I started out the year working with my friend Stephen Girasuolo, directing a workshop/reading of a new play he has written
called Orange Alert. Stephen left the country not long after 911 and has been living in Europe where he learned three languages in five years. Orange Alert began as a series of scenes he wrote while living in Paris. It's very funny stuff, but also very moving. The characters come at each other like hungry animals. What is beginning to emerge is a series of vignettes in which all of the characters are somehow linked, each character's decisions impacting upon another character in a completely different scene. I'm delighted to be working with Stephen as he develops the play. We had our first rehearsal yesterday at Tom Noonan's Paradise Theater on E 4th Street. The cast that we've assembled for the reading is astonishing: Jessica Dickey, John Doman, Andrew Lawton, Indira Obregon, Derek Pliath, Ivan Sandomire, Greg Skura, and Janine Squillari. If you want to check out what we're up to, come by the Paradise Theater (64 E 4th Street) next Sunday at 7PM. I promise it will be interesting.I also begin teaching this week after a hiatus of nearly five years! The Winter Workshop 2008 kicks
off at the Algonquin Theater this Wednesday. I'm delighted to be co-conducting the class with my friend and colleague Eva Burgess. I met Eva during the very last workshop I was teaching with Joseph Chaikin before he died. Joe had wanted to focus on the works of Eugene Ionesco during that class, and even invited James Leverett (Theater Professor from Yale University) to speak with the class about The Bald Soprano. So it's no accident that we pick up the class right where we left off, with scenes from The Bald Soprano. Of course, this workshop will be different from the classes with Joe. Our emphasis is going to much more on voice and movement for the actor rather than examining the relationship between director and actor. I'm excited to get started.I'll write more when there's more to write. Bye for now!
Wayne
