JANE ANGER at the New Ohio Theatre

 

Back in 1589, one Jane Anger published the earliest known feminist pamphlet in English, Jane Anger, her Protection for Women. Pretty much all we know about Jane (assuming she was indeed a she) is in those pages, of which only one copy survives.  

But playwright Talene Monahon has huge fun envisioning a history for Jane involving William Shakespeare in Jane Anger: The Lamentable Comedie of Jane Anger, that Cunning Woman, and also of Willy Shakefpeare and his Peasant Companion, Francis, Yes and Also of Anne Hathaway (also a Woman) Who Tried Very Hard.

As you might assume from the title, this is no deep dive into feminist history, but it is deeply hilarious, providing many a welcome belly-laugh. 

Played with over-the-top verve and gusto by Amelia Workman as Jane, Michael Urie as Shakespeare, Ryan Spahn as Francis, and Monahon as Anne Hathaway, and directed by Jess Chayes, it's at the New Ohio Theatre through March 26.

https://newohiotheatre.org/

Don't miss the LEMON GIRLS!

 

The Talking Band's latest is a beautiful, spirit-lifting show.

See my friend Elizabeth Zimmer's review in the Village Voice:

https://www.villagevoice.com/2022/03/14/the-artful-artlessness-of-the-lemon-girls/

 

THE TALKING BAND--LIVE AGAIN!

One sign that New York City theater life is beginning to return to some semblance of normal is a new, live show by the Talking Band.  The last time I saw a show of theirs in a theater was Theater of No Illusions in February, 2019--a show that in retrospect might seem to have been slightly prophetic, set, as it was at a funeral parlor near the US-Canadian border where two asylum seekers take refuge.

Last night was opening night of their latest--Lemon Girls or Art for the Artless--which La Mama, their frequent venue, describes as  "A comedic and revelatory music and dance/theater celebration of older women and the thrill of unlikely art."

 Sounds good to me!  I'll be at this Sunday's matinee.  You have till March 27 to catch it.

https://www.lamama.org/shows/lemon-girls-2022

 

 

 

Art of Glass

 A few days ago I wandered into a gallery specializing in art glass, and in their back room found a small show of extraordinary works by by Lino Tagliapietra, a glass artist in his late 80s, who's recently retired from glass blowing,

The show will be running through this Saturday and possibly into early next week at the Heller Gallery, on 10th Ave. just south of 28th Street in Chelsea.  

For further information, check out

https://www.hellergallery.com/lino-tagliapietra 

and

https://www.linotagliapietra.com/

where you can see a video of the artist at work.

my favorite play this year: Trouble in Mind

After a successful run off-Broadway in 1955, Alice Childress's first full-length play was scheduled to open on Broadway.  But Trouble in Mind had some tough things to say about racism in the theater, so the author was asked to asked to tone it down.  She refused--and the run was canceled.  Now, a mere 66 years later, you can catch Childress's masterpiece on Broadway with an excellent cast led by the brilliant LaChanze, Tony Award winner for The Color Purple. Produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company, it's running through January 9 at the American Airlines Theatre.  Don't miss it!

From The Wooster Group: The B-Side: "Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons"

 Three years ago, at St. Ann's Warehouse, Jim and I caught the Wooster Group's extraordinary show The-B Side, directed by Kate Valk--a rendition of the 1965 album Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons: blues, work songs, spirituals, and other music and talk from the state's segregated agricultural prisons, recorded by folklorist Bruce Jackson. While the LP was played, performers Eric Berryman, Jasper McGruder, and Philip Moore sang along, and Berryman added commentary from Jackson's book Wake Up Dead Man: Hard Labor and Southern Blues.  Through Monday, September 14, the Wooster Group is making The B-Side available on their website:

http://thewoostergroup.org/blog/

It was like nothing else I've seen.  Catch it if you can!

 

 

THE GUEST AT CENTRAL PARK WEST

 

 

I don't know how I missed this terrific play by Levy Lee Simon when it was first produced in New York City in 2008.  Maybe it had a short run, and I was out of town.  But in any case, I'm so glad to have caught the recent reading or The Guest at Central Park West--presented by its original producer, the Workshop Theater Company, and featuring the original cast.

It seems that back at the time of its first production, The Guest at Central Park West was widely turned down by regional theaters, largely because of an ending then seemed outrageous--and now seems prescient.  It's play that now feels timelier than ever, and I hope it will go on to find the audience it deserves, in many more readings and productions.

You can catch this reunion reading online through Monday, August 10, at 7 pm:

 

https://www.workshoptheater.org/

 

 Your donation will benefit the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.