Handcart Ensemble

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Paul Muldoon on Handcart’s The Burial at Thebes

“I simply can’t imagine a better production of The Burial at Thebes. Handcart Ensemble is a spectacularly gifted group, absolutely equal to the subtleties of Heaney’s text. I’ll go anywhere to see anything they do.” —Paul Muldoon

The Third Wheel

Handcart Ensemble’s Theater Blog

June 2005

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

A play about who we are now

In Chicago they're "bringing new life to literary masterworks," to quote gratuitously from Handcart's mission statement. This sort of theater, I like to hear about it. Read a review of a reimagined A Doll's House.

Posted by Kevin Ashworth at 09:10 AM
Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Sick of writing epics for six?

If I were anywhere near the Hampstead Theatre on Friday, I'd attend Monster Day Out. Since the Jubilee line doesn't stop on my continent, I'll try to be content to stay home and read about a new movement in British theater: Monsterism.

Monsterism is largely about being, well, large. Writer David Eldridge makes a good case in the Guardian for new (large) plays to be put on equal footing with plays of the long-dead. When the pertinent question is, "Why would anyone write stage plays now? If you can write dialogue and you can hit a deadline, you can write TV," the counter-argument is, "Dramatists should stop fooling around in little black boxes and think big."

Ooh, this article intrigues. A monsterist work shares many of Handcart's ideals. As a reminder of our ideals, I quote from Scott's initial blog entry:

Our company is about two things where theater is concerned:

1. Imaginative staging
2. Rich use of the written/spoken word

Beside the obvious factor of live performance, we believe these two elements are what make theater distinct as an art form, and that without them it risks being made irrelevant by film and TV.

At the end of the Guardian article, read Monsterism's Manifesto, their campaign to ensure non-irrelevance for the theater in our TV-dominated era. We at Handcart don't share all their goals, but we like "large concepts," "meaning implied by action," and more. Go monsterists!

Posted by Kevin Ashworth at 09:22 AM
Monday, June 27, 2005

What price success?

The Playgoer makes interesting comments today on yesterday's Variety article about the fact that average Broadway ticket prices have remained steady -- meaning musical prices are flat while play prices are up more than $5 this year, a huge increase of 10%. Yes, 10% annual inflation will turn away customers from any market, but the people I know that love theater are a bit on the poor side, so this makes an even bigger difference for many of those that really care.

Posted by Kevin Ashworth at 01:11 PM
Sunday, June 26, 2005

He’s still here

Good read about Broadway in today's New York Times. Hal Prince is nostalgic. I think he's the one that said, "The American musical is dead. And we killed it." So a friend of mine quotes him, at least. Or maybe it was Sondheim that said it? Same difference, I suppose.

Anyway, it's not a wonder he dreams of a different era, a time when shows on Broadway weren't full of irony and rehashed pop songs, but is his new idea (at Columbia University) the way to go? Or is it an attempt to relive his glory days or perhaps atone for his murderous sins?

Posted by Kevin Ashworth at 05:25 PM

The Third Wheel

Main Page

Monthly Archives

July 2009
January 2009
February 2007
October 2006
March 2006
January 2006
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
March 2005
January 2005
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
June 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002

June 2005 Entries

A play about who we are now
Sick of writing epics for six?
What price success?
He’s still here

Copyright © 2001 - 2009 Handcart Ensemble.