News: Moench's GORMANZEE & OTHER STORIES this weekend!

November 20-22, 2009

Friday-Sunday 7:30pm
Spoke the Hub

295 Douglass St. Brooklyn

Join us for an evening of dance, theater, and puppetry with live music: BILL IT, a kinetic portrait of the restaurant industry, POPULATION: 2, the story of the two remaining residents of a Midwestern ghost town, and GORMANZEE, a macabre puppet comedy exploring ritualistic primate slaughter.

written by Anna Moench

staged by Meredith Steinberg

produced by Carolyn Sesbeau

starring Edward Bauer, Jean Ann Douglass, Dave Edson, Sarah Elmaleh, Molly Gaebe, Claire Gresham, Andy Schneeflock, Claire Siebers and Nathan Richard Wagner

puppets by Erin Smith, costumes by Evan Prizant,
music by David Moench, graphic by Liz Kushner

Ticket Reservations ($15/$12 students)

http://www.spokethehub.org/

718-408-3234

http://www.annaandmeredith.com/

News: BOWL-A-THON for the 6th floor theater project!

Dear Friends,

Most playwrights began writing in order to avoid sports. This fear of balls, hard objects and asphalt has terrorized writers for years.

But there comes a time in every writer’s life, when he or she must face her fears in order to build a better theater.

This Holiday Season, the Youngblood Gang is gearing for our most ambitious fundraising project yet. At the YOUNGBLOOD BOWL-A-THON on November 23rd, this group of Professional Playwrights/Amateur Bowlers is gonna knock down pins for the sake of theater. And you can help by sponsoring a playwright.

Youngblood's 2005 Bowl-a-Thon - with (l. to r.) alumni Sam Forman, Annie Baker and Emily Conbere (kneeling), and current member Sharyn Rothstein

We’re tossing aside our laptops for one night only, in order to raise funds to renovate the 6th floor theater at Ensemble Studio Theater. This theater is home to Youngblood’s annual UNFILTERED studio productions. As budding playwrights at the beginning of our professional careers, these productions are vital to the development of our plays. It is of upmost importance that we improve the state of the 6th Floor Theater in order to present our plays in the best way possible.

Reviving the 6th floor theater is the most ambitious project in Youngblood's history. It will have a vast, immediate, concrete and lasting effect on the way EST and Youngblood are able to develop plays, and the opportunities they can provide to resident artists.

We are calling upon friends, family, coworkers and strangers to sponsor a playwright as he/she bowls his/her heart out for the sake of good theater.

Sharyn Rothstein laces up at the 2005 Bowl-a-Thon

How, you might ask, can I help a writer bowl? Many of us are most likely beyond help in the bowling department. But if you would like to sponsor one of us, the bowl-a-thon works like so:

• Youngblood members reach out to family/friends/co-workers to sponsor them on a "per point" basis. Depending on your ability to give, this could range from $0.25 per point up to a few dollars per point. All contributions are tax deductible.
• On November 23rd, Youngblood goes bowling. Each sponsored writer bowls two games. The bowling alley is still TBD, and will be announced soon - watch this space! You are welcome to come down and cheer on your playwright.
  
• The Playwright’s best score of the two games is used to calculate his/her sponsors final donation. For example, if you sponsored a Playwright for $0.25/point, an 80 game would mean a $20 contribution.
  

If you would like to sponsor a specific playwright, you can contact them directly and let them know how much you would like to give per point. The playwright will proceed to bowl on the 23rd, and we'll let you know their best score of two games and how much you should contribute. If you’re interested in giving a specific sum, please let us know as well.

We hope that you will join us in the Bowling Alley for the sake of all things theater.

Happy Holidays,
Youngblood

Behind the Scenes: Eric March

Newly minted YBer Eric March debuts a new song on the piano of the future: a roll-up.



You can hear the song in person at BRUNCHA SUTRA, the erotic brunch. Sunday, November 1.

Behind the Scenes: This is How We Roll

Two days ago, Youngblood co-director Graeme Gillis sent a massive update email to the creative team of ASKING FOR TROUBLE 2009. In a rare peek behind the curtain, here it is in its entirety.

******************************************************

Good Morning Youngblood Nation,

By the time you get this the sun will have risen on the first day of tech for Asking For Trouble. For now though it's two in the morning and RJ and I are at EST, bombed on Hawaiian Punch and vodka (what are you laughing at? They were the only drinks we could find in the WHOLE THEATRE), and still, even now, still fighting about the running order. If you ever wondered how decisions got made at Youngblood, you're seeing how it works. Graeme and RJ drink a bunch of girl drinks and then they Hawaiian Punch It Out.

We'll get to the running order in a minute (editor's note: at 9am, Graeme called RJ to change the order again), but first, here's some information it would probably help to have:

1. Set Changes: There was a time when all the set changes in Asking For Trouble were done by the playwrights. It was awfully fun to watch, but it involved a set change rehearsal that would run till 230 in the morning and usually added about 20 minutes to the running time of the show. Finally after one year where a guy dragged a chair onstage and stood in the blue light for a solid 150 seconds trying to figure out where the chair was supposed to go (that guy may have been me), we decided we should simplify things.

This year, the casts for each play bring on their set at the top of their play and take it off when they're done.

All the stock set pieces will have specific places to live offstage, which you will see at your tech. During tech, our stage manager Michal and our intern Olga will note which pieces each play is using, and will let you know if you can leave anything onstage for the next show, but for now please plan to strike everything you use until further notice.

So, in a nutshell: actors will be placing and striking set pieces, stored upstage & backstage.

2. E-Flyer/Facebook Invitations: We've sent out an e-flyer to the Youngblood and EST mailing lists, which you all should have received. If you didn't, reply as such to this email and we'll get it to you. Check out the terrific comics, drawn for us for the second year running by Youngblood's own Nikole Beckwith. My favorite is the salmon hat.

We also have an "Event" associated with the Youngblood group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166121081317#/event.php?eid=166121081317

Feel free to invite your friends via that event as well.

3. Reservations: To reserve seats, tell your friends, your family, your lovers, and your family's lovers to call 212.247.4982, x105. They need to say which night *and which series* they need tickets for, and leave their email address.

Or they can send that information via email to boxoffice@ensemblestudiotheatre.org

Remember, there are about 114 people taking part in this thing one way or another. That means people need to reserve early. It'll fill up fast, especially for the later shows. The last thing we want is to turn your family's lovers away.

4. Call Time. For the first performance, we'd like to ask everybody to show up half an hour before curtain. So if you're in the Series A at 7pm, be at EST by 630. If you're in Series B at 9pm series, be here by 830.

For Friday and Saturday we can fudge the call times a bit, so if you don't go onstage till 1030 we're not gonna make you show up two hours early every night. But if everybody can get there early the first night, it'll help keep things running smoothly.

5. Curtain Call. If you're a fan of four-hour evenings of ten-minute plays, like we are, then you know that individual curtain calls for each of your 21 plays can get a little impractical. So we ask everyone to stick around till the end of their series and we do a great big company bow at the end.

There are always cases where people have to take off beforehand, and we understand that - just let us know and it's no sweat. But I will say that a big part of the fun of these things happens backstage, meeting and hanging out with the 72 other people who got roped into this. And at the end of the night when everybody piles onto the stage and the audience is hooting and applauding because they can't quite believe they made it through either, it's a pretty great sight to see everyone onstage together, it's a pretty great feeling. It's like you're in Live Aid or Miss Saigon. So stick around if you can. It's really worth it.

6. Opening Night. Are you like me? Do you know your lines yet? You got any idea where you're supposed to stand when you don't have lines? Are you getting a little freaked? Have you looked in the fresh, in-some-cases-peach-fuzzy face of your playwright and thought to yourself "As God as my witness, I will not let this peach-fuzzy playwright down"? And what are we all going to WEAR?

Well if the answer to any of those questions is Gee Graeme I Dunno, then the good news that pretty much all of the roughly 114 people that are doing this are going through the same damn thing. You know what helps?

Well let me tell you what doesn't help: staying at EST and drinking Hawaiian Punch cocktails and fighting with RJ till two in the morning. No, what helps is sitting in the audience on Thursday night to watch each other's shows. It gives everybody a warm, friendly audience for that first bold leap into the breach, it lets you know that everyone is in more or less the same spot as you, and when you see the plays actually pulled off, it's proof that such miracles can happen. Ah, Youngblood. A Pocketful of Ten Minute Miracles.

And, of course, we're gonna let you in free. It goes back to the fun of being in this thing; for five more days we're all part of this lurching, unwieldly, roughly-114 person company. How often do we get to do shit like that?

7. Nate Whelden. So there's this guy Nate Whelden. So Nate lives in Baltimore, but I didn't know that, see, and last night when one of the plays lost an actor, I called Nate. And at the time of this writing Nate Whelden is TAKING A BUS FROM BALTIMORE TO NEW YORK, where he will SLEEP ON A BUDDY'S COUCH FOR A WEEK, so he can do Asking For Trouble. Even if you kinda don't have time to watch the other shows, even if you've discovered that it turns out you sort of don't like ten-minute plays, even if you hate everybody else that you've met and worked with this week, come on out and cheer Nate on.

8. Parties. We're gonna have some parties. The Mighty Kel Haney managed to hook us up (again) with a big donation of Stella Artois. It turns out that Youngblood's big in Belgium. Who knew? Our friends the Belgians. So yeah, we're gonna have some parties after the performances. There will be an opening night party on Thursday, a closing night party on Saturday, and a party on Friday night just so Friday night doesn't feel left out.

9. What was I talking about? Oh right! Whew! Here it is! With all that as your drumroll, then, here is your RUNNING ORDER for ASKING FOR TROUBLE 2009:

SERIES A

THE BOOTY by Kyoung H. Park, directed by Kel Haney

with Denny Bess, Thomas Lyons, and Ann Talman

DEATHPOD! by Meghan Deans, directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel

with Lucy DeVito, Julie Leedes, and Audrey Lynn Weston

THE OATH by Jesse Cameron Alick, directed by Lila Neugebauer

with Lucia Brizzi, Catherine Curtin, and Jason Liebman

COLONEL JEFFREY by Emily Chadick Weiss, directed by John Giampetro

with Debbie Lee Jones, Ryan Karels, and Haskell King

THE NEXT TIME WE PICK UP A DRIFTER I DO THE TALKING by Michael Lew, directed by Robert Ross Parker

with Jackie Chung, Delphi Harrington, and Mordecai Lawner

---INTERMISSION---

THE LAST PIRATE by Anna Moench, directed by Sarah Malkin

with Tim Cain, Kristen Harlow, Frank Harts, and Ayesha Ngaujah

A PLAY INSPIRED BY MEDITATION CLOTHES by Nikole Beckwith, directed by Tom Rowan

with Kevin Confoy, Dane DeHaan, Patricia Randell, Devere Rogers, and Joel Rooks

FAKE by Michael Walek, directed by Rachel Slaven

with Helen Farmer, Shane Kearns, and Nate Whelden

IT NEVER RAINS IN REALITY TELEVISION by Sharyn Rothstein, directed by Wes Grantom

with Curran Connor, Julie Fitzpatrick, Diana Ruppe, Risa Sarachan, and Michael Louis Wells

AMERICA YOU KILL ME by Joshua Conkel, directed by Linsay Firman

with Nikole Beckwith, Bobby Moreno, and Scott Sowers

-----------------------------------------------------

SERIES B

THE PUNCH by Eliza Clark, directed by Daniel Winerman

with Alaina Dunn, Jacob Murphy, and Teresa Stephenson

JOSEF STALIN WAS A ROCKSTAR by Jon Kern, directed by Christine Farrell

with Paul Coffey, Helen Highfield, Abigail Gampel, Graeme Gillis, and Claire Seibers

BACK TO THE SEXY by Mira Gibson, directed by Snehal Desai

with Steven Boyer, David Hurwitz, and Allyson Morgan

IF YOU by Lucy Boyle, directed by Jamie Richards

with Robert Askins, Jenny Gomez, and Susan Willerman

VIRTUE OF NECESSITY by Robert Askins, directed by Eliza Beckwith

with Eddie Boroevich, Nancy Franklin, Maria Gabriele, Jared McGuire, and Megan Tusing

MORNING SUNSHINE by Anna Kerrigan, directed by Dylan McCullough

with Jocelyn Kuritsky, Alfredo Narciso, and Mike Smith-Rivera

---INTERMISSION---

GET 'ER DONE by Courtney Brooke Lauria, directed by RJ Tolan

with Will Harper and Johnny Pruitt

INTERVIEW SCHMINTERVIEW by Delaney Britt Brewer, directed by Alexa Polmer

with Kelly Ann Burns and Marcia Haufrecht

SONS OF THIEVES by Patrick Link, directed by Gerritt Turner

with Bjorn DuPaty, Shawn Randall, and Martina Weber

TEN MINUTES FROM WONDERFUL by Erica Saleh, directed by Web Begole

with Ilene Kristen and Nitya Vidyasagar

CRAB BAKE by Eric March, directed by Abigail Zealy Bess

with Chris Ceraso, Kelli Lynn Harrison, and Amy Staats

----------------------------------------------------

All right, Troublemakers. As they say in Nova Scotia, see you on the ice.

Here we go.

Graeme

News: Conkel - MilkMilkLemonade

Come see YB Joshua Conkel's new play, MILKMILKLEMONADE...

Featuring fellow YBer Nikole Beckwith and directed Issac Butler. Performances start next Thursday:


MilkMilkLemonade. A play about gay children, a parasitic twin, an antagonistic grandmother, a depressed chicken, and our growing bodies. Bring the kids! (Note: not appropriate for actual children.)


Written by Joshua Conkel

Directed by Isaac Butler


Performed by Jess Barbagallo, Nikole Beckwith, Michael Cyril Creighton*, Jennifer Harder, and Andy Phelan*


September 10-26

Thursdays-Saturdays @ 8pm


Location: UNDER St. Marks
94 St. Marks
btwn 1st Ave & Ave A

Tickets: $18 - http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showCode=MIL6&GUID= or call 212-868-4444

*Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity - Equity approved

showcase

The Spitting Image

The estate of A. A. Milne is filing suit against ones Matt Schatz and Graeme Gillis for copyright violation, having flagrantly plagiarized the cover illustration from Milne's beloved children's book Now We Are Six.

Not pictured: RJ Tolan as Piglet

LINK ON THE LINKS

Additional Links

Current Member and Youngblood Alumni Take Part in the 3rd Annual New York One-Minute Play Festival

The 3rd Annual New York One-Minute Play Festival
80+ plays. 40+ writers. 2 days. 1 minute.

September 12th and 13th 2009, 8:30PM at HERE Arts Center
145 6th Ave, (between Spring & Broome, enter on Dominick)

Tickets are $15 dollars. For tickets: Visit www.here.org or call 212-352-3101.

The smash-hit short-form theatre festival returns for the third year as part of HERE’s Autumn Artist Lodge! Curated by Dominic D’Andrea, the two-program event will present over 80 plays all under sixty-seconds by some of the most exciting emerging and established writers in the American Theatre.

Produced by Toby Knops & Dominic D'Andrea. Directed by Dominic D'Andrea, Gyda Arber, Brian Rhinehart, Jordan Young, Nicole A. Watson, & West Hyler.

Program A (Sat Sept 12th): plays by: Ashlin Halfnight, Emily Conbere, Bixby Elliot, John Devore, Michael John Garces, Jakob Holder, Jessica Litwak, Matt Olmos, Saviana Stanescu, Kyle Jarrow, Ken Urban, David Zellnik, Lanna Joffrey, Megan Mostyn-Brown, Liz Meriwether, Mat Smart, Mac Rogers, Andrea Thome, Matt Freeman, James Comtois, anton dudley, Christine Evans, Robert Kerr, Callie Kimball, Sam Forman, Rajiv Joseph, Padraic Lillis, Trav SD & more!

Program A directed by Dominic D'Andrea, Gyda Arber, and Brian Rhinehart

Brogram B (Sun Sept 13th): plays by: Callie Kimball, Clay Mcleod Chapman, Dave Anzuelo, Bixby Elliot, Kris Diaz, Christine Evans, Jeff Lewonczyk, J Julian Christopher, Courtney Brooke Lauria, Adam Szymkowicz, Migdalia Cruz, Chiori Miyagawa, Ian Cohen, anton dudley, Michael John Garces, Matt Olmos, Saviana Stanescu, Crystal Skillman, Liz Meriwether, Matt Freeman, Matt Schatz, Caridad Svich, August Schulenburg, Chris Harcum, Daniel Talbott, Trav SD & more!

Program B directed by Jordan Young, Nicole A. Watson, and West Hyler

*Please note that each program presents an entirely different evening of one-minute plays

This production is being presented through HERE’s Autumn Artist Lodge, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical and administrative support
http://www.here.org/see/now/autumnartistlodge/

News: Alick's ARDOR DUTY ~ 9/8 - 9/13

Go see the world-premiere of ARDOR DOODY, co-written by YB Jesse Cameron Alick, as part of Subjective Theatre Company's 09/10 season launch:

ARDOR DOODY
In a cold prison cell, in an anonymous totalitarian country, two political prisoners debate guilt vs. innocence, happiness vs. productivity, honesty vs. betrayal, art vs. duty - all while wearing big clown shoes and rubber noses. ARDOR DOODY is a satirical comedy about two circus clowns and one mime fighting the government the only way they know how - but which one will have the last laugh? Co-produced by Mighty Little Productions and written by Mighty Little’s Lucile Scott and STC’s Jesse Cameron Alick, directed by STC’s Steven Gillenwater.

IN THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN
Inspired by the popular American standard of the same name, IN THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN invites us into the world of a hedge fund manager and his wife as they ride the rails in search of jobs. Cushioned from any real hardship by their wealth, they lament their fate while trying to avoid the licorice handcuffs of the ineffectual SEC. IN THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN is a biting musical satire about corporate bailouts and the eschewed realities of the wealthy. An original musical, with the book by STC’s resident playwright Julia Holleman, music by STC’s Emmy award-winning Resident Designer, Lucas Cantor. Lyrics by Julia Holleman and Lucas Cantor. Directed By Emma Givens.

As a part of Subjective Theatre Company's residency with Horse Trade Theater Group, these shows will be presented at THE RED ROOM at 85 East 4th street (between 2nd and 3rd ave), third floor.

Limited run!! 6 performances only! September 8th-13th

Sept 8th – 8pm
Sept 9th – 8pm
Sept 10th – 8pm
Sept 11th – 8pm
Sept 12th – 8pm
Sept 13th - 3pm

Ticket Price: 0.00$ - FREE!!

Please make your reservations today!! reservations@subjectivetheatre.org

Moench: Notes from the Road ~ 4

Anna Moench:

I've succeeded in seeing four performances in the past four days! I doubt I'll find my way into the underground experimental scene while I'm in Beijing, for several reasons: 1. it's August, and groups seem to be on hiatus until the end of the month, 2. things are pretty disorganized and I don't know how events are publicized, and 3. even if I did, I couldn't read the listings. The shows I've made it to have all been at theaters funded by the government, and although they weren't controversial in the slightest, some interesting themes popped up.

The Capital Theatre:

The first show I saw was "Niao Men" (Birds), at the Capital Theatre. It was a stage play, with very little movement and lots of talking. I made a serious effort to try and figure out the plot, and I managed to glean that the main story line revolved around a group of old men who sit in a park with their caged birds (a common sight in the public parks), and that one of them was a big Peking Opera star back in the day. Some guy comes in and threatens their idyllic lifestyle by trying to make them give up their birds and get real jobs, and the old guys get upset. One of them is particularly enraged, and kills a couple birds. An American tourist (played by a Chinese actor) appears and is a total idiot who makes stupid tonal malapropisms, and everyone laughs at him. Then the old Peking Opera star appears in full Peking Opera regalia, and acts as a judge in a sort of informal trial. The big moment at the end is when someone pulls a cloth covering off of a birdcage, revealing a turkey. Then everyone leaves except the guy who came in to ruin everything, and he has a long silent moment with the turkey as 20 women in matching outfits march slowly through the park in unison, waving scarves and shaking little maraca things.

Clearly I didn't fully understand this one. But it was unexpected that Peking Opera played such an important role to the characters and to the plot and structure of the play, considering that most Beijingers do not regularly go to see Peking Opera. It's a cultural legacy that exists more for tourists than for its people these days, though I think people are proud of it in a museum-y kind of way. Its presence in this piece seemed very symbolic of the traditions and heritage that many people are concerned about losing as China hurtles into the future.

The National Center for the Performing Arts:

The next show I saw was "Red Classic Dance Drama: Ode to Red Chinese Plum", which was exactly what it sounds like: a dance drama extolling the virtues of Communism. It was performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts, the most beautiful building I've ever seen. As I expected, the dancing was technically stunning (the Chinese give a new meaning to the word "unison," and at one point a dancer ran across the stage on the tops of her feet...think about that for a second) but the choreography was pretty mawkish and uninspiring (lots of lovers or mother/child pairs going in for the slow mo hug, pausing, then clutching each other in a desperate embrace to show their passion). There were some interesting visuals, mainly featuring large red pieces of fabric and lots of chains and prison bars, though I wish they'd stopped before busting out the fog machine and huge tilting prison door effect.

These two pieces presented different perspectives on China's political and national identity, but shared a central belief in China's greatness as a nation, and their central protagonists' love for their country. In "Red Classic Dance Drama," all the virtuous characters suffer in prison but are happy because they are embroidering a huge red flag. So no matter how bad things are for you in your day to day life, if you use that life to stand by your country, you will have a kind of happiness that transcends suffering--the standard Party line. In "Niao Men," the protagonists struggle to reconcile elements of their cultural heritage with life in the modern world. As evidenced by the portrayal of the bumbling American tourist character, people don't want to make China into an imitation of the West. They want to find a way forward on their own terms.

Both shows were sold out, and the audiences were of all ages, from children as young as 7 or so to people in their 80s. They responded strongly, with standing ovations and many shouts of "Hao!" ("Good!", the Chinese equivalent of "Bravo!"). Regardless of my political opinions and my discomfort at the portrayal of Americans in "Niao Men" (I sunk lower and lower in my chair as people erupted in explosive laughter at his ineptitude), I came away impressed by the level of interest in the performing arts in Beijing, and local artists' ability to tap into relevant issues despite strict government censoring. I also have the strong conviction that as I write my play, my interest in the theme of reconciling China's past with its future is both timely and pertinent.

Moench: Notes from the Road ~ 3

Anna Moench:

Name duo mafan! So much trouble!

Medusa had the best intentions at heart. I really do believe that. But despite this fact, yesterday was a vortex of frustration. Due to a booking glitch, I was kicked out of my hostel to make room for a boisterous bunch of French people. I was calling up other hostels in the city center, searching for a free bed, when Medusa swooped in and said "Anna! I have found you a beautiful hotel!" I think that every savvy traveler has a visceral negative reaction to sentences like this. The last time someone said something like this to me, it was three years ago on a bus on the outskirts of Yangshuo...but that's another, similarly irritating story that ended with a 3 mile walk to get from the shady hotel to the legit hostel I'd booked. So I said thanks but no thanks, I prefer to find a place myself.

Never underestimate the persuasive, almost hypnotic power of Chinese helpfulness.

Half an hour later, we're on the subway. I'm carrying my big backpack, which is pretty much the equivalent of a neon sign flashing the word FOREIGNER, and Medusa is revelling in all the attention I'm attracting. "Everybody is talking about you! Those girls next to you, they're saying how strange you look! You look so strange, do people think you look strange in America? We all think so." Very few people have seen a half-Chinese, half-white person here, and it's an endless source of curiosity and spirited speculation. I try to tell myself this must be what celebrities feel like. The alternative is that this is what the Elephant Man felt like.

We get off the subway after two transfers, and Medusa hails a taxi. Three subways and a taxi? Where is this place? We stop at a grim high rise hotel. Behind the desk are four wall clocks, displaying the times of different cities around the world. The New York clock, which should read the same as the Beijing clock, is about 8 hours slow, the second hand ticking two seconds forward in time, then one second back. Turns out Medusa chose this hotel because it's near her friend's medical school, where she plans on staying for the remainder of her week in Beijing. "Now we can spend more time together!" she says, taking my hand and pulling me to her side. Unfortunately, it's near nothing else of interest. Medusa does the talking, and after a couple minutes hands me a key and says, "I booked you five nights here."

Five nights. Five nights here. The phrase is like smelling salts. This is where the madness ends, damn it, right here in a shabby hotel on the outskirts of an anonymous Beijing suburb. I will once more assert an active voice in the direction of my careening, slippery life.

I dropped my stuff in the clinical-feeling dorm room, nodded to the Korean girl dozing in the other bed, and took Medusa out to lunch as a thank you. I then politely refused her enthusiastic invitations to tour her friend's medical school campus (though I couldn't escape a cell phone photo shoot, the results of which were texted to her mother), went to an internet cafe, and booked myself into a hostel in the center of town. This morning (after the staff came into my room on the hour starting at 6:00AM to stare at me while I slept) I checked out, got in a cab and arrived at a beautiful, charmingly crumbling traditional courtyard house in a quiet hutong. Literally down the street from where I was originally staying.

Sometimes it takes 24 hours to go five minutes. And I guess I just have to be okay with that.

Moench: Notes from the Road ~ 2

From Anna Moench, yesterday:

Beijing is crazy hot and humid and I sweat more than I pee. So far I've done a lot of walking around looking for theaters that no longer exist, calling dead numbers, and very little (read: zero) seeing of theater. China is a very confusing place for a foreigner with the language skills of a nearly mute baby, and not a good environment for people who want to get things done quickly. But I've made a bunch of hilarious Chinese friends at my hostel. One of them is named Hui Wen, but she chose an English name to make it easier for foreigners. "Medusa." I'm serious. I asked her if she knew the story of Medusa, and she said yes, and that she chose the name to be different and memorable. Mission accomplished, though she's quite memorable as is. The other night I was in bed, falling asleep, when she came in from the bathroom and insisted that I sit up to take a picture with her, because she loves me so much and needed to remember this moment. This is after knowing me for about 20 minutes. In the morning she gave me a very strange looking piece of fruit with a very long Chinese name, and insisted that I eat it immediately, because, in her words: "whenever I eat this fruit, I fill with happiness and I wish you to fill with happiness with me." The fruit was weird and delicious, and I'm glad to report that it did fill me with happiness.

Yesterday I went to the famed 798 Arts District, an enormous factory block that has been turned into artist studio, gallery, and living spaces. That concept is pretty familiar to New Yorkers, but there's something wonderful about these old weapons factories being used by artists, many of whom create work that is subversive and critical of the government. There were several exhibits that featured artists who are exploring how to reconcile China's long, rich history of traditional art techniques with modern, experimental aesthetics. Imagine hot pink inkbrush landscapes (featuring burning mountainsides and lounge chairs by the water), and intricately rendered mountainside oil paintings in which the rocks and waterfalls, upon close inspection, turn out to be painted fabric studies. Part of what I plan to explore in my play is the tension between tradition and modernity in contemporary China, and it's fascinating to see how other artists are grappling with the same concept.

Okay, I'm out. Gotta go back to the Peking Opera theater that was closed yesterday and try to finally see a show.

-Anna

Dispatch from the Department of Non Sequiturs‏

Dispatch from the Department of Non Sequiturs‏, headed by Jon Kern:

So this is a random thought that leaped into my head today. The top five current Youngblood members whose names would be fun to say as SNL announcer Don Pardo. In order.

#5) Anna Moench

#4) Mira Gibson

#3) Sharyn Rothstein

#2) Kyoung H. Park

and the #1 current Youngblood member name that would be fun to say as Don Pardo . . .

#1) Delaney Britt Brewer!

Jon

Moench: Notes from the Road

Anna Moench is in China this month and will be be filling us in on her adventures... This is from early Saturday morning:

Ni hao! This August I'm missing out on the excitement of the Youngblood retreat, the NY Fringe Festival, Eli's reading, and countless Central Park picnics. Thanks to suppport from the generous people at the Jerome Foundation, I'm going to be in Beijing and the Loess Plateau researching Chinese burial practices and performance forms in preparation for my next play.

I flew in to Beijing last night after a long and relatively smooth journey. I didn't end up getting quarantined by health officials seeking out swine flu carriers, thank god. In the Shanghai airport, where I had a layover, some guy from Afghanistan spent 20 minutes telling me about his 2 wives before giving me a handful of unshelled almonds and asking if I'd like to come with him to Dubai to sell some cars. If I weren't a writer on a mission, the answer might very well have been yes. Who doesn't want to go to Dubai and sell some cars?

Now that I'm here, I plan on seeing a bunch of Peking Opera, traditional and modern dance, puppetry, and maybe even a drama, although I won't understand it at all. I'd love to tell you more about my morning exploring Beijings warren-like hutongs, but there is a World of Warcraft addict incessantly pummelling his keyboard next to me in this internet cafe and I am filled with the desire to do the same to his face. I need to leave. I'll do my best to keep you guys in the loop. Zaijian!

xo
Anna

News: Youngblood Applications now OPEN

Application requirements for the 2009-2010 season are now up on the Youngblood Website. Deadline is August 15, 2009, but applicants are encouraged to submit early, since early applications will be read before we're snowed under with scripts.

This looks to be an even more competitive year than usual, as we have only one or two spaces available and our applications have been steadily increasing (last year was well over 100). But then again, several current members applied more than once before they got in - so even in a tough year it's worth applying. All materials will be read by both me and Graeme, and we'll let everyone know their preliminary status by mid-September, hopefully.