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Lynch PLAY – Yellow Springs, OH Tour – February 2006
Photo credit: Alison Cherry
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Photo credit: Kate Weiman |
This is a truly
unusual holy family and they deserve to be allowed their share of
Christmas glow.--BACKSTAGE review December 9, 2005 |
"The Dickens" - Produced: December 1 - 17, 2005 at Altered Stages, NYC.
The setting is an abandoned saloon in a lawless Western town in the 1880's.
It is our experiment in the Western genre, with dark humor.
" This is funny."
- Famous last words of John Henry "Doc" Holliday (1851-1887)
Photo credit: Kate Weiman
Photo credit: Kate Weiman
nytheatre.com review
Josephine Cashman - December 3, 2005
Presented by Firebrand Theatre Company, The Dickens is an unusual
Christmas tale about evil and redemption, swaggering gunslingers and
pregnant prostitutes. Written by Michael Scott-Price and directed by
Jaime Robert Carrillo, the play strives for comedy, but the result is
an uneven but unsettling homage to the Old West with an unexpected
holiday-spiritual twist.
Set in a lawless 1880s saloon in Nevada on Christmas Eve, The Dickens
puts six of the world's most criminal souls together, where they
bicker, drink Dead Hombre, play poker, and find themselves in the
presence of the sinister Lightbearer, the Devil in a not-so-subtle
disguise. It seems that every Christmas the Devil gives a Christmas
present to God. Sadly, it is never explained why Lightbearer is in
such a Christmas State of Mind, which would have been an intriguing
idea to explore.
Bill Pierce's set design is marvelous--he truly brings to life a rough
and tumble saloon that's seen one too many brawls. The sound design by
Matt O'Hare is also impressive, adding to the atmosphere of depravity.
Kit Stolen's costumes and Chris Manning's lighting help complete the
air of Old West authenticity--I almost expected Clint Eastwood to strut
through the saloon doors and onto the stage.
The cast give solid and entertaining performances as the bad apples.
Jorge Luis Casanova-Alvarez's portrayal of Father Island, a
dissipated, suicidal priest who's lost his faith, is especially
effective and discomfiting. Rich Renner is amusing as the peculiar,
fastidious, and weaselly Undertaker who's taken over the saloon,
wiping down the tables even as he is hiding under them. Jessica
Pagan's Lightbearer is astonishingly chilling with her slow,
deliberate movements and a deep, grim voice that's in striking
contrast to the sharp trebles and petulant whines of the other misfits
at the bar. She's a bit of an old-school Halloween Monster, relishing
her chance to deliver one hell of a smackdown. The rest of the
ensemble rallies around them and creates an interesting vision of the
Old West.
Billed as a comedy, the show is more whimsical that comic, and while
it makes for a pleasant Christmas fable, it is not quite as funny or
disconcerting as it mght have been. Perhaps the play would have been
served better if the comic elements had been played up more. Some of
the criminals seem more lost than evil, more pathetic than malicious.
The director seems more intent on delivering the message than letting
the story speak for itself, and the play suffers as a consequence:
when Lightbearer offered his chosen villains a choice, there was never
any suspense as to what they would decide. They may have "the dickens"
scared out of them, but they never seem as unredeemable as they are
purported to be.
Still, the play is a lively addition to the Christmas canon, and
Firebrand Theory has a visually beautiful, quirky, and earnestly
delivered play.
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Showbusiness Weekly Critics Pick
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"VENUS IN FURS"
Produced: September 2005 at the Philly Fringe; September 30 - October
16, 2005 at the Collective Unconscious, NYC
Firebrand Theory's VENUS IN FURS is a story of a wealthy dilettante
who has everything and does nothing, yet falls in love with a woman
who gives him the courage to confess his deepest urges. She
reluctantly accepts to role-play his long-buried super-sensual
desires, and purchases a whip. They are both transformed by this, and
the ingredients for their love become the ingredients for their hate.
At its core, VENUS IN FURS is the bizarre love story of the world's
first willing sex slave.
The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it,
and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden
to itself.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)
- Philly Fringe
Cast: Jaime Robert Carrillo, Kim Katzberg, Amy Kersten and Carlton R.
Tanis
Sound: Javier Berzal, Set: Daniel A. Krause,
Costume: Stephanie Nichols, Light: Andrew Luther Glickman,
Stage Manager: Mariel Matos, Choreography: Saar Harari,
Director: Michael Scott-Price
- New York City
Photo credit: Alison Cherry
Photo credit: Alison Cherry
Venus In Furs
Directed and Adapted by Michael Scott-Price
From the novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Collective: Unconscious
279 Church St.
212-696-6566
Review by Sandra Bertrand (Showbusiness Weekly)
Take a man and a woman, and you have the promise of sexual attraction.
Dress the heroine in a white fur and furnish her with a whip. Now you
have the premise for a play.
Firebrand Theory Theater Company's performance of this infamous 19th
century novel, whose author's last name inspired the "M" in S&M is
certainly an ambitious undertaking. Director Michael Scott-Price
stated, "The stage is the perfect medium to see up close what happens
when one person follows his human urge and darkest fantasies to the
end." A wealthy dilettante, Severin von Kusiemski, played by Jamie
Robert Carrillo, persuades Kim Katzberg as Mademoiselle Wanda von
Dunajew to reduce him to the role of a donkey. Gregor the slave, as he
is now called, will be her unrestricted property and she may do with
him as she wishes. A contract is drawn up and the action begins.
This cast works hard to realize the director's intentions. As
sometimes happens with novel to theater adaptations, the flood of
words can prove too weighty for the chosen medium. The two leads make
a willing attempt to surface from this surfeit of language. Mr.
Carillo physicalizes his role wherever possible, prostrating himself
before his gleeful mistress, while Kim Katzberg takes a more sinuous
turn, using her natural litheness and elasticity of expression to show
her state of mind.
The program notes inform us that Firebrand Theory Theater Company has
dedicated itself to dramatizing the infinite mystery of the
extraordinary in the ordinary. Not a bad ambition if you're up to the
task, and the director is to be commended for his tenacity. Risk can
be a good thing. We should look forward to how Firebrand might take
flight with their next production.
To Love, to Be Loved
by Julie Sharbutt ( OffOffOnline.com)
Venus in Furs reviewed September 30, 2005
In a sea of Off-Off Broadway productions, each vying for the same
theatergoing audience, it is difficult not to be drawn in, or
repelled, by a publicity line. For example, Firebrand Theory's
production of Venus in Furs may suffer as much as it benefits from its
proudly declared themes. As described, these themes-a "bizarre love
story," "super-sensual desires," "darkest fantasies," "alternative
cultures," and "the 'M' in S/M"-are going to raise some very
particular expectations. Especially coming from Firebrand Theory, a
company that has "dedicated itself to stir up public feelings by
investigation of controversial issues and dramatizing the infinite
mystery of the extraordinary in the ordinary."
Yet the publicity that feeds those expectations is rather deceiving,
since this production is unexpectedly, and enjoyably, literary. The
play was adapted for the stage by director Michael Scott-Price from
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's 19th-century novel of the same name (the
last part of von Sacher-Masoch's name is the source of the word
"masochism"). Produced as a parlor piece complete with period
clothing, Venus in Furs succeeds as an intriguing look at a struggle
with Victorian-era restrictions-less chains and leather collars than
Pride and Prejudice. Well, granted, Pride and Prejudice if Elizabeth
had subjugated Darcy with a bullwhip.
Not bothering with much subtle exposition, the play tells us that our
beleaguered hero Severin, played by Jaime Robert Carillo, is a
"wealthy dilettante" who falls in love with Wanda, whom he likens to
the goddess Venus. Played by Kim Katzberg, she is beautiful, cold,
removed, and lofty. The rest is a slow unveiling of just how far
Severin will go and what rights and dignity he will give up to be by
the side of the woman he loves, even as she gradually becomes more
abusive.
As Severin, Carillo is interesting to watch. Tall and physically
imposing with a shock of black hair, he makes himself as impish and
groveling as his stature will allow, sometimes to great effect and,
occasionally, to an intentional but ill-conceived comic effect.
As Wanda, Katzberg is lovely. Costumed in a white, empire-wasted
dress, and with her unusually large, light-blue eyes always wide open,
she looks rather like a slightly demonic angel, despite her sometimes
too pervasive casualness (she delivers a few of her darker monologues
arch-backed with the inside of her elbows facing the audience).
Together, Carillo and Katzberg have a sweet and natural chemistry, an
uncomfortably charming factor in their characters' complex
relationship.
Director Michael Scott-Price does a fine job making the most of a
limited space and a wordy text. The production's style perhaps pays
homage to Francis Ford Coppola's film Dracula, another adaptation of a
late-Victorian novel (written by Bram Stoker some 30 years after Venus
in Furs) that explores repressed sexuality. In this production, as in
Coppola's film, the director handles lengthy journal entries as
internal monologues, with recorded passages playing over some of the
action.
This helps resolve some of the problems with the play's stilted action
and keeps things moving so that the production runs a tight 90
minutes. Scott-Price also cleverly uses the supporting characters,
played by just two actors (Amy Kersten and Carlton R. Tanis), to
create small stage pictures, as when Wanda's deceased first husband
returns silently to embrace her as she fondly remembers him. Moreover,
Kersten and Tanis provide an outside perspective on the goings-on in
Severin and Wanda's strange relationship.
The play ends at a pinnacle of brutality, both emotional and physical,
and yet it seems unresolved. This may be the fault of the director and
actors in failing to build to a decisive point, or it may be a
reluctance by von Sacher-Masoch to comment on the unusual and, at the
time, completely taboo nature of his subject. Either way, the journey
to that point is engaging.
Had the play been produced at, say, the Classic Stage Company, a
theater known for its revivals of classics, you would know what to
expect from a staging of this piece. But lovers of literature, feel
free to head to the Collective Unconscious theater-you'll be
pleasantly surprised. As for lovers of something a little more
hard-core, this might not be the show for you.
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1 AUDELCO nomination for excellence in
Black Theatre
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Photo credit: Alison Cherry
"Lynch PLAY" – Produced: March 25 – April 24, 2005 at
the Gene
Frankel Theatre, NYC.
Lynch PLAY begins when a historical drama playing in the East Village
is interrupted by a minstrel in blackface named Willie D. He decides
to impose himself as narrator for the interrupted play, much to the
actors’ chagrin, and provide his own colorful interpretation of
America’s racial history. Both Blacks and Whites are held up for
laughs and dissection in Willie D’s impromptu narrative while the
bewildered actors try their professional best to have the show go on,
despite the antics of the black clown.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
-Mahatma Gandhi |
Photo credit: Alison Cherry
 l
Photo credit: Alison Cherry
Review of Lynch PLAY – NYTheatre.com
Martin Denton • March 26, 2005 |
It's an ambitious, audacious idea for a theatre work: A contemporary, serious examination of the history of slavery and racism in the U.S. is interrupted by a 19th century minstrel, of the sort that was once a staple of American popular entertainment, made up in blackface with big painted red-orange lips, white gloves, and wide innocent eyes. This unwelcome visitor takes over the proceedings, and leads the actors and audience toward an honest, authentic account of our history, unfettered by concerns for political correctness.
Such is the goal of Firebrand Theory Theater Company's latest show, Lynch PLAY. They don't quite get there—Michael Scott-Price's script doesn't show us as much of the play the minstrel interrupted in order for the conceit to fully gel, and after a riveting hour about the ante- bellum period, the thing accelerates and ratchets forward to the present somewhat abruptly. But they are to be applauded for treating a serious subject with intelligence and curiosity and for understanding that audiences want to be challenged and will follow theatre artists on a path that's unusual, risky, or even a little bit dangerous as long as they're treated with respect. So bravo to the Firebrands!
And there is much in Lynch PLAY that's well-realized, and a great deal that's of interest. The show is organized as a series of vignettes, most of them based on historical artifacts/documents related to the history of slavery in the United States. There is a sameness to some of the presentation here, but when the creators' imaginations really
kick in, the show soars. A slave auction is recreated with chilling potency, for example, with a replica of an early 19th century handbill advertising same prominently displayed on one of the pillars framing the rear of the playing area. "Progressive" statesmen of the revolutionary period such as Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are
revealed to be noxious racists in monologues based on their own writings.
In one of the show's most arresting scenes, the early history of the Ku Klux Klan is narrated by an African American actor dressed up as a klansman in white sheets and pointy wizard hat. In another, much more contemporary sequence, the famous theme song from the TV show The Jeffersons ("We're moving on up to the East Side / To a deluxe apartment in the sky") is appropriated by a group of ex-slaves heading north after the Civil War, to sharply devastating effect.
The overall impact of Lynch PLAY is to remind the audience of historical truths that are often forgotten and to inform us of facts that are usually omitted or swept under the table; as a kind of epilogue, there's a consideration of how blacks and whites see each other in today's America (there's a dialogue, presented as being among
the actors themselves, about why, for example, white people aren't supposed to use the "N" word). It makes for a valuable evening, and for often invigorating, adventurous theatre.
Director Jaime Robert Carrillo has his company play gender- and race- blind, so that Rebecca Lovett turns up as Tom Jefferson, while Keith Blaser and Brian Weaver, both white, often play black slaves. Blaser is probably the strongest actor here, but everyone gets a least one moment to shine. Jumaane Ford and B Young are the other ensemble members. Scott-Price himself plays the minstrel Willie D, which is perhaps not the best choice—he comes across as too young and lacking in versatility to embody this ambitious, much-larger-than-life role.
Carrillo keeps the show moving briskly and, despite lots of theatre of cruelty/fourth-wall-destroying elements, he keeps the audience engaged and focused without ever allowing us to feel alienated. The design— sets by Michael Brancato, costumes by Amy J. Pedigo, lighting by Danielle Baisden—is simple, spare, and very effective. |
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"Androcles and the Lion - A War of the Cross"
Produced: December 3 - 20, 2004 at the Gene Frankel Theatre, NYC
The Pope Declares Crusade Against Islam!
Set in Jerusalem during the bloody Holy war period of
the Crusades:
Christians vs. Muslims. A soldier and a female prisoner dare to cross their lines
of faith in the name of love. One man is the most feared killing machine of the
land. Another is proclaimed a sorcerer who talks to animals. All exist under the
mercy of a Pope who throws people to the lions on a whim and for his public's
amusement. "Androcles and the Lion" was written by George Bernard Shaw
in 1912, yet its truth remains today. Firebrand Theory's adaptation "Androcles
and the Lion - A War of the Cross" moves the action from Shaw's Roman era
to the Crusades, in the hotbed of the 12th Century Middle East. This comedic-drama,
replaying the timeless human struggle over God, is a flare for human acceptance
throughout the world..
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."~ George
Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)British playwright & novelist from Annajanska
Photo credit: Sean Hennessy
Photo credit: Sean Hennessy
Cast: Jaime Robert Carrillo, Nedra McClyde, Izzy Ruiz, Ryan Etzel, George
Trahanis, Robert Michael Johnson, Francesco Nuzzi, Arthur An, Allegra Lucas and
Peter Paton
Sound: Javier Berzal, Set: Marie-Joelle Brassard,
Costume: Kelsey Hunt, Light: Christopher Manning,
Stage Manager: Joshua M. Sacks, Choreography: Saar Harari,
Director: Michael Scott-Price
"RomAntic aGE"
Produced: May 2004 at the Gene Frankel Theatre, NYC; July 2004 at the Winnipeg
Fringe Festival; August 2004 at the Minnesota Fringe Festival; and September 2004
at the Dublin International Fringe Festival
RomAntic aGE uses archetypal characters
to illustrate the lost, angry and fantastic crisis of Narrator, who is suffering
a deluge of personal attacks by life – first, he witnessed a death, then was betrayed
by his wife and now his visions and dreams turn into real-life encounters with
messengers not of this time, nor of this world. The verses of poet and artist
William Blake provide the vision of this gothic journey.
"There is another world,
but it is in this one."- from surrealist poet, Paul Eluard
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- New York City -
RomAntic aGE
Gene Frankel Theatre April 30-May 23
- quotes from May 1, 2004 by Martin Denton, nytheatre.com
- Firebrand Theory is a new theatre group formed by Michael Scott-Price
and Jaime Robert Carrillo (they had previously done some work in Washington, DC
as feeT of claY). RomAntic aGE is their New York City debut. Are they a company
to keep an eye on? Sure.
The piece, created and directed by Scott-Price, is abstract and performance-art-y.
Some of the movement is richly evocative, particularly the exciting fight sequences.
RomAntic aGE finds theatrical expression for its themes that is often surprising
and lovely.
- Winnipeg Fringe Festival -
RomAntic aGE
Firebrand Theory Theater Company (New York, NY)
- July 14, 2004 review by Con Sweatman, CBC Manitoba
- A challenging play to watch (and review), New York’s theatre
company Firebrand Theory takes pinches from the romantic poetry of William Blake,
and brews a confusing and wonderful play of love and love lost. RomAntic aGE is
told by using the verses of Blake, which are sorted out brilliantly into a story
about a nameless narrator, the archetypal man who loses his wife then wanders
earth full of misery, cursing love and God. The language is difficult at first,
as is the opening and exaggerated onstage sex between the man’s wife and her lover.
But the piece unravels its message with ease, and strong performances that help
guide the audience through the rich text. The work is sincere and honest, and
it seems Blake knows a thing or two about love. As the narrator begins to let
go of his pain and open to the words of Joy, there was a moment where I forgot
to review and heard words of poetry.
- Minnesota Fringe Festival -
Audience Reviews
Photo credit: Scott Pakudaitis, Fringe Photographer
- *****stars
Blake into theater? Yes, it works!
Ever see a performance that not only stimulated your brain but also moved your
soul? William Blake has been one of my favorite poets for years. His words breathed
with vitality as they were used as the script in this expertly performed piece.
–Scott Pakudaitis (Posted on Aug. 12)
Photo credit: Scott Pakudaitis, Fringe Photographer
- ****stars
Lighten Up
Bleaker Blake than Ginsberg singing little lambs to sleep. The cosmic mythic mix
offered here has clever transitions and staging, but also funereal music occasionally
so dank that it's like a cartoon sound effect. I liked the recitation pace, half
of the cast (don't you have to really see some of what Blake saw to sell the lines,
even via drone?) and the whole concept, which is good enough to up my rating a
full, illuminated star.
–Thomas Cassidy (Posted on Aug. 14)
Photo credit: Scott Pakudaitis, Fringe Photographer
- ****stars
Romance and Rage (not antic)
Firebrand Theory churned up some of the choicest nuggets of William Blake's poetry,
and assembled them into a compelling story of alienation, loss and spiritual misguidance.
Expert performances.
–Bryon Gunsch (Posted on Aug. 8)
- The ESB Dublin
Fringe Festival -
THE IRISH TIMES Wednesday, September 22, 2004
- Reviews ESB Dublin Fringe Festival
RomAntic aGE
Andrews Lane Studio
Belinda McKeon (THE ARTS section)
Firebrand Theory, a New York-based company, has had an inspired rifle through
the writings of the poet William Blake, and the result is an exploration of urban
loneliness and redemption that, while erratic, is always impassioned. And always
authentic – in a clever work of warp and woof, every last word spoke onstage by
the five-member cast is a quote from Blake himself.
Jaime Robert Carrillo plays the unnamed protagonist, a New York immigrant betrayed
by both his wife and his city, and everything from The Chimney Sweeper to Never
Seek to Tell They Love is recruited to translate his woe – neatly, indeed poignantly
at times, but in too laboured and self conscious at others. Carrillo’s own performance
is powerful, his anguish palpable, but the private angel and devil which shadow
his ordeal are played with scant originality by his companions onstage, and other
characters are thinly drawn, while a promising soundtrack is marred by jerky application.
Still, fans of the poems may love this, and it’s an interestingly modern delve
into a romantic notebook.
Sunday Independent September 26, 2004
- Emer O’Kelly (IRISH LIFE section)
RomAntic aGE by Michael Scott-Price.
Firebrand Theory Company at Andrew’s
Lane Studio
A company of fairly young performers taking on the poetry of William Blake as
the basis for a stage presentation is enough to strike terror into the heart of
anyone who regularly has to listen to young Irish companies mangling Shakespearean
verse.
Firebrand Theory is based in New York, and its members have varied theatrical
training backgrounds: any or all of them could be drafted into Irish drama schools
with effect from today to give students a lesson how to speak verse as though
it has some emotional and dramatic relevance.
Blake was at the forefront of the Romantic movement, and six actors (one on voiceover)
use his verse (and only his verse) to create a vision of love unfulfilled around
the tormented figure of a Narrator who is all at once lover, husband, son and
father, elevated and soaring as young love unfurls, only to be dashed down as
its ashes blow about his crippled innocence.
"Never seek to tell thy love,
Love that never told can be;
For the gentle wind does move
Silently, invisibly."
"Soon as she was gone from me,
A traveller came by,
Silently, invisibly:
He took her with a sigh."
But the company, with admirably controlled choreographed movement and emotional
discipline, manage to speak love in all its aspects, as the central Narrator’s
soul is laid bare on a park bench, the platform for his life.
This is simple, accomplished and adult theatre in the best sense of the term:
moving and mature.
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