January 26, 2006

GUN PLAY is up and running. 2 weeks gone, 2 weeks left to go. Still tinkering with the video (I should probably put it to rest at some point), but I'm proud of the show and not a little bit surprised that we got the technology to work. 4 cameras, 2 projectors, 4 xboxes, 2 macs....a lot of stuff. The audience response has been great, houses have been good and are getting better. The critical response has been disappointing, though. For whatever reason, we've never been well-received by the major press (though they DO pay attention to us, which I suppose is nice). But the response to this one has been....well, on the angry side. To say the least. Generally speaking, I'm not particularly bothered by the reviews, because that's not why we make the work. But I AM disturbed by the response to my use of video in the show.

Like it or not, GUN PLAY is a video piece as much as it is a theater performance. Video is the center of everything in the show. And I have to say, some of the reviews display a striking ignorance of technology and the way it is and has been used in performance through the years. Either they simply hate it because it violates some kind of closely-held tenet or preconception re: what is acceptable in the theater....or perhaps history and context are only useful for students and academics. There's also a funny kind of class-ism going on, I think. I mean, come on: real-time video processing is not new. Artists have been doing this kind of work for years. And I don't consider myself a slave to the cool factor of my gadgets and toys, though it's true I have a lot of them. But here's the point: I do this kind of work, and it's met with criticism if not outright dismissal (the validity of which is a completely different subject by the way); while another company, perhaps better known and better funded, will employ the same technique, and will be lauded as innovators (which I do not claim to be).

Here are some photos from the show....enjoy!

December 22, 2005

We're about half-way through the rehearsal period for GUN PLAY. Thanks to those of you who made it out for our open rehearsal two weeks ago. We learned a tremendous amount and a lot about the show has changed since then.

Making a show about guns is both fascinating and hard. Most if not all of the activities associated with guns - namely, pointing and shooting them - have this very immediate visceral impact in the context of videogames or films, but create all sorts of problems when you put them on a stage. Strangely, showing the object in its intended context strips it of its power. So it's leading us in this strange direction: there is a gun in GUN PLAY, but it's hardly ever used.

We open in three weeks (yikes)...in a day or two I'll post a few rehearsal photos, and will keep you up to speed on our progress.

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Tuesday 10/14 at 7PM

Puncture

November 5 - 8, 2008