 |
 |
Alan, Not surprisingly with the pandemic, Olney Theatre had to cancel the rest of the run of The Amateurs. But they've made it available to stream, for a fee, if you want to see it: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/otcamateurs Cheers, Michelle ____________________________________ Michelle Markey Butler she/her/hers michellemarkeybutler.com facebook.com/michellemarkeybutler On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 7:28 PM Alan Baragona <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I saw that in the Kazoo program, but I wouldn't get my hopes up about > cancellation, which seems very likely to me. I wish I could be there if it > does go on, but I can't. I'd like to hear her talk and share my own > experience of the play with her. Meanwhile, if any of you haven't seen > Yiimimangaliso (two <i's> after the Y if you're googling), you can get the > DVD here: https://www.dvdempire.com/700039/mysteries-the-movie.html. > > Didn't know about that novel. Thanks. > > Alan B. > > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 6:29 PM Michael Winkelman <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > >> My tuppence worth (2 footnotes really): >> >> 1) At the upcoming International Congress of Medieval Studies, hosted by >> Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, >> panel 315 includes a talk on Yimmimangaliso: the Chester Mystery Cycle in >> Post-Apartheid South Africa by Carla Neuss. >> (Here's hoping the conference isn't cancelled due to covid-19.) >> >> 2) The novel *To Calais, in Ordinary Time*, by James Meeks (2019) is set >> in southwest England in 1348, when the plague (and rumours of plague) are >> beginning to spread. There is an episode involving a performance of >> dramatized scenes from *The Romance of the Rose*. It's an interesting >> book, in my opinion: something of an alternative to the Canterbury Tales, >> and there is a profusion of Middle English throughout. >> >> ~Michael Winkelman >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion < >> [log in to unmask]> on behalf of Alan Baragona < >> [log in to unmask]> >> *Sent:* Friday, March 13, 2020 7:20 PM >> *To:* [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> >> *Subject:* Re: [External] Modern play about medieval troupe performing >> Noah >> >> Thanks, Michelle. This is very helpful. Of course, a play like this can >> still be useful in teaching medieval drama by way of contrast--what's wrong >> with it, what's modern in it, etc. Is it ever clear whether the Noah play >> the medieval characters are performing is the Wakefield version, or is it >> just a generic version of the Uxor? Contrasting the Wakefield Uxor as a >> type of Eve who wants sit on the hill and spin to this modern >> interpretation of her as a self-asserting individual would make for some >> good discussion. >> >> Your insights about the problems with the flat staging of the medieval >> scenes in contrast with the more dynamic modern ones reminds me of when >> years ago Rick McDonald and a Theater Department colleague presented a >> paper about team teaching Medieval Drama with an emphasis on performance, >> then taking the class to London and seeing a production of* Everyman* >> that was so flat, so staid, so academic, that it threatened to undo >> everything they had taught in the semester. Luckily, Rick noticed an ad for >> a production of the Chester mysteries in a warehouse turned theater, so >> they took a chance and got tickets for their kids. It turned out to be >> Yiimangaliso, and it saved the course. The following Spring, I was lucky >> enough to be in London with cadets, and I saw that the production had moved >> to the West End, so I got to see it for myself. First time I ever saw a >> unanimous standing ovation in a London theater. When it came out on video, >> I snapped it up and show it every time I teach the course. The students' >> eyes get wide, and they see the potential for their own productions. >> >> Thank you again for all your good thoughts on this. >> >> Alan B. >> >> On Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 2:38 PM Michelle Markey Butler < >> [log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> My two cents on *The Amateurs: * >> >> >> One-sentence Assessment >> >> Medieval drama experts are more likely to be disappointed than excited by >> this production. >> >> >> >> Synopsis of *The Amateurs* >> >> After the death of one of their company, a group of actors hopes to >> impress their patron so much with their new production that he will invite >> them to stay on, safe from the plague behind his castle walls. >> >> The actors rehearse their play, revealing interpersonal conflicts and >> everyday concerns. One discovers she is pregnant, and not by the man who >> would probably assume he is the father. Another mourns her brother, the >> actor who died of the plague. The one who makes their props and effects >> knows everyone else thinks he is stupid. A stranger joins their company >> with his own secrets to guard. Finally, as they practice, the actor >> playing Noah’s wife wonders *why* she is refusing to get on the ark. >> What is her objection? What does she want instead? >> >> At this point, the play pauses. One actor steps out of his ‘medieval’ >> costume and addresses the audience as the playwright, Jordan Harrison. He >> explains why the playwright became interested in this moment, in Noah’s >> wife’s refusal, seeing in her a connection to himself, her moment of >> asserting her individuality reminding him of a similar moment in his own >> life. A second actor (the one playing Hollis, who plays Noah’s wife), >> joins him, and they posit (by means of other actors coming onstage with >> sandwich board images of famous paintings), the role of art in >> demonstrating/provoking the emergence of the individual. Finally, saying >> he is ‘bringing the fourth wall back down,’ the playwright-actor steps back >> into his ‘medieval’ costume and the original storyline resumes. >> >> In this part, another actor dies of the plague and the others struggle to >> continue their performance, still hoping for their patron to offer them >> refuge. He declines, however, and they face returning to the >> increasingly-deadly wider world. >> >> >> >> Assessment >> >> I am an Olney Theatre season ticket holder and have been since 2011. The >> current artistic director, Jason Loewith, has done outstanding work >> here—innovative, intriguing, wonderful shows—including commissioning and >> producing new, groundbreaking plays. >> >> But sometimes when you swing for the fences, you hit a pop fly. >> >> I’ve been both dreading and looking forward to *The Amateurs* since the >> 2019-2020 season was announced. From the title, you can guess why. On the >> one hand: A contemporary play set in a medieval acting troop is not >> something you see every day. Or ever. I really wanted it to be >> marvelous. On the other, referring to a group of people who make their >> living as *actors* as ‘amateurs’ made me worry about how the play would >> approach medieval drama. >> >> As it turned out, that concern was warranted. >> >> The play is set during the Black Death but works from the assumption that >> the surviving later texts can be unproblematically transposed backward in >> time. The play has the actors use a wagon to transport their gear—fair >> enough—but also as a performance venue, not seeming to understand that >> pageant wagons were used in particular places—York, Chester—not by >> itinerant players. When enacting a pageant of the Seven Deadly Sins, the >> actors used masks—good!—but wore plain black robes, which was disappointing >> since we know medieval production invested in impressive costumes. >> >> The costumes were heavily influenced by the widespread modern iconography >> of ‘the medieval': most pieces of clothing had ragged, unhemmed edges. We >> can talk elsewhere about what cultural work this symbolism is doing, since >> it has nothing to do with reality. When a single shirt represents 80 hours >> of labor, care is taken to preserve garments, including hemming raw edges >> to prevent fraying. I don’t hold this against the production specifically, >> since it’s an issue we see often, but it tells us the production employed >> the shortcut of that modern iconography rather than researching medieval >> clothing. >> >> More troubling is the play’s attitude towards its medieval subject >> matter. Bluntly, the play seems to employ medieval content and characters >> to hammer home a point (the playwright’s theory about the emergence of the >> idea of the individual), not because there is interest in the time period >> itself. Nor does the play appear to consider the dramatic work its >> characters engage in to be theater in the same way *it* is theater. >> This was most telling in the handling of audience address. When the >> medieval play-scenes addressed the audience, the result was flat (the night >> I was there, the audience laughed at the Seven Deadlies), in large part >> because the staging was flat. The Seven Deadlies were positioned at the >> rear, as if on a proscenium arch stage, and hardly moved as they spoke. >> The Noah scenes occurred partly on the wagon and partly on the ground, but >> again, with little movement apart from (usually unsuccessful) handling of >> stage effects (the dove falls when it should hover, the cloth scroll of >> painted animals doesn’t budge when they try to crank it). But when the >> actor speaks as the playwright, he uses the entirety of the stage, coming >> close to the audience, leaning towards them. The production’s thumb is on >> the scales, using the same technique but with staging choices that make the >> contemporary use seem engaging but the medieval’s simplistic. >> >> The play’s message—the emergence of the individual from a period of >> darkness—is a retread of something we have all heard about the Middle Ages, >> to our frustration. Also frustrating is that *The Amateurs* is not >> quite certain this *is* its central theme. The play makes a parallel >> between the Black Death and AIDS, which could be a rewarding and >> fascinating topic to explore, but leaves that connection underdeveloped. >> The method by which *The Amateurs* delivers its homily upon the >> emergence of the individual is also worth considering. The middle section, >> in which the theory is presented in the voice of the playwright, is long, >> resembling nothing so much as a TED talk. This doesn’t appear to bother >> the *Washington Post* reviewer, but all three members of my viewing >> party were independently annoyed about being told what we were supposed to >> think rather than being shown persuasive scenes leading us to that >> conclusion. >> >> *The Amateurs* isn’t a bad play, but it isn’t a good one either. There >> is promise here, and hopefully Harrison will put the script through another >> round of workshopping that will help that promise develop. If so, I hope >> he decides to take the Middle Ages and medieval drama seriously for their >> own sake, not just for the argument he wants to make from them. >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> Michelle Butler >> ____________________________________ >> >> Michelle Markey Butler >> she/her/hers >> michellemarkeybutler.com >> facebook.com/michellemarkeybutler >> >> >> On Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 10:03 AM Alan Baragona <[log in to unmask]> >> wrote: >> >> Thanks for Theresa’s discussion. I assume she’s on the listserv, because >> I don’t have her personal e-mail address and wanted to send it The message >> to her. >> >> I would love to hear your comments, especially on 1) whether its version >> of the Noah play is close at all to the Towneley play and 2) what the >> playwright’s stand-in opines about the connection between medieval plays >> and the rise of individualism. >> >> Alan >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Mar 11, 2020, at 9:39 AM, Michelle Markey Butler < >> [log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> >> I saw it on Friday. I can share observations, if you like. >> >> Btw Theresa Colletti participated in a panel discussion about making >> theater on the road, organized by Olney Theatre in connection to the >> production, and there's a video of the discussion on the theater's Facebook >> page: https://www.facebook.com/142692869075359/videos/200051651238352/ >> >> Cheers, >> Michelle Butler >> ____________________________________ >> >> Michelle Markey Butler >> she/her/hers >> michellemarkeybutler.com >> facebook.com/michellemarkeybutler >> >> >> On Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 8:05 AM Twycross, Meg <[log in to unmask]> >> wrote: >> >> WOMAN playing Noah's wife? >> >> Meg >> >> Professor Emeritus of English Medieval Studies, >> >> Department of English and Creative Writing, >> >> Lancaster University, >> >> LANCASTER LA1 4YD >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion < >> [log in to unmask]> on behalf of Alan Baragona < >> [log in to unmask]> >> *Sent:* 11 March 2020 02:51 >> *To:* [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> >> *Subject:* [External] Modern play about medieval troupe performing Noah >> >> >> *This email originated outside the University. Check before clicking >> links or attachments.* >> Today’s print version of *The Washington Post* has a review of a play by >> Jordan Harrison call *The Amateurs*, which premiered in 2018. It's about >> a traveling troupe of medieval players who are performing a Noah play in a >> time of plague, especially focusing on the woman who is playing Noah's >> wife. Do any of you know of it? First I've heard of the play or of the >> playwright. It sounds a bit reminiscent of the players in *The Seventh >> Seal*, and I'm a little surprised the review doesn't mention it. In >> earlier years, my wife and I would have jumped on I-81 and gone up to D.C. >> to see it, but between the coronavirus and other things, there's no way we >> can get there before it closes on April 5. But I just like knowing this >> play exists, and I've preordered the volume of Harrison's plays that is >> coming out in July and will include it. >> >> I don’t know that the Noah play being performed by the troupe is the >> Wakefield Master’s *Noah* or, more likely given the opening as described >> in the review, is loosely based on it, but if either is the case, it makes >> a nice irony that the actor who plays the character who plays the wife is >> named “Townley,” just one <e> off! >> >> For those of you who subscribe to the Post but may have missed the >> review, here is the link. >> >> >> https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/coronavirus-looms-over-this-play-set-during-a-plague-but-the-amateurs-speaks-to-timeless-concerns/2020/03/09/b06229a2-620f-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html >> <https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fentertainment%2Ftheater_dance%2Fcoronavirus-looms-over-this-play-set-during-a-plague-but-the-amateurs-speaks-to-timeless-concerns%2F2020%2F03%2F09%2Fb06229a2-620f-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html&data=02%7C01%7Cm.twycross%40lancaster.ac.uk%7C1533b90b85774451fac808d7c567369a%7C9c9bcd11977a4e9ca9a0bc734090164a%7C1%7C1%7C637194919419841278&sdata=Wa6kyVg47IkAGswszgYvYZoz3CbI02W3dRDWKsWrE2g%3D&reserved=0> >> Alan Baragona >> >>