Keeping with the theme of international circus/clowns, I recently was invited to see a show that has just opened up at the Union Square Theatre. It’s by a wonderful troupe from Montreal called Les Sept Doigts de La Main (The Seven Fingers of the Hand) I was in a circus with two of the 7 fingers in the early 1990’s […]
Read moreDaniel Stein in “Timepiece” Timepiece On Saturday, July 23rd at 8 PM, Celebration Barn Theater presents Daniel Stein in “Timepiece”. Having toured 30 countries, Timepiece deals with the passage of time in the life of a man, and how conflict and power and subsequently, joy and love emerge from time’s progression. “One of those rare revelatory experiences one waits for […]
Read moreMy pal (the inimitable Trav. S.D) has a NY Fringe show going up, and he needs a clown. If you don’t know Trav, you must be living under a rock, because he is ubiquitous.  He has been staging various events for over 15 years, has written over 100 plays, written a great book about Vaudeville: (No Applause, Just Throw Money, […]
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Thanks to Brian Foley for pointing this out to me! This looks like an amazing and highly stylized King Lear. See the video below to see how amazing the production values of this show are. Apparently Synetic has been doing Silent Shakespeare productions, and this is the SEVENTH Synetic’s King Lear Presented by Synetic Theater Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili Choreography […]
Read moreStanley Allan Sherman, well-known maskmaker who contributed an excellent guest post to our Commedia Month series, will be teaching a 3 week commedia intensive from June 12-July 1 in New York. The workshop will feature over 128 hours of instruction. Here’s some of the details: RCCU 2011 RCCU is beginning its 10th anniversary year teaching Classical Commedia dell’Arte. Students will […]
Read moreI’ve been reading a blog “The Adventures of Steve and Ryan” which is a blog by Steve Copeland and Ryan Combs, the two clown partners that are on the Kelly Miller Circus. Kelly Miller is an Oklahoma based circus that has been performing since 1938, and is currently owned by John Ringling North. They bill themselves as “America’s Finest One […]
Read moreBE FOREWARNED: THIS SHOW contains nudity and sexually explicit content. March 15th @ 7:30 PM Rites & Reasons Theatre (155 Angell St.) John Leo and Sophie Nimmanit have created a clown show about anal sex. Yes, you read that right. And no, not for kids. They bill it as a “Sex-Education Burlesque” The show features sing-a-longs, how-to’s, romance, puppets, and […]
Read moreTEN WEST is the comedy duo of Stephen Simon and Jon Monastero under the direction of Bryan Coffee. They blend physical virtuosity and inventive comedy with poignant writing, broad audience appeal to create their own theatrical style with strong influences of vaudeville, commedia, and clown. Ten West originated in the sketch comedy world in 2003, and has been touring throughout […]
Read moreOn Sunday, I got a chance to celebrate the end of Commedia month with the 3 pm performance of Piccolo Theatre’s A Servant of Two Masters at the Evanston Art Depot in Evanston, IL. The theatre is housed in a working train depot, and it was quite an interesting place. You can read the full history of the depot on […]
Read more[I’ve asked a few great mask makers to submit a guest post entitled: What Makes A Great Commedia Mask? Their responses will appear here over the next few days. The images sprinkled throughout this page are from the author’s website, copyright by the author (as is the text), and used by permission. For permission to reprint this article or the […]
Read moreAt one of my alma maters (The Dell’arte School) , one of the school’s rehearsal mantras when a scene or a play isn’t working right is to rehearse it “Italian style.†By this they mean to perform the scene or the play as loud and as fast as you can, and with as much energy as you can muster.  Pedal […]
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Flaminio Scala was an actor/manager of one of the most pre-eminent commedia companies of his time. A contemporary of Shakespeare, he was an innovator in that he actually wrote his scenarios down. Before Scala, scenarios were never written down as they were afraid of being stolen- they were the gold with which you could make hay, and what distiniguished your […]
Read moreGiorgio Strehler was the founder (along with Paolo Grassi) and director of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. Some would say that he is the father of modern commedia. I don’t think I would go that far, as there were a number of disparate Italian groups working after the war that were trying to figure out how to resurrect Italian pride, […]
Read moreAfter World War II, the Italian intellectual community was searching for their cultural and historical roots. A number of theatre people started to explore commedia dell’arte, which at that time when it was performed was being done as stodgy museum pieces really devoid of life (think bad Moliere)Â A group of artists, including Giorgio Strehler, Dario Fo, Jacques LeCoq, Marcello […]
Read moreTwo – Commedia dell’Arte 2010 Summer Workshops from RCCU 1) June 13 – June 25, 2010 in New York NY at Pier Studios in Hudson River Park 2) July 26 – August 6, 2010 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Virginia in conjunction with Southern Virginia University. For the first time in RCCU’s history students will be able to […]
Read moreThe 19nth season of Amherst’s Ko Festival has been curated on the theme of “It’s All in the Family.” They’ll have five weeks of shows that take a penetrating and entertaining look at families – both traditional and non-traditional. A rich examination of ways that people negotiate expectations, identity and legacy. The festival runs July 5 – August 8, 2010, […]
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