We Are Theatre - Sept 24th

An amazing event taking place in NYC next week Monday!

WE ARE THEATRE is described as a speakout about sexism in global theater.  Monologues, skits, songs and scenes, featuring over 20 playwrights.  There's no web page for the event, but there is a facebook page, an indiegogo campaign and a link for tickets.

50/50 in 2020 and Guerrilla Girls on Tour are two of the many groups on the planning/making/organizing side.

When I asked on their facebook page about ways for people outside of NYC to participate, I was told that the event will be livestreamed, but at this point I don't have any more info.  Will update when I find out more!

In the meantime, Counting Actors for September is just 10 days or so away.  The project as a whole is at 175 plays, and could use your contributions.  Visit the Counting Actors page on this blog for more info.

Monologue searching - beyond the monologue books

I'm never not searching for monologues, but this is at the forefront for me right now, because my current monologues have been in heavy rotation for about a year, and I need to rotate in some new pieces.

In particular, I need some new classic pieces (my definitition of 'classic' is a play from approx 1950 or before with a non-contemporary approach to language).  How I found my current classic piece was not by picking up a monologue book, but by thinking about classical archetypes, and what ones I'm best suited to play, given my type.  I ultimately decided that I wanted to find an archetypal loyal wife - and I settled on Andromache (wife of Hector, prince of Troy in the Trojan War).  By searching online, I found plays that feature Andromache - by Euripedes, Racine, Shakespeare and more!

I grabbed one version of each of the interesting plays from the library, and decided that the ideas in Andromache's speech in Euripedes' Trojan Women were the ones I could get behind.  Then, I needed to find a translation/adaptation of the play with language that was exciting - depending on the age of the translation and the nationality of the translator (Brit vs. American), I found versions of the speech that were too stuffy, too flowery, too intellectual, and ultimately found Karen Hartman's Troy Women, which felt bold and exciting and fun to read out loud.

I pulled the most personally provoking 55 seconds out of the approximately 3 minute speech, and my classic monologue was ready for rehearsal.

Counting Actors, August 2012

This project began in June 2011. With the contributions of many theater makers and theater goers,  I've logged stats on 165 Bay Area shows so far.  To learn more about the project, including a link to a list of prior posts, and how to contribute stats when you see a show or work on one, go here.

13 Shows Counted:
Wily West/Believers
Marin Theater Company/Circle Mirror Transformation
Shotgun/Precious Little
Marin Shakes/The Liar & Midsummer Night's Dream
Custom Made/Merchant of Venice (in this production, Salerio, Salanio and the Duke of Venice were played by women as female characters)
Livermore Shakespeare/Hamlet & Merry Wives of Windsor (Livermore Shakes casts a company, so some actors are in both shows, and counted twice below.  Rosencranz and Guildenstern played by women as female in Hamlet, and women played Shallow, John Rugby and Peter Simple as male characters in Merry Wives)
Porchlight/Our Country's Good (this production co-directed by two women)
Central Works/Education of a Rake
Willows/Doll's House (male actors in this show include 2 boys alternating in the child role)
Cal Shakes/Blithe Spirit
Back It Up Productions/Project: Lohan (multiple roles played by most of actors in this show; lots of cross gender work by both men and women)


The Stats:
6 male directors, 8 female directors
9 male writers, 4 female writers
133 total actors, 73 male, 60 female
39 union actors, 94 non-union actors
22 union men, 17 union women
132 local actors, 1 non-local

I couldn't put these stats together without the contributions of folks in the community.  Thank you to Maria Giere Marquis, Marissa Skudlarek, Kendra Lee Oberhauser, Karen Thomson Hall, AJ Hileman, Michael Patrick Gaffney and Arwen Andersen. 

September info will go up between Oct 1 and Oct 5. If you see a show or are working on a show with performances in september, please go here to learn how to submit the statistics. 

Thanks for tweeting, liking, +ing or linking this post, or talking about it in the green room, dressing room, rehearsal room, or at the bar after the show.