this week in (live)streaming

THEATER IN QUARANTINE: CLOSET WORKS V.2

closet works

Who: Joshua William Gelb, Sanaz Ghajar, Veronica Jiao, Nehemiah Luckett, Nate Stevens, Raja Feather Kelly
What: Live performance series from an East Village closet
Where: Joshua William Gelb YouTube channel
When: Thursday, July 16, free, 7:00 (encore at 9:00)
Why: Feeling claustrophobic? Wait till you get a load of Joshua William Gelb. During the pandemic, the writer, director, performer, and librettist has been presenting short, livestreamed works from his 2′ x 4′ x 8′ converted closet in his East Village apartment, making creative use of the space in a series he calls Theater in Quarantine. Among the pieces you can still catch on his YouTube channel are Franz Kafka’s The Neighbor, Hypochondriac! (based on Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid), Scott R. Sheppard’s Topside, and box thrree. spool five. a piece of krapp, from Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. On July 16 at 7:00 and 9:00, Gelb will premiere closet works v.2, featuring choreography by regular collaborator Katie Rose McLaughlin and guest artists Sanaz Ghajar, Veronica Jiao, Nehemiah Luckett, Nate Stevens, and Raja Feather Kelly, offering a whole new interpretation of digital space.

In a statement, Gelb (The Black Crook, A Hunger Artist) explained, “I often think about Peter Brook’s invocation of the empty space when standing in front of my closet. How can this utilitarian container, so uncomfortably small, so disproportionate in its aspect ratio, become a stage for the imagination? And it’s here I find the central metaphor, and perhaps appeal, of the entire project — it’s about as obvious as you might expect — that my attempts not only to make art in this confinement but to exist whatsoever, are not so dissimilar from what many of us are experiencing. There is frustration, and boredom, and lots of loneliness. But there is also great potential and for once an expanse of time that we have the chance to fill not with mere anxiety but with the thoughtful, rigorous creative impulse.” The series, held in conjunction with the Invisible Dog Art Center, continues August 13 and September 12; admission is free, but you can donate to the project here. Also on the schedule for Theater in Quarantine is The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy on July 30, an adaptation of Stanisław Lem’s Star Diaries directed by Jon Levin and written by Josh Luxenberg; and the spoken-word chamber opera Footnote for the End of Time on August 27, based on Jorge Luis Borges’s short story “The Secret Miracle,” directed by Levin and with music by Alex Weston inspired by Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.

GRUDGES

grudges zoom

Who: Knowledge Workings Theater Company
What: Livestreamed play about family and politics
Where: Zoom link sent after ticket purchase
When: July 16-24, $10-$20
Why: Last year, satirist Joe Queenan and actor, director, and producer T. J. Elliott kicked off their Knowledge Workings Theater Company with Alms, a play about sports, religion, and homelessness. They’ve followed that up with Grudges, a comic tale of two brothers torn apart by the 2016 presidential election. The cast features John Blaylock as Matthew McCarthy, Lynne Otis as Faith Vergaretti McCarthy, James Lawson as Paul McCarthy, Jasmine Dorothy Haefner as Candy Cruz, and Andre Montgomery as Jerry Marcus, with Ed Altman serving as narrator; Matthew and Paul are considering reconciling over dinner after two years of battling over Donald Trump and Barack Obama, two names they are not allowed to say to each other. Directed by Dora Endre, the piece will be performed live seven times on Zoom July 16-24; tickets are $10-$20. I’ve been enjoying Queenan’s Wall Street Journal column “Moving Targets” for several years; he has also offered his view on the state of the country in such books as Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation; Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon: Joe Queenan’s America; and The Unkindest Cut: How a Hatchet-Man Critic Made His Own $7,000 Movie and Put It All on His Credit Card. So Grudges promises to be sharp, biting, and funny; just don’t hold a grudge against me if it isn’t.

NY CLASSICAL REUNION READING: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

importance

Who: Ademide Akintilo, Kristen Calgaro, Connie Castanzo, Jed Peterson, Kate Goehring, John Michalski, Tina Stafford, Clay Storseth
What: Live reunion reading of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
Where: NY Classical online
When: Thursday, July 16, free with RSVP, 8:00
Why: Last year, NY Classical Theatre presented a unique version of Oscar Wilde’s classic Victorian farce, The Importance of Being Earnest, indoors and outdoors, with all the actors switching roles and gender for each performance, which took place in A.R.T./New York’s Mezzanine Theatre, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Carl Schurz Park. As part of its virtual programming during the pandemic lockdown, the troupe is bringing back the original cast for a live reunion reading on July 16 at 8:00, featuring Ademide Akintilo as Algernon, Kristen Calgaro as Gwendolen, Connie Castanzo as Cecily, Jed Peterson as Jack, Kate Goehring as Lady Bracknell, John Michalski as Merriman, Tina Stafford as Miss Prism, and Clay Storseth as Dr. Chasuble. Directed by Stephen Burdman, the reading will be available for viewing through July 20. “Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring one anywhere?” Jack says in the play. We could all use some pleasure in our lives these days, even as we’re stuck at home, going nowhere.

CLASSIC CONVERSATIONS

classic conversations

Who: George Takei, André De Shields, Becky Ann Baker, Dylan Baker, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Heather Headley, John Doyle
What: Livestreamed discussions about theater in the age of Covid-19
Where: Classic Stage YouTube channel
When: Thursdays, July 16 – August 13, free (donations accepted), 6:00
Why: Now that Classic Stage has concluded its twelve-part “Classic Conversations” series with the performers in the postponed revival of Assassins, the company is turning to other actors with ties to the troupe and its artistic director, John Doyle. The lineup features George Takei on July 16, Tony winner André De Shields on July 23, husband-and-wife team Becky Ann Baker and Dylan Baker on July 30, Obie winner Quincy Tyler Bernstine on August 6, and Tony and Grammy winner Heather Headley on August 13, all moderated by the Tony-winning Doyle. After the livestream, the talks are archived on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

THE ROOM PLAYS: THE LIVING ROOM PLAYS

the living room plays

Who: Eden Theater Company
What: Short Zoom plays about isolation
Where: Zoom room and Facebook Live
When: Thursday, July 16, free with RSVP, 8:00
Why: Last month New City-based Eden Theater Company presented The Bedroom Plays, the first installment in its Room Plays trilogy, each of which consists of three ten-minute plays dealing with isolation during the pandemic lockdown. Jake Brasch’s The Man in the Fuchsia Mask, Cassandra Paras’s Daeva, and Tracy Carns’s In a Bubble, with Only You offered intriguing looks into what life is like in the age of coronavirus. As ETC explains, “This series of short plays are at-home productions that take place in the rooms that we create for ourselves, and the rooms from which we have no immediate exit. The Room Plays provide an empathetic vantage into different experiences, different traumas, and different states of spiritual well-being while in quarantine.” Moving from the bedroom to the living room, the July 16 livestreamed show features Mario Gonzales’s postapocalyptic snapped-shot, directed by Ran Xia and starring Frank Humphries as a Civil War-obsessed loner; Amanda Enzo’s First Day, in which Enzo portrays an art history professor; and husband-and-wife Annie Larussa and Mark Moses’s The Pedicure, in which Larussa and Moses play a couple dealing with NY on PAUSE. The female-driven ETC, led by producing artistic director Diane Davis and creative artistic director Paras, will head toward the bathroom for the intimate finale, scheduled for August 6.

BENEFIT READING AND ACTOR/PLAYWRIGHT DISCUSSION OF GOOD AS NEW

good as new

Who: Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Peter Hedges
What: Benefit reading and discussion for MCC Theater
Where: MCC Theater YouTube channel
When: Thursday, July 16, $25, 7:00
Why: In its twenty-fifth anniversary 1993-94 season, Manhattan Class Company (now known as MCC Theater) presented novelist, screenwriter, and playwright Peter Hedges’s one-act play Good as New, which was turned into a full-length work in 1997 starring John Spencer, Jennifer Dundas, and Laura Esterman. The company is bringing back the shorter, two-character version for a special benefit reading on July 16 at 7:00, with Oscar and Grammy winner Julianne Moore (Far from Heaven, Still Alice) starring as a mother butting heads with her teenage daughter, played by Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable, Booksmart), who is learning how to drive. In a statement, Hedges explained, “Thirty-three years ago I met Julianne Moore at the same time I met MCC Theater. Bernie [Telsey], Bob, and Will had arranged for a stage reading of my play Andy and Claire. An actress unknown to me at that time, Julianne Moore, read Claire. In that moment, she became one of my favorite actors in all the world. MCC Theater is my favorite theater in all the world. And back when I wrote plays, MCC often workshopped and produced them. I even wrote much of my first novel, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, reading and staging excerpts under the auspices of MCC Theater. After experiencing the sublime and exquisite live reading this past spring of Alan Bowne’s Beirut with Marisa Tomei and Oscar Isaac, the possibilities of meaningful virtual theater became ever apparent. It was a thrill when MCC approached me about doing a reading of Good as New — and the whole thought of it went to a surreal next level when the great Julianne Moore and one of my favorite younger actors in all the world, the phenomenal Kaitlyn Dever, agreed to come play at what will be a live virtual theatrical party on July 16.”

The twenty-five-minute reading will be directed by Hedges, who has also written and directed such films as Pieces of April, Dan in Real Life, and The Odd Life of Timothy Green and written such plays as Champions of the Average Joe, Imagining Brad, and Baby Anger, and will be followed by a twenty-five-minute interactive talk back with the cast and creative team. Tickets are $25, with proceeds going to MCC’s Be Our Light Campaign; ten percent of any additional donations will go to the Artist Co-op.

PLAYBAC: PERFORMANCES FROM THE ARCHIVE SERIES 2

Who: Baryshnikov Arts Center
What: Free virtual series
Where: Baryshnikov Arts Center online
When: Thursdays at 5:00, free (available through the following Tuesday at 5:00)
Why: Baryshnikov Arts Center is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary virtually, streaming a wide range of archival performances that display its diversity, from dance and music to theater and poetry. Its second series of “PlayBAC: Performances from the Archive” begins July 16-21 with Trisha Brown Dance Company’s Opal Loop / Cloud Installation #72503, filmed ten years ago in the Howard Gilman Performance Space, where Leah Morrison, Nicholas Strafaccia, Laurel J. Tentindo, and Samuel von Wentz move quietly around a smokey stage, with costumes by Judith Shea, lighting by Beverly Emmons, and visual presentation by Fujiko Nakaya creating a mystical atmosphere. The look back continues with Aszure Barton’s Over/Come July 23-28 (with members of Hell’s Kitchen Dance), the Quodlibet Ensemble July 30 – August 4, Company SBB / Stefanie Batten Bland’s A Place of Sun August 6-11, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith reading Catalan poetry August 13-18, and doug elkins choreography, etc.’s Scott, Queen of Marys August 20-25, featuring Javier Ninja. The videos will be introduced by founding artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov and several of the artists. The first series consisted of works by Rocío Molina, the Latvian National Choir, Rashaun Mitchell, Merasi: Master Musicians of Rajasthan, Vertigo Dance Company, and singer/songwriter Somi, but you cannot see them anymore because they are available for only a limited time, so don’t miss this opportunity to see this second collection of cutting-edge presentations, for free.

July 16-21
Trisha Brown Dance Company, Opal Loop / Cloud Installation #72503 (1980), Howard Gilman Performance Space, filmed April 10, 2010

July 23-28
Aszure Barton, Over/Come (2005), Studio Showing, Rudolf Nureyev Studio, filmed June 16, 2005

July 30 – August 4
Quodlibet Ensemble: Music by Biber, Martynov + Sharlat, Jerome Robbins Theater, filmed December 5, 2018

August 6-11
Company SBB / Stefanie Batten Bland, A Place of Sun (2012), world premiere, Jerome Robbins Theater, filmed May 17, 2012

August 13-18
Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith: A Reading of Catalan poetry, Howard Gilman Performance Space, filmed March 23, 2007

August 20-25
doug elkins choreography, etc., Scott, Queen of Marys (1994), Howard Gilman Performance Space, filmed December 7, 2012