diverse options. Some highlights and lowlights are:

• Hamlet--Slick, imaginative Shakespeare set in a modern day surveillance state. This production is part of NT Live and will be broadcast in the U.S.
• King Lear--Stark, clear production with a beautiful, heroic performance by Derek Jacobi. Again, this will be part of NT Live--don't miss it.
• Men Should Weep--A neglected feminist classic from 1937 that looks at the effects of poverty on a family living in the slums of Glasgow. Heart-breaking and surprisingly funny.
  
• Oliver!--An eye-poppingly, sumptuous production that covers serious flaws in the material. A terrific performance by Griff Rhys-Jones as Fagin.
• Fela!--A musical that looks at corruption in Nigeria through the concept of a nightclub show by activist musician, Fela Kuti. Part of NT Live.
• Seasons Greetings--A bleak sitcom of the Christmas we have all suffered through with our families.
• The Master Builder--An arty production that is both overblown and underwhelming at the same time. Some of it is the play, which is later, more obscure Ibsen, but it could still benefit from more heart and less mind.
• The Invisible Man--An all-around good time with amazingly clever illusions that had to work close-up.
• Hansel and Gretel--A dark opera with a cooler full of dead children. Chilling and fun.
• Winter Wassail--A presentation of ancient songs and spoken word at the Globe Theatre to ring out the old and ring in the new. A very fresh way to bring on 2011.
  

Other mentions include: The Country Girl (dull), The Rivals (lazy) and Deathtrap (a guilty pleasure that soon wears thin).

War Horse gets its own mention because it does what the best theatre should do. It presents the human condition through imagination and complete trust in the audience. In it, we see the best and worst of ourselves and the horrors and the love all around us. The play is a simple children's story, but works on many levels, appealing to many demographics. The stagecraft is rudimentary and ingenious all at the same time. When it comes to New York next month, don't miss it.

Seeing so much good work leaves you jonesing for your next fix. I don't know when that will be, but have enjoyed taking advantage of the theatre London has to offer.

More Bits and Pieces

1. I took several students to the NYSTI board meeting at the Capitol yesterday. Aside from the disappointing outcome, we discussed what, if anything, was learned from watching our public servants in action. One of the students was frustrated that Larry Schwartz, who Governor Paterson handpicked as Chairman of the NYSTI board, referred to Artistic Director David Bunce's remarks as 'drama'.

Whenever someone who works in the theatre asserts themselves, rationally or not, their behavior is dismissed as 'drama'. When used this way, the word both ignores anything meaningful that was presented and subtly derides the profession as practiced. I don't like it, though I suppose I'm being dramatic.

If a politician asserts herself, it can dismissed as 'rhetoric'. Could a supermodel's complaints be seen as 'posturing'? A doctor may have 'poor bedside manner'. A policeman? A minister?

2. Grades are in, the college is closed for the holidays and plans are being laid for the next semester.

• Sage's new Dean of Education, Lori Quigley, has put together a great lecture series that I will be looking forward to, beginning with Tom Porter, author and Mohawk Indian Chief.
• Dr. David Salomon in the English Department will be bring British Poet Laurate, Carol Ann Duffy, to campus in April.
  
• Our Creative and Performing Arts Department will be producing The Heiress and Seussical.
  

More to come on all of that...

3. Happy Holidays to all. It can be a tough time of the year, but I hope everyone finds comfort in family and looking forward to the future. It's funny...I look forward to Christmas all year long and then get within two days of it and am not sure my mind, body or spirit will hold out. Still, I'm going to make it. Best wishes for 2011.

The State and the Arts

I spoke with Senator Roy McDonald at the Troy Farmers' Market today and discussed my concerns about the imminent closing of NYSTI and how it will affect Sage. Understandably, he explained the financial disaster that our state is now in and how he is in triage mode--helping to fund essential services like health, safety and education.

Of course, I take some exception to word "essential", but if I were to call the arts "essential to the human spirit" it would probably necessitate a collective eye-roll from my readership. Still, in my mind no two human services are alike or without their worth--comparing an art gallery to well-baby clinic is like comparing paintings to babies. I can't imagine a world without either.

The senator told me that these are hard times and that 900 state employees are being laid off. I replied that 15 of them work at NYSTI. He also gently explained that he doesn't understand artists and academics, but that he has to live in a real world with serious troubles. I am aware that is code for something, but as both an artist and academic, am probably not equipped to understand it. I have heard Rush Limbaugh say similar things on his radio show, as if artists and academics live in some alternate universe where rising gas prices, devastating taxes and the chaotic state of our government doesn't affect us. If only I could live in that rarefied world.

I guess I admire Senator's forthrightness, but would still like to live in a country where the arts mattered more to our government officials. FDR understood that providing employment to artists during the Great Depression was essential to the nation's spirit. Winston Churchill knew it was important to keep theatres open during the attacks on London in WWII. Both of these great leaders lived in scarier times than we do now. Even Lyndon Johnson observed that, "...the arts and humanities get the basement." Ask anyone at SUNY Albany in Theatre or Foreign Languages if that is true.

Speaking of London, I am about to take 20 students to study theatre there for two weeks. Their government-supported arts are affordable and of excellent quality, which makes the UK an essential destination spot and their arts an essential economic force. Can you imagine a London without the National Theatre or the Royal Shakespeare Company?

Maybe the NYSTI ship has sailed (though I hope not), but when this recession is over, we will still have hospitals, firemen, unions and a state government for all. I doubt that the arts will have fared as well. The cuts in funding by Mayor Jerry Jennings to Park Playhouse, Capital Repertory Theatre and other companies are appalling and will certainly cripple one of the organizations this year. Whether our leaders see it or not, artists pay bills, provide service, vote, live and die in this country. When a politician says that they support the little guy, they should know that includes artists.

To quote playwright Arthur Miller (eye-roll everyone), "Attention, attention must be paid."

NYSTI's A Christmas Carol

Blogging continues to take a backseat to directing. I have been working on NYSTI's production of A Christmas Carol and my extra time has been at a premium.

There has been a strange energy during this rehearsal period, probably due to the fact that NYSTI is not named in the upcoming state budget and is now running out of funds. A Christmas Carol could very well be the organization's final production. Since the departure of Patricia Snyder in April, over the half of NYSTI's staff has left or retired. Though their workforce is downsized and those remaining are covering many jobs, I have been impressed with the staff's adaptability. NYSTI has had to grow leaner and meaner. Change has empowered the company members and it is sad that their rebirth coincides with their being on life support.

The future seems bleak, though there are bright moments. An intern-organized talent show fundraiser sold out the Meader Little Theatre last weekend and may be repeated later in the month. A group of concerned citizens has formed to begin fundraising efforts for the company. Finally, The Record has graciously offered to profile the show in a three-part series leading up to the official opening on Sunday.

What does NYSTI's possible demise mean to Russell Sage College? In a word, much. The company has been generous with both shared materials, teaching and opportunities for our students. Because of NYSTI's training, Sage is able to turn out highly skilled and competent theatre professionals. Indeed, several alums have been hired to work on A Christmas Carol, plus we have twelve current students onstage and behind the scenes. Access to a company like this is a great learning experience for our majors and Sage is committed to maintaining professional theatre opportunities on our campus. At best, I hope it will be NYSTI. At the very least, I hope it will be NYSTI in another form (probably minus the NYS).

For now, we have A Christmas Carol and I can't wait to see the special magic that the school audiences will bring to tomorrow's performance. It's that energy--honest, unjaded and bright-- that will be missing in Capital Region if NYSTI folds.