Living in the modern world, we are constantly the bystander to, or observer of, the life events of others. Be they consequential and indelible, or fleeting and forgettable, these seemingly disconnected series of events serve as context to our community’s larger story. The more we notice and choose to connect, the better we understand the relationships that bind us all. For those already familiar with Daniel Kitson’s fourth-wall-breaking, unfiltered, and hilariously sporadic delivery, that might seem almost too deep for his latest work—A Short Series of Disagreements Presented Here in Chronological Order playing at Studio Theatre—and yet through the tangents and outbursts, torrent of focus and side notes, it is the common thread that pulls the story along: the challenge of following a series of events and adjusting our perception based on the contexts we allow ourselves to expand to in order to gain a greater understanding.
Daniel Kitson, courtesy of his Wikipedia page.
Tapping into truly expert observational comedy and unleashing razor-sharp wit, Kitson’s monologue show is genius. Staged as a sparsely furnished office with a Macbook, projector, notebook, and single bulb light, Kitson talks with the audience, riffing and poking fun like a stand-up comedian warming up the audience. What seems to start off as a casual audience talkback about the creative process of developing his show dedicated to seemingly unconnected disagreements—from the correct pronunciation of quinoa to the gun control or a neighborly quarrel over a backyard fence—quickly blurred into the peculiar mystery of a late night bicycling accident. With the tangential organization of someone unable to concentrate on any one subject for longer than 15 seconds, Kitson balanced his need to write A Short Series of Disagreements with his need to satisfying unquenchable curiosity into the circumstances of the accident that he had witnessed and the white ghost bike that had since appeared. The streams of thought, anecdotes, and quirky ticks were unending as Kitson’s focus slowly shifted from trying to write A Short Series of Disagreements separately and telling this cycling story.
A story that is entirely fictional, by the way, as Kitson stated at the beginning of the show–and yet to enter into his tale was to see reality reflected. His masterful storytelling guided the audience, laughing or cringing, from conclusion to debunked conclusion. Using ledger notes, receipts, pictures, voicemail messages, slides, and a persistently earnest need to share his journey of discovery, Kitson transitioned from telling you what he’s going to write his play about to focusing on the unraveling of a South London cycling club. We, as the audience, followed the red string he was pinning to the proverbial wall, forming our own assumptions about the facts and the events. Kitson was on an obsessive mission to complete the puzzle he had come upon even if he was unaware of the final picture.
It was this constant, obsessive drive to get to the bottom of the mystery, as Kitson perceived it, that formed the main arch of the show. Many of the characters (all relayed through Kitson’s curious, borderline conspiracy theorist monologue) were happy to remain with their incomplete, if not harmfully incorrect, assumptions about the events they witnessed. One self-proclaimed neighborhood watch type character in particular did not care to learn more. He was perfectly content seeing what he saw and understanding it the way he did; not needing to put it in any larger context, while Kitson was voraciously opposite. He scavenger hunted through the pulse of the story, walking a thin line between on-stage action and off-stage moral. Kitson constantly pushed himself, the story he was trying to write, and the audience as passengers to discover larger and greater contexts through which to view the facts as we knew them. It’s through his persistence (be it accidental, habitual, or obsessive) that the guilt or innocence of individuals shifted polarity dramatically, opinions on what was just for fun or for revenge reversed continuously, and every assumption overturned regarding the details of a seemingly inconsequential cycling club fleshed out the framework with which we understood all that came before.
Incredibly timely in today’s social and political climate, A Short Series of Disagreements challenges you to continue asking why, to continue connecting the pieces, to continue correcting yourself when you discover you’re in the wrong, and to continue pushing yourself to understand the larger context as a habitual, necessary guard against the convoluted modern world. A Short Series of Disagreements becomes a story about the framework of active participation to what we are observing, and when applied to the context of a larger world it becomes even more powerful for us as a society. Dig deeper to find the context that illuminates the facts. Do not be content with what is initially presented to you, follow the story, correct yourself when you are wrong, and piece together what may or may not be staring you in the face.
Taking a very local, very human series of interactions and spinning them into an incredibly intricate web of coincidence and conscious choice, Kitson’s wonderfully funny and delightfully clever tale of writer’s block and discovery exposes something much deeper. With banter that combines your crazy uncle at the dinner table and that weird guy on the metro shouting a story at you while you wait for a train, this quirky “the world is going down in flame, let’s have a cup of tea and a chat” humor was the perfect lens through which to examine the whys of life. Ask why until you can’t ask it any more and that will be the moment in which you’ve arrived at a nugget of truth.
When I was four or five years old, my brother climbed me up to a high branch in the apple tree in our back yard. Then he left me there. A while later, a family member heard my small pleading cry, “Help! Help the girl!” and rescued me. The thing is, neither my brother nor I remember this event. At all. We’ve probably heard the story 100 times over the years – so often that I’ve developed a first-person mental image of a tiny version of me clinging to the rough bark – but we have no independent recollection of it. Honestly, it does sound kinda like something my brother might have done back then. But he and I are skeptical; how could both of us have forgotten something that caused so much hullaballo?
Can memory be trusted? Where do false memories come from? Do you have any? How would you know? These types of questions are brought to mind in Lucia Treasure’s The Cobweb, playing this weekend only at Baltimore Annex Theater (“Annex”).
Annex Company Member Lucia Treasure has been conducting interviews for over five years. She has recorded the voices of her subjects – men, women, and children covering a wide age range – and is using segments of those raw recordings as the heart of this show. Treasure has assembled an impressive cast for this project – Autumn Breaud, Scott Burke, Dave Iden, Martin Kasey, Molly Margulies, Lucia Treasure, Trevor Wilhelms – each of whom channeled an interviewee. The ensemble was literally tied together; long red strings connected each of the actors with Treasure likes spokes on a wheel. Or the threads that make up a web. As each tells their story, the web becomes a tangle of memories.
I enjoyed Lucia Treasure’s The Cobweb. It was thought-provoking, relatable, well-conceived and well-executed. It also had a delightful touch of whimsy. The entire ensemble was great; I was particularly impressed with the performances of Scott Burke and Martin Kasey, each of whom effectively embodied his character. Burke portrayed his interviewee so genuinely I felt like I knew him. Kasey’s facial expressions, gestures and posture were charmingly spot-on. Also, Trevor Wilhelms was totally the cat’s meow.
You have one more opportunity to see The Cobweb at Baltimore Annex Theatre (TONIGHT, at 8:00pm!). It’ll be worth your while to go. The show may be brief, but you’ll be talking about the questions it raises for days.
Evan Moritz. Photo courtesy of Annex Theater.
They Were the Ocean
Patricia was there. And Drew was there. And Evan was there…
Immediately following The Cobweb – like before the Cobweb cast had all left the stage – began the second performance of the evening. Annex Founding Artistic Director Evan Moritz performs the final Knee Play of the season, his original piece, They Were the Ocean. They Were the Ocean consists of four stories, each told or sung by a toga-clad Moritz with the accompaniment of original electronic music. It’s performance art, not a play, and it’s mesmerizing.
Moritz’s stories and poems, told in this way, harken back to the ancient art of oral storytelling, a way that societies passed down history, religion, culture, and values before the advent of written language. It is a traditional form of expression still valued in some cultures – the Seanchaí in Ireland and the Shuochang in China, the Hindu ritual of Burra Katha and the still-common practice of Wayang kulit in Bali. From Homeric storytelling to tales around the campfire, it is a form of art familiar to us, as if part of our genetic memory.
Performatively, They Were the Ocean creates an atmosphere mixing both the ancient and the future. Like a group of primitive men huddled around a Launchpad and speaker stack. Parts of the show evoke Nick Cave’s ‘The Carny;’ others are reminiscent of Tyler Durden’s kudzu vine-wrapped Sears Tower.
My favorite story of the night was what may be called It Was Tuesday, the tale of a dystopian future police state. The story itself was interesting and suspenseful and Moritz’s manner of presenting it, with the techno-accompaniment and the repetition of a litany of names, amplified the mood. Perhaps the rhythmic percussion had the same alpha state-inducing quality that tent revival preachers use; it was hypnotic.
They Were the Ocean is unlike anything else you’re going to see in Baltimore today. It’s interesting and moody and weird and it quite possibly results in a temporarily altered mental state. Go see it and see what I mean. I really liked it.
The Cobweb by Lucia Treasure andThey Were the Oceanby Evan Moritz close out the Knee Play season TONIGHT at 8:00pm. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea; it’s not meant to be. Remember: Baltimore Annex Theatre: Radical, Experimental Performance is their mission. But if you fondly recognized any of the film and music references above, or if you’re just curious, head downtown tonight to see these works. It may be the most impactful hour of your whole week.
Running Time: Approximately 60 minutes, with no intermission.
Knee Plays – The Cobweb by Lucia Treasure and They Were the Ocean by Evan Moritz plays through TODAY, May 6, 2017 at Baltimore Annex Theater, 219 Park Avenue in Baltimore, MD. For tickets, purchase them at the box office or online.
When you go to one-night-only theater, you never know what you’ll get. There’s no word of mouth, no buzz, no yelping from critics. It’s like speed blind-dating
And if the one-night-stand in question, Next Day Theater, is brand-new to the DC theater landscape—its cheeky promo calls the popup a world premiere—that ups the ante-cipation.
I checked out Next Day Theater with another DCMetro TheaterArts writer, Michael Poandl. We made our way downstairs at Tropicalia on U Street where just past the bar there’s a small stage. In no time the place was packed with an audience ready to have a drink and a good time. Doing theater where people imbibe seems to have become a trend in DC—Drunkle Vanya and Murder Ballad come to mind. The libation-abetted levity offered by Next Day Theater was so au courant it didn’t exist 24 hours earlier. The sketch-comedy scripts had been written in advance, but the actors and directors got to see them only after work the day before.
Michael and I both enjoyed the show and agreed it would be a terrific fixture of DC’s performing-arts nightlife.
Matt Spangler. Photo courtesy of ‘Small Friendly Planet.’
To convey the fast-paced, on-the-fly invention we saw onstage, I asked Next Day Theater’s impresario, Executive Producer Matt Spangler, to breeze through the show with me—like chitchat on a DVD extra.
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IMPROV ACTORS: Erik Heaney and Lena Winter.
John:The show began with a couple of actors bantering downstage left. I couldn’t tell if they were improvising or had been scripted, but it was very, very funny.
Matt: They were improvising. That was my idea. I hashed it out over some beers with a friend of mine who does improv one night. She recommended Erik. Then I found Lena through one of the other actors in the production. And the three of us came up with this scenario where they were starting the show.
I can’t believe they hadn’t worked together before.
Directed by Star Johnson. With Janel Dillard and James Nachbaur.
Janel Dillard and James Nachbaur in ‘Stop Doing It!’
John: Stop Doing It! had a hilarious premise: a masseuse who can’t stop texting the Pope. And while she’s massaging she’s messaging—where did that come from?
Matt: Anne Marie wrote it as messaging, but the director came up with the idea of the massage.
That wasn’t in the script!?
No, the script was bare, like Samuel Beckett, just two characters on stage rapping with each other. Then at the end the director had the woman being massaged rising up with a Pope hat on.
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VOYERS By Derek Hills.
Directed by Ushma Parikh. With Chris Alexander, Disiree Brown, Alexander Gheesling, Miles Gheesling, and Ny’a Johnson.
The cast of ‘Voyers.’
John:The setup of Voyers was a group of tag artists in a corporate board-room setting. They’re interviewing applicants to join their team as taggers. And then one candidate comes in who’s a feeble-wobbly senior citizen and for her job audition she draws sex parts.
Matt: It sounds really funny when you describe the plot.
There was some fun-to-watch acting going on too.
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SPOKEN WORD MONOLOGUE:
Written and performed by Sam Kean.
Sam Kean.
John: Sam Kean, who in his real life wrote a scientific book about the Periodic Table of Elements, told a funny and true story about how when it was translated into Chinese it got a book cover that was erotica.
Matt: He’s been on the New York Times bestseller list actually.
He comes from the SpeakeasyDC community?
Right. Amori Langstaff my girlfriend and I went to the Valentine’s Day Show of Speakeasy DC at the 9:30 Club, and Sam came on. A couple of Speakeasy actors really impressed us, so we went to their websites and messaged them to see if they’d be interested in doing this show. And I heard back from Sam.
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WHEEL BARROW By Max Garner.
Directed by Rachael Murray. With Jean Chemnick, Jimmy Lee, and Karen Masih.
From ‘Wheel Barrow.’
John: Wheel Barrow was set in a Canadian radio station, very surreal.
Matt: Alaskan.
John:Oh, Alaska. The host puts oddball callers on the air and there’s this penguin beside him who just squeaks. That one was probably the most obscure to me.
I’m not sure I get the guess-who connection myself. But I knew the penguin was going to get some laughs, and people like that kind of folksy Northern Exposure humor.
It’s a good example of a sketch that has pop culture references in it that not everybody’s going to get. I mean, Northern Exposure was a while ago. But pretty soon you’re on to the next sketch, and you don’t have to be in the know.
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THE TASTE By Jessica Bylander.
Directed by Jen Williams. With Gemma Davimes, Lorrie Smith, Carol Spring, and Christen Stephansky.
From ‘The Taste.’
John: The Taste is about an Olympics-style wine-tasting championship, and Carol Spring, who played the curmudgeonly coach, just knocked me and Michael out.
Matt: Have you seen her before?
Nope. The sketch had a hilarious premise, but she just chewed up that story and—
She stole the show. Hopefully we’ll get her back before she goes on to be a huge star.
Yeah, please. I can see that Next Day Theater could be an entry point for a lot of up-and-coming people—
Uh-huh—
It also can function to showcase some star power. Like “Hey, folks, it’s random; you never know what you’re going to see. But you might see someone who’s really on their way.” I love that.
It’s utterly pretentious for me to compare ourselves to something like Saturday Night Live. But hey, maybe we’re an incubator for talent. I think Carol is going to be known on the scene. There’s no question about that. If she broke out a little bit through us, I’m flattered.
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GUN PLAY By Matt Spangler.
Directed by Chris Griffin. With Garry DeBrueil, Vitaly Mayes, Erick Morrison, Jeff Siperly, David Walsh, and Kenny Washington.
From ‘Gun Play.’
John:This last one was a send-up of the ease of gun purchase with a hilarious parade of customers who can get guns—an armless man, Charlton Heston dressed as Moses, a deer, a baby. It was probably the most barbed social satire in the piece. I know you wrote it, but I’m curious to know your thoughts generally going forward about the place of politically awake sketch comedy in your project.
Matt: I’d like to see more of it. I’m a fairly passionate person politically. And I’ve done some documentary work. But I think you sometimes can get your message across, if you have one, more forcefully with humor than you can with pounding on a podium, right? The gun movement, where the pro-gun advocates are these days, has reached heights of absurdity in some respects. I think that if you can show that, if that’s something you believe, on stage, and people see how silly it is, then maybe your message starts to get through a little bit. But my first goal with that piece was that I had in mind a Monty Python–type sketch—something like that famous Cheese Shop one, where you have somebody come in and try to order cheese, but they don’t have any.
Next Day Theaterperformed May 16, 2015 at Tropicalia – 2001 14th Street, NW, in Washington, DC. For information about future Next Day Theater productions, “like” its Facebook page,oremail Matt Spangler.
It is my pleasure to announce actor registration for Monologue Madness 2014, opens at 10:00 am on Monday, Feb 10th, online atwww.MonologueMadness.net.
Registration is first-come, first-served until all 240 slots are filled.
Returning for year number FOUR, this one-night, fast-paced showcase before a live audience and panel of theatre & film professionals, brings together some of the area’s best stage & film talent, competing head-to-head, with their best one-minute monologues, in hopes of capturing a $1000 award!
Betsy Royall (Betsy Royall Casting), Scott Goodhue (Taylor Royall Casting), John Pallotta (John Pallotta Studio of Acting, currenty casting the upcoming film “TuChT”), and Karina Hilleard (Monologue Madness 2013 Champion).
Complete details, updates, and actor audition sign-up available online at www.MonologueMadness.net
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Judge John Pallotta.
Monologue Madness is the theatre world’s unequaled response to the craze that basketball fans bring about, each spring. Our rage, however, uncoils in a more dramatic fashion.
Two weeks later, on Championship Sunday, each actor arrives prepared with three of their best one-minute monologues, to perform before a live audience and a panel of judges.
Judge Karina Hilleard.
The rounds are Comedy, Drama, and Classical. Taking the stage in pairings and scored individually, one actor advances to the next round, while the other is eliminated.
For those actors breaking into our Final Four, the evening becomes a bit more interesting. This is the Cold Read Round. Actors are handed an unseen monologue and given five minutes to prepare, before performing on stage.
Judge Betsy Royall.
Requirements of our Final Round are never revealed until the competition evening.
Each actor receives an array of career-enhancing gifts and our competition winner walks away with $1000!
Since 2011, sold-out audiences have been madly entertained by that one thing every actor uses to land their next role, the monologue!
Judge Scott Goodhue.
Monologue Madness 2014 returns to the beautiful & historic Miracle Theatre, Sunday, April 6th. Actor registration begins on Monday, February 10th and audience tickets go on sale, Monday, March 10th.
