Full Storefrontal: Theater Oobleck

The newest Full Storefrontal is up on TheatreInChicago.com, this one on Theater Oobleck. Also, check out Anne Nicholson Weber's interesting podcast with the composer and the lyricist of A Minister's Wife that deals with adaptation, style, and what goes into the creation of a musical.

Crossing Downstage

The Cliché Watch this week is a good one.  I like it because it's directorly.  It recently took the concerted and combined efforts of Miranda and Anne Nicholson Weber to talk me out of rejecting directing altogether for politico-aesthetic (i.e. benno-is-a-high-falutin-jerk-head) reasons. Directing really is an art and it is a field that is separate from acting.  

However, one of the reasons (aside from mere excellence) that I like Theater Oobleck so much is that they are asserting the primacy of the actor.  Too much is too frequently taken from actors and given to directors and I really think this is, as I say in the post, a waste of resources.  

This week also offers a brief respite of harping on the role of the audience, which perhaps might come as a relief to loyal readers.

Manifestos, cont'd.

Here's one from Theater Oobleck.  I really love these guys, and not only because they have a manifesto--I even like what the manifesto says.  I made a passing reference to them in the last Cliché Watch and I just wanted to provide some more context for anyone who hasn't seen their work.  Amazingly, though my jab at the Odd Couple was totally random, their next play Strauss at Midnight promises to be a sort of fantasia on that play.  I look forward to seeing it.