Subterms
5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 Samuel R. Delany Jonathan Bailey Piet Oudolf […] More
5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 Samuel R. Delany Jonathan Bailey Piet Oudolf […] More
5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 Samuel R. Delany Jonathan Bailey Piet Oudolf […] More
5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 Samuel R. Delany Jonathan Bailey Piet Oudolf […] More
5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00a.m. 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00p.m. 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 Samuel R. Delany Jonathan Bailey Piet Oudolf […] More
At the Molières, France’s equivalent of the Tony Awards, commercial and publicly funded productions seem to inhabit different worlds.PARIS — Four hundred years after his birth, the playwright Molière is being feted in France this year, and the theater awards that bear his name couldn’t pass up the chance to participate. The Molières, France’s equivalent of the Tony Awards, have jokingly renamed their yearly bash — set for May 30 — the 400th ceremony.Yet in truth, the Molières are a spring chicken compared with similar theater awards around the world. They were founded only in 1987, four decades after the Tonys; their initiator was the producer Georges Cravenne, who had already created the Césars, the French film awards, in 1976.And their history has been anything but smooth. The Molières were designed to bridge the gap between two opposing production models: publicly funded stagings on the one hand and private ventures on the other. The distinction has long structured French theater and shaped its aesthetics. “Public theater,” which is largely funded by the culture ministry and local authorities, prides itself on presenting more experimental, cerebral fare than privately owned venues.Ahead of the 2012 ceremony, however, representatives of over two dozen commercial venues walked out of the Molières, arguing that the ceremony favored the publicly funded sector and didn’t sufficiently account for their popularity with audiences. It returned only in 2014, under new leadership.This year’s nominations suggest the balance remains precarious. There are separate prizes for public and privately funded productions in several of the top categories, including best production and the acting awards, with different criteria. To be eligible, private-sector shows must have been performed at least 60 times between January 2020 and March 2022, whereas half that number of performances is enough for public-sector nominees. The winners are then voted on by members of the Molières’ Academy, whose names aren’t public.The outcome of this process can be puzzling. It rarely reflects critical consensus, perhaps because many well-reviewed productions don’t even qualify for consideration, and it favors star-led shows. The acting categories, especially, are dominated by acting veterans and celebrities like the singer Vanessa Paradis, who this year earned a best private-sector actress nomination for her stage debut, in “Maman” by Samuel Benchetrit.The Molières also appear utterly unconcerned about their lack of diversity. As early as 2016, the French collective “Decolonizing the Arts” pointed out that there wasn’t a single person of color among the acting nominees. Two years later, the Black author and director Gerty Dambury publicly called for a “non-racist Molières ceremony.” The message has fallen on deaf ears: This year, the acting and directing categories are almost uniformly white again, with the exception of one performer of Algerian descent, Kamel Isker.Jordi Le Bolloc’h as Jack Mancini and Anne-Sophie Picard as Élisa in “The Race of Giants” at the Théâtre des Béliers Parisiens.Alejandro GuerreroIf you are in the market for a white-savior narrative, on the other hand, the Molières have some options. One of the top shows in the private-sector categories this year is “Lawrence of Arabia,” playing at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie-Bell through May 22. Like the 1962 film of the same name, it was inspired by the life of the British archaeologist and colonial administrator T.E. Lawrence, who played a role in the Arab Revolt throughout the Ottoman Empire during World War I. (The film isn’t mentioned in the show’s credits, despite obvious parallels.)Eric Bouvron and Benjamin Penamaria have crafted a zippy, low-tech stage biography, whose central highlight is live music, with two musicians and a singer onstage throughout. The artistic team clearly came to this story with good intentions. The Sykes-Picot Agreement, a secret 1916 treaty that outlined how the Ottoman lands would be divided between France and the United Kingdom, is explained and denounced. As in the film, Lawrence is made aware of the plan late, and disagrees with it.Yet this “Lawrence of Arabia” doesn’t engage with the problems involved in representing Arab history and culture through the eyes of a British colonial-era hero. While the show includes some dialogue in Arabic, the frequent use of “Allahu akbar” as a war cry plays into Muslim caricatures, and a faux-“Oriental” dance is a low point.As the central character, Lawrence is depicted as a master strategist, without whom Arab leaders wouldn’t have accomplished much. Lawrence’s close Arab friend, Daoum, speaks in cringeworthy pidgin French that highlights his lack of education and manners, and follows Lawrence like an over-excited puppy.It is difficult to understand why anyone would want to reaffirm these dated perspectives today, but “Lawrence of Arabia” is in many ways typical of the production style favored in France’s private sector. Its storytelling is relentlessly upbeat and fast-paced, with regular visual jokes and puns; the characters are brightly captured, yet often one-dimensional.The main goal, clearly, is entertainment, and two of the other nominees for best private-sector production are made of the same cloth: “The Race of Giants,” written and directed by Mélody Mourey, and Léna Bréban’s production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”At the Théâtre des Béliers Parisiens, “The Race of Giants” (through May 29) dives into the 20th-century space race, efficiently weaving together history and fiction. Mourey invents a brilliant yet troubled astronaut, Jack Mancini, who makes it to NASA in the 1960s — only to be betrayed by a secret Soviet agent. The production makes inventive use of video and very few props, which allows for fast transitions and jumps back and forth in time.Jordi Le Bolloc’h makes for an energetic loose cannon as Mancini, but as in “Lawrence of Arabia,” the female characters — ditsy wives and flirty, drunken bar visitors, mainly — take a back seat to the lives of men, with the exception of Jack’s headstrong wife, Élisa.Barbara Schultz, left, as Rosalind and Ariane Mourier as Celia in “As You Like It” at the Théâtre de la Pépinière.François FontyFor feel-good comedy, “As You Like It,” at the Théâtre de la Pépinière through April 30, remains the best ticket in town. Bréban, who staged the first post-lockdown show in France — at a retirement home — in 2020, has been going from strength to strength recently. This winter, she briskly led members of the Comédie-Française in an adaptation of Hector Malot’s 1878 novel, “Sans Famille.”“As You Like It” is rarely performed in France, in part because its brand of pastoral fantasy isn’t easy to transpose, but the translator Pierre-Alain Leleu has provided this production with a brilliantly witty French rendition. Bréban, for her part, has a gift for instilling an exhilarating sense of collective rhythm in her actors. There isn’t a dull moment in her Forest of Arden; the relationship between the cousins Rosalind (Barbara Schulz) and Celia (Ariane Mourier) is especially loving and zany.“As You Like It” is nominated in several private-sector categories, but Bréban’s career shows that the distinction between private and publicly funded theater isn’t as clear-cut as it was in the past. Her ability to go from the Comédie-Française, a prestigious public institution, to the smaller Théâtre de la Pépinière with the same level of success suggests that the audiences for each are not so different. The Molières may not have found a happy medium yet, but some of its nominees are leading the way.Lawrence d’Arabie. Directed by Éric Bouvron. Théâtre du Gymnase Marie-Bell, through May 22.La Course Des Géants. Directed by Mélody Mourey. Théâtre des Béliers Parisiens, through May 29.Comme Il Vous Plaira. Directed by Léna Bréban. Théâtre de la Pépinière, through April 30. More
ANTS Theatre on Quantum tunnelling and Qrumpets.
Sometimes we read a press release that is so strange, so different, we really need to know more. So we have to admit, ANTS Theatre really caught our attention with their press release that stated: “You’ve heard of quantum tunnelling right? The theory that if you continuously throw a crumpet at a wall, it will eventually go through”. Rather embarrassingly, we have to admit this is all new to us, although there are some crumpets in the kitchen and we’re now wondering whether to eat them or experiment with them.
But whilst we decide on that, we found time to sit down with three members of ANTS Theatre, Diana, Lu and Paul, and see if they are talking waffles or if this really is a true thing. And whilst we’re at it, what else this show might teach us?
So what on earth brought you to Quantum tunnelling?
Diana: This comes from a pseudo science experiment that a high school teacher of mine suggested. What I remember of this experiment is that it had to do with particles and that that teacher said: ‘there is a very slight probability that this pizza may go through the wall, if the particles are ordered in such a way that they just go through the particles of the wall. So, potentially, if you just keep trying until infinity it will eventually go through.’.
After doing some research, we discovered that this theory was actually a myth, pseudo science. However, this idea resonated with Quantum Tunneling, very small particles that should collision into each other end up jumping through each other! So we decided to embrace our discovery. I guess the next question would be… why did we not stick with pizza? But, to be honest, I think there is no need for explanation. Crumpets are just… the PERFECT edible for this experiment.
Lu: Back while doing our MA/MFAs, we were all gathered around brainstorming impossible tasks for a new performance piece. Diana brought up the theory of Quantum Tunnelling – “you know, the theory where if you throw a pizza at the wall enough times, it’ll go through?” At first, we weren’t convinced. Then Eva said: “But what if it DOES go through? And we’d be the ones to do it…”
Paul: Really, the action of throwing a crumpet against a wall in the hope that it will pass through is an exercise in futility. I don’t really understand quantum tunnelling, but from what I can discern, QUANTUM tunnelling works on a QUANTUM level with the phenomenon only being proved to occur with subatomic particles. This stimulus is the serious part of the show. The comedy comes from maintaining the real earnestness of an atomic experiment – but with buttered crumpets and double denim. We saw it pass through once under the same circumstances – and we want you to see it too! This isn’t pseudoscience!!
You’re all theatre graduates, but we assume some of you have some science background/ knowledge?
Diana: We do! Some of us come from the theatre industry and some of us don’t. We all have a love for science and, even if we don’t understand Quantum Tunneling to all it’s extent, we are fascinated by it.
Lu: We’re a multi-talented bunch! While we’re all ants now, we were once civil engineers, medics, computer programmers, linguists, designers and makers. Somehow, most of the work we make ends up being rooted in science. I think it’s because ultimately that’s what we come down to at our simplest forms, little mini atoms floating around.
Paul: My sister, Dr Sol H. Jacobsen, holds a PHD in theoretical physics and works with nobel prize winners on a daily basis… I knew there was no chance of competing in her field; so I’m just going to be an artist over here instead! However, she is definitely the first point of contact when developing art ideas about scientific theory.
Is the show just going to be you taking turns throwing a crumpet at the wall for an hour, or is there more to it than that?
Diana: The magic of quantum is that if you follow the same experiment in the exact same conditions, there is a probability that the experiment goes one way or another. For this reason, we MUST always follow the same steps in the same way, which means that there can only be one crumpet thrower! In the same way, there is only one crumpet toaster, one crumpet butterer, one note taker, one experiment success verifier and one biker – yes, we have a bike on stage! Come see the show to learn what it’s used for.
Lu: Oh no! Not just anyone can throw a crumpet at the wall… It has to be done in a precise way, by the optimum person. Absolutely no turns will be taken! We take this very seriously. However, you can look forward to a lot of throwing at the wall. Along the way though, you may find things go awry… little things at first, unnoticeable unless you’re looking for them. Then bigger. Then bigger. Then chaos and carnage.
Paul: Everyone’s interpretation of the show seems to be wildly different. Even within the cast there are different ideas about why we are doing this and where we are in the universe; some of us find sanctuary in the process, some find it thankless and others want to monetise on the success of our research after achieving the desired outcome.
One thing is for certain though, everything that happens onstage is in pursuit of a rigorous logic.
How many crumpets do you go through each performance? And have you considered if the crumpet should be toasted? And butter and jam, or just buttered?
Diana: It’s something around 50! (We compost them after each show). As soon as we have a pair of crumpets, there is a precise process this crumpet needs to follow before it is in throwing conditions. First, we need to toast it. Secondly, we need to butter it. Third, we need to weight them. Finally, we can choose one to be thrown.
Lu: You are asking the right questions!! There is a perfect equilibrium to the experiment. Crumpets must be toasted, no doubt about it. Then buttered – we’re not monsters! But no jam. Never jam… In a typical performance we get through maybe 50 crumpets. I feel like it’s worth stating that we’ve done an environmental analysis and can report that composting crumpets post show (as is our policy) has less carbon footprint than making prop crumpets. We take our planet very seriously and try to limit our impact as much as possible.
You’re from all over the world, what is it that brought you together to form ANTS Theatre?
Diana: We were put together in a working group when studying Advanced Theatre Practice in The Central School of Speech and Drama. Before that, most barely even knew each other! We just worked so well together that we decided to continue working after finishing our masters. And… from here was born ANTS Theatre!
Lu: Some sort of wizardry happened. In fact, the first show we made together was Qrumpet! For me, what makes our company special is that we see everything through different perspectives. We bring different backgrounds in terms of culture, identity, sexuality, career… It makes bouncing off of each other so much more exciting because there really are no limits.
Paul: What is it that brought us all together? The BRILLIANT Dr Lynne Kendrick! Apparently, in the first term of our MA at RCSSD, we were all being quietly evaluated and matched by Lynne, our course leader. We wouldn’t have picked this group initially, so we owe it all to her really – thanks Lynne! The best thing about our group dynamic though, is that all of our skills complement each other which makes us able to actualise ideas and create weird machines – like the bike in Qrumpet that controls all of the stage lights!
The show is going on a short tour, is this so you can see if different locations give different results?
Diana: This is our first time touring as a company. As much as we are ambitious, self-producing our work is not an easy task! We decided to start small to have a test. This is a test not only for the play itself, but also for us, to see if, as a company, we are ready and can sustain going on tour. Theatre is a competitive world and it is always hard to find the right time, the right people, the right show and the right venues! Having said this, we do have big dreams! We are hoping that, after this mini tour, bigger opportunities come along and… eventually… tour internationally!
Lu: Absolutely. The world, being a sphere, generates different temporal frequencies that may affect our experiment. Where a crumpet may break through the wall in Didcot, perhaps it won’t in London. There are so many variables outside of our control, but we won’t let that stop us. We are absolutely determined and I am convinced that we will succeed.
And finally, what will you do if the crumpet actually does go through the wall during a show? Will this bring the show and tour to a halt as really, what else will be left to do?
Diana: This is a possibility that is very present in our minds and cause for debates in the group! In my opinion, I’d hang my coat there. We have made it, the experiment is done! If we keep showing it, it could potentially end up in bad hands!!! I’d be very happy to move on to the next show at that point, knowing a secret that only a handful would share with me and, even if recorded, no one except those who were there would believe.
Lu: Once you learn how to ride a bike, do you stop? Of course not! You get better and better, until one day you can cycle with no hands! I guess what I’m trying to say is, once we get a crumpet through the wall, it’s only a matter of time before we can walk through the wall ourselves!
Paul: I like the system. I find my job within it comforting. If it went through; SURE, I’d take the next few days off and celebrate; but what happens after that? The alternative is too uncertain. I’d get back to it before long.
Thanks to Diana, Lu and Paul for giving up their valuable crumpet throwing time to chat with us.
Qrumpets plays at Camden People’s Theatre this Wednesday until Sunday. Further information and tickets can be found here.
The show will also be playing Bright and Didcot.
14 – 27 May Brighton Fringe. Tkts here.8 June DIdcot Quarterstone Arts Centre. Tkts here. More
The owners and operators of the 41 theaters have decided to relax audience safety protocols that have been in place since last summer.Most Broadway theaters have decided to stop checking the vaccination status of ticket holders after April 30, but all will continue to require that audience members wear masks inside theaters through at least May 31.The Broadway League, a trade association, announced the change on Friday. The decision was made by the owners and operators of Broadway’s 41 theaters, who had initially decided to require vaccines and masks last summer, before the city imposed its own mandates. The theater owners — six commercial and four nonprofit entities — have been periodically reconsidering the protocols ever since.They announced the decision as many governments and businesses nationwide have been loosening restrictions, but with cases rising in New York City and the virus forcing several Broadway shows to cancel performances in recent days.“Since resuming performances last fall, over five million attendees have seen a Broadway show, and the safety and security of our cast, crew, and audience has been our top priority,” Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway League, said in a statement. “Our intention is that by maintaining strict audience masking through at least the month of May, we will continue that track record of safety for all. And of course, we urge everyone to get vaccinated.”Until now, the theaters had acted together on the protocols, saying they were concerned that varied policies could confuse theatergoers. But they no longer have a consensus: The biggest commercial landlords on Broadway opted to drop the vaccine mandate, while two nonprofits said they would keep it and another said it was still deciding what to do.The League did not specify which theaters would stop requiring proof of vaccination, but Broadway’s two biggest landlords — the Shubert Organization, with 17 theaters, and the Nederlander Organization, with nine — said Friday that they would stop seeking proof of vaccination as of May 1. Disney Theatrical Productions, which operates the New Amsterdam Theater, and Circle in the Square, which has Broadway’s only theater in the round, said they would also stop checking for proof of vaccination on May 1. Broadway’s other commercial theater operators — Jujamcyn Theaters and the Ambassador Theater Group — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Lincoln Center Theater, a nonprofit which runs one Broadway house, the 1,080-seat Vivian Beaumont Theater, said that it would keep its vaccine requirement in place. The Roundabout Theater Company, a nonprofit with three Broadway houses, said it would continue to require proof of vaccination at its production of “Birthday Candles,” which is scheduled to run through May 29, but that it would allow the commercial producers renting its other theaters to decide what protocols to use.Another nonprofit, Manhattan Theater Club, said it would decide next week whether to keep the requirement in place at the Broadway house it operates, the 650-seat Samuel J. Friedman Theater. The other nonprofit with a Broadway house, Second Stage Theater, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vaccination and masking requirements, long gone in many parts of the country, have been falling away in New York City; on March 7, the city dropped rules requiring proof of vaccination for indoor dining at restaurants, for example. Other settings, including movie theaters as well as some comedy, sports and concert venues, have opted to drop masking requirements. Masks are still required on subways and buses, as well as at indoor subway stations, but anecdotal evidence suggests compliance has been dropping.Virus cases have recently been rising in New York City, but the number of new cases remains well below the levels at the peak of the Omicron surge.Broadway has decided to preserve the masking requirement, given the size of its audiences (seating capacity ranges from 585 at the Hayes, where “Take Me Out” is playing, to 1,926 at the Gershwin, which houses “Wicked”), the length of its shows (the longest, at three and a half hours, is “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”), the tightly packed seats (many of the theaters were built a century ago), and the makeup of its audience (traditionally, 65 percent tourists, although there are more locals now given the pandemic’s impact on travel).Theater owners say audiences have mostly embraced the requirements — there have been occasional disputes over mask wearing, but they have been far less common than on airplanes, for example, and for the most part patrons seem to have accepted the protocols.Dropping vaccination verification will save producers money: Paying workers to check proof of vaccination has been one of several Covid safety measures that have driven up running costs for Broadway shows.Some New York City performing arts institutions have stuck with more restrictive audience protocols. The Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall, for example, continue to require proof of vaccination (but have dropped requirements for proof of a booster shot) and masking.The coronavirus pandemic, which in March 2020 led to a lengthy shutdown of Broadway theaters, has continued to bedevil the industry since theaters began to reopen last summer. In December, the arrival of the Omicron variant prompted multiple shows to cancel performances; this month, the arrival of the BA. 2 subvariant forced four shows to cancel performances after stars including Daniel Craig, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker tested positive. The night before the new protocols were announced, Sam Gold, the director of a new production of “Macbeth” starring Craig, went onstage as an actor to keep the show going when an actor tested positive, and all the understudies had already been deployed to fill in for others who were out.The protocol changes announced Friday affect only patrons; vaccination remains a condition of employment for Broadway actors and other theater workers. More
