Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Metatheatrical Angst - Romantic Deconstruction

American Millennials: Angst, Apathy, Irony, and Generation Validation 

American Millennials are being reared in a culture that stresses an aversion to things that are seen as harmful or counterproductive, where mistakes are to be avoided at all cost. They are a generation that, almost out of necessity, has embraced irony to an excruciating degree. Irony is now fashionable and a widely embraced default setting for social interaction, writing, and the visual arts. Today, pop characters directly address the television-watching audience with a wink and nudge. For example, a show like “30 Rock” delivered a kind of meta-television-irony irony; the protagonist was a writer for a show that satirizes television, and the character was played by a woman who actually used to write for a show that satirized television. Each scene comes with an all-inclusive tongue-in-cheek sensibility.

And when it comes to a need for outside validation, A University of Michigan study published in the Journal of Social Issues found that college students who base their own self-worth on external sources, like approval from others, reported more stress, anger, academic problems, relationship conflicts, drug and alcohol use, and symptoms of eating disorders. 


The Seagull by Anton Chekhov

A group of friends and relations gather at a country estate to see the first performance of an experimental play written and staged by the young man of the house (Konstantin), as aspiring writer who dreams of bringing new forms to the theatre.


Metatheatre

Stuart Davis of Cornell University suggests that "metatheatricality" should be defined by its fundamental effect of destabilizing any sense of realism: "Metatheatre is a convenient name for the quality or force in a play which challenges theatre's claim to be simply realistic — to be nothing but a mirror in which we view the actions and sufferings of characters like ourselves, suspending our disbelief in their reality. Metatheatre begins by sharpening awareness of the unlikeness of life to dramatic art; it may end by making us aware of life's uncanny likeness to art or illusion. By calling attention to the strangeness, artificiality, illusoriness, or arbitrariness — in short, the theatricality -- of the life we live, it marks those frames and boundaries that conventional dramatic realism would hide."

Thursday, May 5, 2016

CAST LIST

STUPID F#CKING BIRD CAST

CON – Ellis Burgin
NINA – Dani Knight
DEV – Noah Lanckton
MASH – Oak Horton
EMMA – Katherine Reid
TRIG – Austin Yates
SORN – Ian Walls


I want to thank everyone again who came in to audition for STUPID F#CKING BIRD on Monday and Tuesday. I enjoyed meeting and working with all of you these past few days. Thank you for your patience and enthusiasm during the casting process. 


Please initial your name on the cast list. I would like to meet one more time before you all head off for the summer. I’m suggesting May 11th, around 4:30 at RTT.  Please email Jace Jamason (jjamason@uvm.edu) to confirm. If that time and day doesn’t work for you, let him know your availability next week as soon as possible.

Monday, May 2, 2016

CALLBACKS FOR STUPID F#CKING BIRD


I want to thank you all for coming to audition Monday night for Stupid F#cking Bird. It was great to see you read and bring your interpretations to the scenes. I wish I could callback everyone but after much consideration, I have decided to callback the following actors:

Callie Mae Bowen
Ellis Burgin
Abra Clawson
Caroline Dababneh
Caitlin Durkin
Sean German
Sam Hall
Oak Horton
Sofia Hurwitz
Dani Knight
Noah Lanckton
Samantha Lavertue
Grace McLaughlin
Katherine Reid
Kevin Southwick
Ian Walls
Austin Yates

I know it’s a busy time as we near the end of the semester, but I highly encourage you to read the play if you haven’t already prior to tonight’s callbacks. It will help you understand the characters even better. Please look over the scene you read Monday night. Besides reading the part you auditioned for, some people will be asked to read for other characters.

I request that everyone arrive by 6:30 PM. Most people will be let go once I have seen you read again, though I also may try some different pairings of people together. If you have any conflicts, please let Jace know: jjamason@uvm.edu

Again, it was wonderful to watch you ALL audition and I wish you a successful end of the semester.

Best,
Craig

PS: Many thanks to Jace, Nick, Kelsey, and Jarod for their help!


Thursday, April 28, 2016

Sides and Additional Information

The sign-up sheet has been posted. I have added the sides to the blog and you can find them here.

A reminder about performance dates and rehearsals:

Performances

Wednesday, Sept. 28 @ 7:30 pm (Invited Dress)
Thursday, Sept. 29 @ 7:30 pm (Opening)
Friday, Sept. 30 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, Oct. 1 @ 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm

Wednesday, Oct. 5 (brush up rehearsal)
Thursday, Oct. 6 @ 7:30 pm
Friday, Oct. 7 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, Oct. 8 @ 7:30 pm
Sunday, Oct. 9 @ 2:00 pm (Closing)

Rehearsals

Rehearsals will begin on Monday, August 29th. Rehearsals will be evenings Monday-Friday, and Saturday during the day. There will be a rehearsal on Labor Day, Sept. 5--most likely during the day.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Stupid Fucking Bird: Synopsis and Character Breakdown


This is a modern, funny, smart and emotional update of Chekhov's The SeagullStudents should not concern themselves with being age appropriate for the audition. I listed the ages below as conceived by the playwright, but I feel that it is more important to find actors who can invest themselves in the roles regardless of age. Anyone who signed up for Clybourne Park would be just as right for the casting of Stupid Fucking Bird

You can access the play here. Please read it if at all possible, it will help you decide what role to audition for. If you have trouble downloading the play, please send me an email: craig.wells@uvm.edu or cewells72@gmail.com.  Sides will be made available later this week. Please familiarize yourself with them prior to Monday's audition.

Auditions will be Monday, May 2 from 6:30-10:00 PM. Callbacks will be Tuesday, May 3, from 6:30-10:00 PM. All auditions will be at Royall Tyler Theatre.

Synopsis


Kind, hopeful Dev suffers from an unrequited love for Mash, who composes cleverly despairing songs on the ukulele. Mash is desperately in love with Con, a passionate playwright who is deeply in love with Nina, his beautiful, vibrant muse, and childhood friend. Nina seems to love him back, until she becomes entranced by Trig, a literary star who happens to be dating Con’s mother Emma, a successful actress who is hopelessly commercial, in the eyes of her son. With a dead bird, a gun, and a little help from the audience, Con might be able to win Nina’s heart again… or at least feed his own tentative, morbid creativity. In this edgy, funny, and compassionate reboot of Anton Chekhov’s famous The Seagull, Aaron Posner has created a strong, energetic ensemble piece, a hilarious and moving meditation on love, art, life, and the world we live in.

Character Breakdown



Conrad: male, age 20s-30s
Fierce and fiery young author, poet, performance creator. In love with Nina.
Emma: female, age 40s-50s
Conrad’s mother, a very famous actress of stage and screen.
Doyle Trigorin: male, age 30s-50s
Famous author, very popular. Emma’s lover.
Nina: female, age 20s-30s
Aspiring actress. Emma and Conrad’s neighbor. Beloved of Conrad.
Dev: male, age 20s-30s
Conrad’s best childhood friend. Totally in love with Mash.
Mash: female, age 20s-30s
Conrad’s cousin. In love with Conrad.

Sorn: male, age 50s-60s
Close family friend of Emma and Conrad.