FEATURE: Devising a Relevant Perspective with Cory Lawson

by Paul Kortemeier

Safe Passage was created by an ensemble of nine artists in roughly four weeks.  An entry to the Devised Showcase of 2019’s Region 6 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), Safe Passage made such an impression that the festival decided to create an “Award for Excellence” for the group led by director Cory Lawson.  The piece offers a unique commentary on borders with minimal spoken words from the actors.  I got the chance to chat with Cory, who is a Ph.D. candidate in Acting/Directing and Arts Administration at Texas Tech University. We discussed Safe Passage as well as the relatively unknown process of devising theatre.

“I talk a lot about framework, and I think a lot of artists start with a frame and then try to figure out how to fill that frame with material.  I like to start with the material and then figure out what frame best fits that material” (photo by Dóri Bosnyák). 

I would posit that if you asked most theatergoers about devised theatre, including veteran season ticket holders, you would get a lot of blank stares and “what is devised theatre?” responses.  I would go even further to say that some theatre professionals would respond with “well I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know much about the process.” How would you describe devised theatre, and what does it mean to you? 

I think people don’t know what devised is because there’s no singular definition for what it is.  At the very basic it’s a piece of theatre that’s created from the ground up.  You start with an idea or prompt that can either be given to or generated from the ensemble itself.  Then the ensemble explores that and creates the script from ground zero.  When people talk about devised it is text or script created or generated by a group.

FEATURE: Texas Tech Students Travel to Sharjah

Vorbeck, Midgley, and Murphey

by Shane Strawbridge

From February 2-10, 2019, three graduate students from the Texas Tech School of Theatre and Dance attended the Second International Theatre Festival at the American University of Sharjah to present Public Domain: A Play with Footnotes, a performance lecture that theatricalizes one man's battle with his research into O'Neill and Shakespeare.

For the full story, visit the TTU Theatre and Dance Newsletter.

AUDITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Lubbock Moonlight Musicals

Lubbock Moonlight Musicals has announced audition dates for their 2019 Summer Shows, Annie and Mamma Mia! They are looking for boys, girls, and adults of all ages to audition. Annie is scheduled to open in June, and Mamma Mia! in August. The show dates will be announced at a later time.

The available audition times for Annie are: Friday 3/8 from 7:00PM-10:00PM

The available audition times for Mamma Mia! are: Friday 3/22 from 7:00PM-10:00PM, and Saturday 3/23 from 10:00AM-4:00PM. Callbacks will be Saturday 3/23 starting at 6:00PM.

Applicants wanting to audition please e-mail auditions@moonlightmusicals.com with up to three available dates and times from the dates and times above, and you will later be contacted with scheduled audition date and time. For auditions please prepare the following: 16 bars of music, sheet music for your cut, and a one-minute monologue.  An accompanist will be provided at the audition. Auditions will be held at 2806 Ave. A Lubbock TX 79404.

For more information, and to view the roles available for audition, please visit http://www.lubbockmoonlightmusicals.org/auditions/

REVIEW - "The Diary of Anne Frank" at Lubbock Community Theatre

Anne (Alyssa Steward) and Peter (Andrew MacPhie)
talk about their growing friendship in LCT's production
of The Diary of Anne Frank.

by Shane Strawbridge

In the waning moments of Lubbock Community Theatre’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne’s father Otto (played by Justin Deurmyer) delivers a beautiful and haunting monologue that sucks all of the air from the room. There isn’t a single eye, ear, or heart that isn’t turned 100-percent to the words that are coming from his mouth. It is a truly lovely moment of theatre. Unfortunately, you will have to endure the rest of the play to get there.

The Diary of Anne Frank is adapted by Wendy Kesselman, Albert Hackett, and Frances Goodrich from the book of the same name and follows the lives of the Frank, Van Daan, and Dussel families while they hid in an annex for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands before being discovered and apprehended in 1944. In the director’s note, Jay C. Brown hopes that “this small picture of the past opens up our eyes to what is going on in the present.” But this past isn’t menacing, it’s merely inconvenient. Under Brown’s direction, the world of Anne Frank, a WWII Nazi Germany, is nearly devoid of any visible danger. Yes, the characters talk about what is going on outside, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that there is any sort of peril based on the behavior of the people in this annex. This trip into Amsterdam is watered down and safe, doing little to open our eyes to anything other than the location of the exits.

Visions of Sugar Plums: Ballet Lubbock's The Nutcracker

by Shane Strawbridge

Ignoring any production of The Nutcracker is tempting. It is ubiquitous. It has been done before, and it will be done again, why not ignore it in favor of something shiny and new? Because that would be a big mistake. Ballet Lubbock’s production of The Nutcracker under the direction of Yvonne Racz Key brings enough technical prowess to earn your attention, and more than enough layers of emotion and magic to hold it from beginning to end.

One of the things that makes this Nutcracker so unique is that Ballet Lubbock uses a live orchestra for the show—a luxury that many companies throughout Texas have done away with in recent years. Under the baton of David In-Jae Cho, the Nutcracker orchestra and choir add a bit of magic to the ballet danced above them. It creates a performance that is richer, more present, and more alive than could possibly be achieved with canned music. Score another point for Ballet Lubbock.