Political Theatre Roundup #2

This weekend there are several interesting events that mix entertainment and politics.

Josh Kornbluth’s one man show, Citizen Josh, combines autobiographical tales with an examination of democracy. You can read a review here and get tickets through October 26th at Arena Stage. Be sure to check out their $10 for patrons 30-and-under ticket policy!

In the art world, Regime Change Starts at Home is a new exhibition opening this weekend at the Irvine Contemporary Gallery and running until December 6th. This politically-themed show includes the work of Al Farrow, Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky), and Shepard Fairey, designer of the popular Obama “Hope” poster above. Several new murals by Fairey have been popping up around DC in the past week.

For interesting reading, check out this New York Times article that examines why liberal views tend to dominate the footlights.  Also check out this cool comic flip-book of all of the American Presidents.

1st Glimpse & Debate Wrap-Up

Hello, faithful XX followers!

Last night we had our 1st Glimpse for our upcoming show, Rock the Voting Bloc: X-Plays DC Edition 7.  Each of the playwrights revealed what they’ve been writing or thinking about and bounced ideas off of the group.  This XX edition focuses on the voters, so unconventional voting blocs and demographics will be getting the attention that they deserve.  The plays-in-progress showed a lot of humor, subtlety, and variety, and should inspire our audiences and our artists to participate in a lively discussion.  In the next few weeks, our writers will edit and alter their work, directors and actors will rehearse, and the final product will be presented on November 1st and 2nd at Round House Silver Spring. 

After the 1st Glimpse meeting, most of us stayed to watch the final Presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.

The “winner” of the debate is still under discussion, but one thing is certain, Joe the Plumber was stealing the show. Joe Wurzelbacher from Ohio‘s name was bandied about by both candidates,  catapulting this man into the nation’s living rooms.  But who is this fellow? He’s not related to Joe Plummer, a drummer from Ontario. Nor is he related to the oft-referenced Joe Sixpack, who evidently has a site devoted to “reporting and drinking beer in Philly and beyond”. No, our Joe the Plumber has more scandalous relatives – most notably Charles Keating, former chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which collapsed in a 1989 scandal. The legal fallout and media coverage involved several Senators, including John McCain, who are commonly referred to as the Keating Five. Joe the Plumber himself has made some remarks that can be construed as scandalous; in a recent interview with Katie Couric he said that Obama had a “tap dance…almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr.”

If you missed the debate, you can read the transcript here, or check out this interesting analysis of the candidates’ body language.

Later this week: local political theater and events, and more XX updates!

Political Theatre Roundup # 1

Leading up to next month’s oh so pivotal election, there’s quite a bit of polly-tickle thee-yater going on on top of what we’re cooking up, so we thought we’d fill you in:

First up, Forum Theatre is opening Caryl Churchhill’s new play Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? this Saturday at the H Street Playhouse.  The 2 person play is at once a romance between two men and a critical look at American foreign policy and the nature of power.  PWYC tonight—get tickets here for the rest of the run.

Also check out Paul Morella’s A Passion for Justice, his original one man show about Clarence Darrow, the famed ACLU lawyer who defended John T. Scopes’ teaching evolution in 1925’s so-called “Monkey Trial”.  Produced by American Century Theatre, the show runs at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn through October 19th—check out the Post review and get tickets here.

Lastly, Tribute Productions’ play, Second Line by Serett Scott is the story of two African American college students whose lives are shaped by the stormy events of the 1960s and 70s.  It’s running at Atlas until October 26th—you can buy tickets online.

Stay tuned for more!

Tonight’s the Night!

Welcome to everyone who followed the link from the League of Washington Theatres Free Night of Theatre! Hopefully you can all make it out to our upcoming show – tickets are only $15 – $12 for seniors, young people, and groups. Feel free to read about our mission, our past and upcoming events in the sidebar.

Meanwhile, in Politics…

Tonight is the Great Vice-Presidential Debate!

Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden is facing off with Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin in the showdown of the century. The debate will focus on both domestic and foreign policy and be administered by a single moderator, Gwen Ifill of PBS. So get out your Palin Bingo cards, spiff up your spectacles, put your lipstickforpitbulls.com T-shirt on, invite your neighbors into your living room and settle in to watch the sparks fly! Wonkette has detailed their drinking game, or you can invent your own.

One topic that may come up in tonight’s debate is our nation’s financial crisis. For those of us who are having trouble understanding the bailout plan, or why we should all be panicking and stuffing money under our mattresses, CNN has a great day-by-day timeline that breaks down the money woes. Also, the New York Times has a clear Q&A about the original bailout plan.

In other news, some celebrities think you should vote! or not vote.  but really.  Vote.

Also, for a good laugh and some impressive photoshop skills, you should check out cracked.com’s take on what campaign ads would look like if the voting age was 6.

Let Off Some Steam

Are you tired of watching the talking heads on CNN and filling out internet polls? Have you discovered old high-school classmates are rooting for a candidate you hate via facebook status updates? If so, go laugh off all your politically motivated stressy tension!

Washington Improv Theater is hosting a great fall lineup of politically themed shows kicking off this weekend. In POTUS Among Us, a cast of players from across WIT’s ensembles takes audience ideas for campaign platforms and runs with them…all the way through a campaign to the White House.

On the other hand, if you’ve always wanted to see Millard Fillmore belting out a torch song, then go see iMusical: the Secret Lives of the Presidents, where a “never-before-seen” story regarding the men and women surrounding the highest office in the land is created in front of the audience, complete with entirely improvised scenes, lyrics and music. WIT performs at the Metro-accessible Source Theatre at 14th and T streets in Northwest DC.

Convention-palooza

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, then you are probably aware that the Democratic and Republican National Conventions have been going on. One of the main highlights at both have been the Vice-Presidential picks.

In the blue corner we’ve got Joe Biden, who was our first profile of our Adopt-A-Candidate X Play Edition last November.  Biden’s experience as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and his years of experience in Congress are expected to fill the holes in Obama’s resume.

And in the red corner, John McCain announced Alaskan governor, former beauty pageant runner up and “hockey mom” Sarah Palin as his pick last Friday, throwing the nation into equal fits of loving fervor and fiery disdain. Opinions about Palin are deeply divided, ranging from people who think she’s a modern breath of fresh air for the party to those who think she’s disastrously unqualified.  Either way, there are already plenty of YouTube videos about her.

Pictures!

Originally uploaded by extremeexchange

Hannah addresses our lovely audience at the Politically Fringe-alicious show in July. More photos are over at our Flickr page.

We were also lucky enough to have one of the Fringe PhotoBloggers, Paul Gillis, in attendance, taking pictures from the balcony. His shots of rehearsal and the performance can be viewed over Here.

Donkey + Elephant = Hilarious

This week is the DC Comedyfest, which has a great variety of activities and performances to make you laugh till you can’t breathe.    On Saturday at 3 pm they’re having a panel discussion called Politics is Funny featuring writers from The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, The Onion, and other cool guests who make their living poking fun at the pundits.  Information can be found at the DC Comedyfest website.

DC Edition 6 Program

For those who missed it, here’s a listing of the full line-up for our most recent X Plays!

Politically Fringe-alicious: Gasoline hits $10 a Gallon

#1 ENVIRONMENT
Playwright: Callie Kimball
Director: Ronee Penoi
Cast: Joseph Thornhill

#2 HEALTHCARE
Playwright/Director: Meredith L. King
Cast: Lucretia Anderson, James J. Johnson*, Marcy Spiro

#3 ECONOMY
Playwright: Llewellyn Hinkes
Director: Carrie Klewin+
Cast: Theo Hadjimichael, Marietta Hedges*, Mary Millben

#4 ECONOMY
Playwright: Kathleen Akerley
Director: Mary Resing
Cast: Jenn Camp, Brianna Letourneau, Brenden McDougal, Wendy Nogales

#5 GUN OWNERSHIP/LAWS
Playwright/Director: Bob Bartlett
Cast: Jared Shamberger

#6 ECONOMY
Playwright: Kathleen Gonzales
Director: Lorraine Ressegger
Cast: Kelly MacIsaac

#7 HEALTHCARE
Playwright/Director/Cast: Dan Van Hoozer, Josh Drew

#8 ECONOMY
Playwright: Brett Abelman
Director: Gwen Grastorf
Cast: Ora Fruchter, Anastasia Wilson

#9 ECONOMY
Playwright: Callie Kimball
Director: Ronee Penoi
Cast: Sunshine Capelletti*, Callie Kimball

#10 ECONOMY
Playwright: Kathleen Gonzales
Director: Lorraine Ressegger
Cast: Brent Stansell

#11 HEALTHCARE
Playwright: Hannah Hessel
Director: Catherine Tripp
Cast: Heather Haney, Terah Jackson

#12 ENVIRONMENT
Playwright/Director: Bob Bartlett
Cast: Tom Byrne, Kevin O’Reilly

#13 RACE/GENDER
Playwright: Anne M. McCaw
Director: Jessica Burgess
Cast: Fiona Blackshaw, Niki Jacobsen, Cindy Marie Martin, Nia Medina, Betsy Rosen

*Member, Actors Equity Association
+Member, Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers

Thank you!

Last night’s Politically Fringe-alicious X Play Edition 6 was a huge success! A large and lively audience came to the beautiful Woolly Mammoth Mainstage to enjoy the wild and witty plays – the product of five days of hard work by our X Play teams! We’d especially like to thank everyone who contributed to the talkback discussion, and who carried on the dialogue in the lobby and into their own lives. The 13 plays presented ranged across a variety of topics such as the environment, the economy, healthcare, gun ownership, race & gender. Our playwrights, directors, and a cast of almost thirty performers delivered a fantastic, fun evening of sharp, vibrant, and intelligent plays. Kudos and thanks to all involved!

We’ll be posting a more detailed post-show wrap up (with pictures!) later this week.  For now you can read the review over at DC Theatre Scene.

If you have any thoughts on the evening, as an artist or audience member, please feel free to share in the comments!