Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Chapter Four: Spotlight on Lillian Meredith
As we're gearing up for rehearsals to begin in a few short weeks, I thought it might be fun to introduce you, our audience, to the artistic minds that are bringing this dream to a stage near you! So, without further ado:
Meet Lillian Meredith. She plays Jenny, a contented and friendly 11-14 year-old girl, in our upcoming production of Hangman School for Girls. Lillian is a director, actor and arts administrator based in New York City. She is a founding member of FullStop Collective and has worked on numerous shows with the company, including Silos of Duanesberg, Diving in December, Girl Words, and Negative Space. Other credits include: Air Conditioning (Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference), A Chicken Goes to Broadway (Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival) and Monster in the Dark (foolsFury Theater). She is also a member of foolsFURY Theater in San Francisco and a fan of New Noise in New Orleans. A recent graduate of Vassar College and the National Theater Institute, Lillian is also a photographer wanna-be, a future truck-pilgrim, and a poet-at-large. Check out her work at www.lillianmeredith.tumblr.com
And we'll end with the Pivot Questionnaire as seen on Inside the Actors Studio:
What is your favorite word? devastating
What is your least favorite word? inappropriate
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? the back of a 2000 Ford pick up
What turns you off? insomnia
What is your favorite curse word? motherfucker
What sound or noise do you love? streams in upstate new york
What sound or noise do you hate? my gchat notification
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? cartography
What profession would you not like to do? professional wrestling
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? "you really didn't have to worry so much"
Friday, December 11, 2009
Chapter Three: Updates, Photos, and Thank Yous
Number One:
A great big giant THANK YOU to The Makepeace Brothers and Alexandra Bassett for contributing their musical talents at an awesome concert to raise money for HANGMAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS! This first fundraising event was a huge success and I had a great time. You know it’s a good night when the evening ends with a dance off!!
Please check out both Makepeace and Alexandra’s websites in the “Glossary” section to the right and become a FAN of Alexandra on Facebook!
Number Two:
We are continuing our fundraising efforts with a week of gift wrapping fun at the Barnes & Noble on
Members from both The Vagabond Theatre Ensemble and FullStop Collective have been at B&N all week and we’ll also be there every Saturday morning until Christmas! So stop on by!
Number Three:
WE HAVE A SPACE!!
HANGMAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS will be performed at Manhattan Theatre Source @
Stay tuned for more updates to come and become a follower of this blog!
Thank you again to EVERYONE who has contributed to this show already. Your support has been incredibly appreciated. We could not do it without you.
MERRY HOLIDAYS!!
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Chapter Two: The Public Reading
Ready or not we have another exciting event planned:
The First Official Public Reading of HANGMAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS!
Please join us for this special sneak preview on Monday, December 7 @ 7:30 pm
The Bridge Theater
Shetler Studios, Floor 12
244 West 54th Street
New York, NY 10019
There will be:
1. Wine
2. Special Guest Artists*
3. A brief Q & A with the playwright
4. A chance to support the production of bold new work
$10 suggested donation at the door will go towards the March 2010 world premiere production of HANGMAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Our Special Reading Cast includes:
Lucy Gillespie as Hazel
Sarah Ann Masse as Chelsea
Briel Pomerantz as Deethi
Lillian Meredith as Jenny
*And Introducing:
Laura Wiese as Anna
Bob Jaffe as Desk
with Stage Directions read by Janice Picconi
Don’t miss the opportunity to see this fantastic script performed for the first time!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Chapter One: Naughty British Schoolgirls
Come join us for a night of Naughty British Schoolgirls!
There will be:
1. Smirnoff Ices
2. A VAT of TRIFLE
3. Awesome prizes for British Trivia, and Drawings.
4. FANCY DRESS COMPETITION - Prizes for the most convincing Schoolgirls, and the shiftiest Perverts in the house.
Start Time: Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 8:30pm
Location: Greenwich Treehouse
Street: 46 Greenwich Ave
City/Town: New York, NY
$10 suggested donation at the door will go towards the Spring production of
HANGMAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.
See You There!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Introduction
Told from Hazel’s perspective, the play maintains a firm bias to her version of events. Scenes about and involving the schoolmates are a clownish pantomime of noise and motion as Hazel is overwhelmed by the exuberance and vivacity of her peers. Hazel’s one-on-one encounters with the girls are more naturalistic, yet still there is a quickness of speech that Hazel cannot catch up with, and as she wants to be the heroine of her own story her frustration and anger causes her to make villains of them all, both in her mind and in her real interactions with them. The Desk – literally the school desk at which she sits - is a characterization of Hazel’s imagination that spans the heights of her conscience and the depths of her capacity for rage. Played by the only male in the cast, Desk has a clearer sense of reality and of intention. He starts by seducing and comforting Hazel, providing her with a safe place to play that eventually becomes a hell of doubt and self-punishment.
The loss of innocence balanced with self-punishment is deeply explored. What constitutes a loss of innocence in today’s society, and how does it manifest itself? Traditionally it is the loss of virginity that symbolizes the assumption of the weightier responsibilities of adulthood, but now there are so many ways to be sophisticated at an early age. In urban societies, where there is a myriad of backgrounds, ethnicities, religions and castes; the loss of innocence, as much as it is the understanding of a knowledge that is greater and more powerful than yourself, occurs at the front lines of where cultures start to mix: At school. Hazel is ruptured the moment that the girls parade into the classroom.
Choreography is vital to the staging of Hangman School for Girls, and will be the main focus of the rehearsal process. As Hazel lives in a world of impressions, both the Desk and the Girls will employ highly stylized physicality. Throughout, the Desk goes from being an object to becoming human - and he both enjoys and is conscious of his regeneration. The Girls are buoyant and volatile. They stumble through adolescence, finally become graceful young women as Hazel retreats further into her fantastical constructions.
STAY POSTED FOR UPDATES ON PREVIEWS, PUBLIC EVENTS, AND INSIGHTS FROM THE CAST AND CREW ON THIS COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.