It's been a bit of a ride since I closed in August: OsageCounty. Not happy to say good-bye to the best company of actors on the planet! I'm crossing my fingers I'll be back with the play again soon. I think it could very well happen. Seen in the audience the week I was there: Al Pacino, Michael Kahn, Kati Tong, my former college roommate Jeff Polsky. Goodbye August! See you on the campus, as they say.
On Monday, August 25, I attended a screening of a new film produced by my friend Dennis Ostermaier. The film is called House of Satisfaction, written and
produced by Jesse Hartman. Hartman is convincing as a down and out junkie with a real genius for the smart rock lyric. But the story of "making right" with his family by stealing junk from a Cleveland mafia didn't hold up nearly as well. The films' best moments shine when they remind us all of the east village that once was. The Village of Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction, of indie films just taking off, of brave performances like those of Santo Fazio. It's a very worthwhile movie, and I hope it finds its place on the circuit soon.Also on Monday night, I ran cross town from Tribeca to catch an
evening of new solo work by performance artist David Cale at Joe's Pub.
I have loved David for over a decade, ever since I saw him perform in The Redthroats at Second Stage, as well as in Smooch Music. David is developing a new show of mesmerizing monologues based mostly around the themes of, well, love. David weaves a story about a hansome cab driver who becomes a male prostitute for wealthy ladies on the upper east side. He circles in the world of art and finance, giving his "customers" an opportunity to be excited by a young man that is virile and romantic, charming and self-effacing, eloquent without condescension. And there is plenty of sex. I'll not betray any of the comedic effects, but what I will say is that here is a performer at the top of his game. He's open, lovely, raw ---he takes us through the journey on an emotional level. And that level is often funny. Very, very funny. Thank you David for a wonderful night in the theater. We can't wait to catch you again soon!The next day....Tuesday....I began my MFA Program in Directing at Brooklyn College. That calls for a separate, or many separate blogs. So I leave you only with this simple thought from the great political director Erwin Piscator:
From a Radio Broadcast aired by West Berlin Radio on December 16, 1987:
"The concept of political theatre clings to me like a shirt. Not even today can I comprehend that there could be art without politics. I simply cannot comprehend it...Not because I do not want to comprehend it or because I have a theory about it, but quite simply because I do not see...theat we are allowed to remove politics from art...And politics in art is as permanent and natural as saying 'a-b-c'. There is nothing else. But there never has been anything else."
Tanks for comin'.
Wayne
