Would You Do It?

"I wasn't planning a suicide, but a wise man should always be prepared." | Joseph Lavy is Dr. Glas | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

“I wasn’t planning a suicide, but a wise man should always be prepared.” | Joseph Lavy is Dr. Glas | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

Is it ever justifiable to take the life of another human being? Under what circumstances?

The Glas Nocturne asks this and other challenging questions without leading us to any easy answers.

In preparation for their attendance at APL’s latest world-premiere, we asked our audience to share their thoughts about these questions. From now through the end of the run, we will share their responses with you.

Join the conversation at #WouldYouDoIt? on Facebook or Twitter — or follow Would You Do It? on Storify.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject, too!

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Pomegranate & Ash Makes a Strong Debut

Yesterday we premiered Pomegranate & Ash: An Experiment in Theatre of Polyphony in On the Boards’ Open Studio #6 — and today OTB has confirmed that we are the first group to fully pack the house!

The Sad Days that are Surely to Come

"This is the time of tension between dying and birth -- the place of solitude where three dreams cross." | Henry James Walker, Trevor Young Marston, and Zhenya Lavy | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

Dance of Separation

Dance of Separation | Front: Sara Kaus and Annie Paladino. Back: Linnea Ingalls, Margaretta Campagna, Zhenya Lavy. | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

Dance of Seduction

Dance of Seduction "Oh, ho, I will have it. I will bow and bend to get it." | Trevor Young Marston and Sara Kaus | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

The Abduction of Persephone

The Abduction of Persephone | Annie Paladino with Zhenya Lavy, Catherine Lavy, Margaretta Campagna, Linnea Ingalls, Emily Jo Testa. | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

Clairvoyant Action

Clairvoyant Action | Emily Jo Testa with Henry James Walker, Joseph Lavy, Sara Kaus | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

An Angel Hath Troubled the Water

An Angel Hath Troubled the Water | Trevor Young Marston with Catherine Lavy, Annie Paladino, Margaretta Campagna, Emily Jo Testa | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

An Angel Hath Troubled the Water

An Angel Hath Troubled the Water "These waters will heal you, they will set you free." | Linnea Ingalls & Trevor Young Marston | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

Low, Low

"And the sword I will wield, and the sword I will wield... for this is my work while here below." | (L-R) Back: Joseph Lavy, Trevor Young Marston, Henry James Walker. 3rd Row: Annie Paladino, Emily Jo Testa, Sara Kaus. 2nd row: Margaretta Campagna, Linnea Ingalls. Front: Zhenya Lavy, Catherine Lavy. | Photo: Joe Patrick Kane

 

Here’s a sampling of audience responses:

  • “The ensemble was so tight. Precise and tuned into each other.”
  • “The music was amazing!”
  • “Their dance [Dance of Seduction by Sara Kaus and Trevor Young Marston] was really powerful!”
  • “The girl’s [Catherine Lavy] song made me cry!”
  • “It’s hard to believe you’ve only been working together as an ensemble for three months!”
  • “Very moving. Even though there was no story, the imagery and the way you layered everything together was striking.”
  • “It was refreshing to see a performance that was truly interdisciplinary!”

Were you there? We’d love to get your feedback, too! Please email us or comment below.

Thank you to On the Boards for organizing this event.

Pomegranate & Ash continues to evolve. Look for additional showing announcements through this Spring and Summer.

Pomegranate & Ash to Premiere in OTB’s Open Studio

Pomegranate & Ash | On the Boards Open Studio | Feb. 8, 3:30 PM.

Pomegranate & Ash | On the Boards Open Studio | Feb. 8, 3:30 PM.

The fullest manifestation to date of APL’s Theatre of Polyphony, Pomegranate & Ash premieres at On the Boards in the Open Studio on Sunday, February 8, at 3:30pm.

Pomegranate and Ash takes TS Eliot’s Ash Wednesday, Monteverdi madrigals, the Hymn of Demeter, music from the Shaker tradition, and each performer’s personal biography as source material for an original performance rooted in themes of separation, loss, and reunification.

The entire ensemble performs in this piece, including all our new Artistic Associates and Apprentices.

Admission to Open Studio is by donation only: $5 suggested.

Learn more about Pomegranate & Ash and APL’s Theatre of Polyphony.

The Director, The Actor & The Difficult Task

I often reject during the rehearsal process suggestions and recommendations which arise as quick, easy solutions to perceived problems; usually because they tend to be superficially driven by theatrical practicality and lack authenticity for the moment. Too often, the job of a director seems to be to find solutions to make things easy for the actor. I believe it is sometimes (mostly) the contrary: to present the actor with the difficult task. To create problems that must be continually confronted and confronted, not “solved.” To demand that the actor work through what must be done and not skim over it. Truth and Authenticity are not–and should not be–easy to come by.

Corpus Christi?

In 2002, APL was about to begin rehearsals on an original adaptation of Pinocchio when the US–exploiting the wake of 9/11– opportunistically decided to wage war on Iraq based on dubious evidence of WMDs. We were unanimously and vehemently opposed to the action, and agreed APL needed to respond artistically, so we tabled the Pinocchio project and picked up Jeanne, The Maid.
Our intent was not to make a 1:1 equivalency between Joan of Arc and modern-day jihadists (Although, they are both religious extremists/zealots fighting wars in the name of God). We were driven mainly by the impulse to interrogate and illustrate the capacity of a corrupt religio-political power structure to manufacture evidence in order to support their desired outcomes and, through immoral & coercive means, actualize their predetermined objectives. And to demonstrate the social complicity of the people who sit there and let it happen, or accept that Ends justify Means.
When we finished rehearsals and were ready to open in 2003, alt-media just began to break the stories of American atrocities in Abu Ghraib prison. Most of the country was in denial that the USA would do anything like that, still pumped up on jingoistic nationalism. If it happened at all, it had to be merely by a few rogue actors. America was certainly on the Moral High Ground.
We were chastised in the Seattle Stranger for “Politics with a Sledgehammer,” even though we never once used a literal reference to Bush/Chaney/Rumsfeld. Now, 11 years later the American Government’s unscrupulous use of torture (ends justifying means) is back in the spotlight.

And our question remains: “Is this the body of Christ?”

Approaching The Fence from All Angles

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L-R: Zhenya Lavy, Aimée Bruneau, and Lola Peters | Photo: Margaretta Campagna

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Andrew Ross Litzky and Annie Paladino | Photo: Margaretta Campagna

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Clockwise from back: Jose Amador, Aimée Bruneau, and Zachary Hewell | Photo: Margaretta Campagna

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Valerie Curtis-Newton and Andrew Ross Litzky | Photo: Margaretta Campagna

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Joseph Lavy and Annie Paladino | Photo: Margaretta Campagna

 
For our October 12 Sunday Salon reading of Howard Barker’s The Fence in it’s Thousandth Year, we filled the house with a fantastic group of artists and intellectuals who really dug in to investigate the play’s meaning, reverberations, and implications for performance today. We were fortunate to snag time with Valerie Curtis-Newton in what turned out to be a monumental week for her: winning The Stranger’s 2014 Genius Award for Theater and Crosscut’s 2014 Courage Award in Culture. And we owe special thanks to Andrew Ross Litzsky for saving the day when one of our originally scheduled reader fell ill.

The entire cast knocked this reading out of the park:

PHOTO, a Blind Adolescent – Zachary Hewell
ALGERIA, A Duchess – Aimée Bruneau
ISTORIA, Friend to Algeria – Valerie Curtis-Newton
DOORWAY, A Suitor – Joseph Lavy
LOU, A Young Woman – Annie Paladino
KIDNEY, A Servant – Andrew Ross Litzky
YOUTERUS, A Blind Thief – Jose Amador
CAMERA, A Blind Child – Margaretta Campagna
NARRATOR – Zhenya Lavy

Stellar Cast Set to Read The Fence!

We are beyond excited about our autumn Sunday Salon!

Every Salon presents a careful selection of artists and intellectuals to read a great play and dive into deep discussion, and our October 12 reading of The Fence in its Thousandth Year is no exception. You will want to be in the room with this incredibly talented and erudite group when we take on Howard Barker’s epic story of a blind boy on a quest to understand his true identity in a world of forced segregation, illegal immigration, and shifting sands of Truth:

The US-Mexico Border at Tijuana

The US-Mexico Border at Tijuana

PHOTO, a Blind Adolescent – Zachary Hewell
ALGERIA, A Duchess – Aimée Bruneau
ISTORIA, Friend to Algeria – Valerie Curtis-Newton
DOORWAY, A Suitor – Joseph Lavy
LOU, A Young Woman – Annie Paladino
KIDNEY, A Servant – Paul Budraitis
YOUTERUS, A Blind Thief – Jose Amador
CAMERA, A Blind Child – Margaretta Campagna
NARRATOR – Zhenya Lavy

Click here for more information.
Note: RSVP required — claim your spot now!

Manifesto: APL’s Artistic Ethos

Akropolis Performance Lab eschews production for production’s sake. Instead, we prize the catalyst of the studio … the workroom … the room of labor: the laboratory of our name. We reject the trappings of infrastructure which force the presentation of season after season of shows, on pre-determined, tight schedules devised first and foremost to cover rents or other priorities of a non-artistic nature. We do not base our identity upon seasons of plays, summer-stock Shakespeare, genre delineations, or the like. Since our inception, we have striven to exist as an antithesis or — perhaps better — in counterpoint to such theatre-making approaches. We believe in the necessity for an alternative to the constant churn of productions, and we have deliberately situated ourselves elsewhere on the artistic spectrum. This is not a values judgment. To the contrary, we celebrate the full spectrum of approaches and honor the vitality each brings to the theatre community. But for APL, this choice is a matter of Artistic Ethos.    Continue reading…

Gregory Awards – Submit Your People’s Choice Nomination!

Marina (Zhenya Lavy) and Astrov (Carter Rodriquez) | Photo: Annie Paladino

Marina (Zhenya Lavy) and Astrov (Carter Rodriquez) | Photo: Annie Paladino

People’s Choice nominations are still being accepted for this year’s Gregory Awards — through September 4 — and we ask you to consider Uncle Vanya for Best Production when you vote.

Our work doesn’t fit neatly into Tony-style award categories. In fact, almost everything we do falls outside convention. Consider music alone: while APL’s productions are all deeply musical — with sophistication and complexity outpacing most musical theatre — it would and should never be classified in the same category as musicals.

We need your support to be recognized, and anyone can submit a nomination. VOTE HERE! The not-to-be-missed Gregory Awards ceremony is October 20.

Uncle Vanya may not have nabbed reviewer nominations, but we did receive some Gregory Nominator love and appreciation for the work we do. Here are some highlights:

About the production:

I thought staging this production in an old Victorian House was brilliant. I was skeptical about the intimate setting but for a Chekhov play it worked very well.

 

Ballsy choice to set the show environmentally, in a location that has a limited potential audience. Excellent use of architecture.

 

For the space, the lights were great. They were low when necessary, warm when they needed to be, and stark enough to make me feel like I was in a dark Russian countryside.

 

The music was exceptional. They set the scenes up nicely, and the fact that almost all singing was done unaccompanied should be applauded. The actors did a fantastic job and Zhenya Lavy did some beautiful work.”

Not surprisingly, the Vanya music received special attention:

Zhenya Lavy should be recognized for her outstanding direction of the music in Uncle Vanya. The music–sung all in Russian, mostly a capella, in rich 3 & 4 part harmonies, was exquisite and brought so much depth and texture to the production as a whole. Brilliant work!

 

The music was exceptional. They set the scenes up nicely, and the fact that almost all singing was done unaccompanied should be applauded. The actors did a fantastic job and Zhenya Lavy did some beautiful work.

 

Superb use of music and song as environment.

This love went to Carter Rodriquez for his brilliant turn in the role of Astrov:

Complex, authentic portrayal of a character that could easily be two-dimensional.

 

He seemed to understand the dark humor of Chekov.

And, finally, Zhenya Lavy received this acknowledgment for her on-stage marathons as the largely dialogue-free but always-present Marina:

Lovely, natural approach, made all the more compelling by realistic reactions during long periods where she had no dialogue.

Submit your People’s Choice Nomination today — VOTE HERE!