zoeruthss
The Ancient Greeks: More Sexually Accepting Than Us
As part of our final projects for Dramaturgy class, each student chose an adaptation of a Greek play or myth. We were sectioned into groups of three or four based on the source material of our adaptations, their genre, author, or another linking factor. While some plays clearly have stronger ties to one another, nearly […]
Theater About and For Me
My last post,”Greedy New York,” condemned the theater industry in New York for draining tourists of money and prioritizing profit over artistic value. The day after publishing that article I saw Bad Jews at the Roundabout Theatre and began to reconsider. While I felt somewhat taken advantage of and neglected as an audience member of No […]
Greedy New York
Thanksgiving break in New York has been far from a break. I’ve spent my semester adamantly squeezing in time for at least one theatrical performance a week, usually two, sometimes three, once four. I’ve seen nearly all of the productions put on by my peers at Boston University and several performances outside of the microcosm […]
Responsibility of the Audience
Last weekend I saw a visual and auditory representation of the online drama that encompassed the hacktivist group, Anonymous. The People Movers Dance Company perform what they called “a new ballet set in cyberspace.” The live music was conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya. The music was composed by Peter Van Zandt Lane and consisted of electronically […]
Seeing (too many) Stars
I recently saw the newest 3d visual stunner, Gravity. The Alfonso Cuaron directed movie was incredibly tense, optically remarkable, and expertly used the specific capabilities of the medium of film. Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut, wrote in his review of the blockbuster, “For me, watching movies about space is like a congresswoman watching ‘House of […]
Write What You Know… Or Buckle Down and Research
Many English teachers and professors-including several of mine- have told many students- including me- to, “Write what you know.” “So many of your characters go to Northeastern,” said a classmate in my playwriting class. I replied, “Well, I don’t like to write about cities that I don’t know relatively well. I don’t want them all […]
Wellman vs. BSO
This past weekend I attended a performance at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Despite the fact that as a BU student I can get 75 dollar seats to any performance at the BSO for free, it was my first time attending the world renowned orchestra. Though I play no instruments and though I wouldn’t call myself […]
Shakespeare is cool
During my grade school, middle school, and high school years I usually spent the months of October and November choosing my scene and monologue for the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s annual Shakespeare Scene and Monologue competition. My older brother set an example for me. He was an actor first, but I- the annoying younger sister that […]
Girls Poop
This past weekend I saw two Boston University School of Theater shows. Despite the fact that these shows were some of the first to go into performances this quarter and therefore had shortened rehearsal periods, both appeared incredibly well rehearsed and professional. Both were musicals. Both were funny. Both had elements of puppetry and moments in which […]
Wright More Roles for Fierce Women
A recent article by Holly L. Derr on Howlround.com , entitled, “Playing Shakespeare’s Men,” felt particularly relevant to me. As a female actor in Boston University’s Theater Arts program, a program exceedingly girl-heavy, I have seen my same- sex class-mates perform male roles in several Femme Shakes shows. Additionally, I had the experience last year […]
Fight Choreographers Make the Best Directors
Sunday afternoon I saw a matinee performance of Ginger Lazarus‘ new play, Burning. I went because I got a free ticket through Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, the theater is a short seven minute walk from my apartment, and because a fellow BFA student was in the cast. For those […]
Let’s All Do Away With Auditions
An actor is often at his or her worst in an audition. The monologue they have over-rehearsed to apparent perfection goes out the window. They are inevitably congested or too hot or their pants are too tight or they spilled their coffee on their shirt during the bus ride over. Even if the casting director […]
A Generous Piece of Theater
This past weekend I spent just over 24 hours away from my apartment, school, and life in Boston to see my brother, New York based actor-Alec Silberblatt– play thick skulled and spry, Mairtin Hanlon, in Martin McDonough’s, “A Skull in Connemara.” The performance, which took place in Pittsburgh, Pa at the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical […]
Consumers Build Endurance for Marathon Art by Sticking to What is Familiar
Jonathan Mandell’s recent post on Howlround.com about the growing trend of marathon theater events got me thinking about how we build endurance as consumers of the arts . In William Ball’s book, A Sense of Direction, Ball suggests that having the endurance to sit through hours of theater, good or bad, is unnatural- “Human being like […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 