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Thanks so much! On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 1:18 PM Michelle Markey Butler < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > 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 >>> >>>