August: Osage County

By Amalia Queller

Have you ever…thought that your family was crazy?


August: Osage County shows a dysfunctional family dealing with drug use, incest, infidelity and death. Even if your family hasn’t experienced any of these issues, you will still be able to relate to the characters–whether as the granddaughter sneaking out of the house to smoke pot or the home health aid caught in the middle of another family’s conflicts. All of the drama (and there is a lot of it) takes place under one roof, a hot house on the plains of Oklahoma–important not only as a location, but also as a state of mind.

All of the actors deliver compelling performances, especially Estelle Parsons. She plays Violet, the controlling and pill-popping grandmother at the helm of the family, who is able to manipulate her relatives through guilt and aggression, which only causes pain to everyone in her path.

As the family problems and secrets come to the surface, some relationships grow stronger while others are lost forever. After seeing this play, I felt grateful for the simpler dysfunction of my family.
How to see the show: $29.50 student rush tickets with ID • Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St. Visit www.augustonbroadway.com for schedule and more information.

Ruined

By Amy Leon

Have you ever…felt unsafe in your environment?

Ruined is a captivating play that forces you to face the realities of both physical and psychological violence.


Inside the walls of Mama Nadi's bar and brothel, we witness the problems that arise for women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during civil war. This violence is in contrast with the music and dancing that fill the bar and shed light on the culture of the DRC in a very natural way.

Mama Nadi has taken in three new girls, though it is unclear whether for profit or protection. The women are constantly “visited” by soldiers from both sides of the fighting; men who feel entitled to brutalize, rape and dehumanize the women to the point of ruin.

I recommend Ruined, however be prepared for its intensity. Even though it deals with a subject the world is afraid to publicize, I think it is important to face the darker parts of the world we live in.

How to see the show: New York City Center, Stage I, 131 W. 55th St. Visit www.mtc-nyc.org for schedule and more information.

UnCensored

By Derick Sherrier

Have you ever…really been heard?

If you only had one word left, what would you say?

Theatre, a place for exploration and creativity, is where actors can truly discover themselves—UNCENSORED gives us that opportunity.

Members of the MCC Youth Company, comprised entirely of NYC high school students, spend months after school creating monologues, scenes and poems about our lives. Some of these pieces become part of UNCENSORED, the Youth Company’s annual spring performance.

Having a piece in UNCENSORED is an amazing feeling because it is something that you have created, literally leaping from paper to stage and announcing itself. Every word and sentence of each piece is chosen carefully; we fine-tune our pieces and play around with the language and staging in order to find the best representation of our work. Sometimes we find that a piece is stronger when other voices are involved, so a monologue might be broken up for three people to say. The hardest part of the process is hearing that one of your pieces will be cut. It’s frustrating, but sometimes less is more.

Being in UNCENSORED is letting your voice be heard.

How to see the show: April 23-25 & April 30-May 2 at 7pm · $5 student tickets · Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street. Visit http://www.mcctheatre.com/youthcompany/performances.html

Garden of Earthly Delights

by Claire Pienaar

Have you ever…felt good and evil in the same day?

Garden of Earthly Delights combines dance and theatre to interpret a triptych (three-section painting) painted by Hieronymus Bosch. The abstract choreography has deep biblical symbolism as the characters travel between heaven, earth and hell.


Dancers were lifted into the air, sometimes high above the audience. Musicians wove in and out among the dancers shrouded in monk robes, at points even dancing themselves. In one instance, the spotlight was focused on a dancer attempting to seduce a cellist in order to take his bow. The cellist impaled the girl in the stomach with his bow and continued to play.

At times, the movement was hard to follow. When all fourteen cast members were on stage doing something different, it was difficult to know where to look.


I recommend Garden of Earthly Delights to people who appreciate modern dance, complex symbolism, or just something distinctive and strange. If you have conflicts with simulated nudity and sexuality, or find it hard to comprehend conceptual performances, then this might not be the best show to see.

How to see the show: $30 student rush tickets • Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane. Visit www.gardenofearthlydelightsnyc.com for schedule and more information.

Shrek the Musical

By Monikha Reyes

Have you ever…felt like you weren’t normal?

Shrek the Musical brings out the child in all of us. Sticking closely to the popular book and movies, this modern fairytale shows the importance of never judging a human, animal or ogre by its exterior. Shrek is forced to rescue Princess Fiona in order to keep his swamp to himself and on his journey learns to accept himself and the creatures around him.

Princess Fiona, the alternative damsel in distress played by Sutton Foster, is quite a character. She tries to be the perfect princess by sitting still and looking pretty, but all she really wants to do is burp and fart. She feels comfortable and happy with Shrek, but these feels conflict with what she’s always believed.

Sutton Foster took a moment to talk to PxP about her role in the new musical.

What is the message of Shrek?

Shrek is about not judging a book by its cover. It’s all about misconceptions – the big bad wolf isn’t really bad, the wicked witch isn’t really wicked and the princess isn’t all she seems. It’s all about embracing who are you are on the inside and letting your freak flag fly!

How does Princess Fiona define beauty?

Fiona struggles with this. She’s raised as a princess and to believe all of the storybooks that she grows up reading in her tower. It’s confusing for her. She thinks that she has to be this one way, but yet constantly struggles with it. By meeting and falling in love with Shrek, she learns to truly accept who she is on the inside. Shrek says a beautiful line to her at the end of the show:

“Once upon a time to look like us would be a pity,
But now we know that beautiful ain’t always pretty.”

She finally realizes that to be truly beautiful, you don’t have to look a certain way. You can be beautiful in many ways.

Can you relate to Fiona in that way?

Absolutely! I think we all can. As women, we’re surrounded by magazines telling us what’s supposed to be beautiful or sexy or attractive or desirable, and we have to work very hard to find strength and our individuality and to be confident with who we are and what we look like.

Being an actor, people have preconceptions of what I’m supposed to look like or what I’m supposed to be like, and I’m all about just trying to be as authentic to myself as possible.

What is it like to burp and fart onstage?

It’s always been a dream of mine. My favorite part of it is the way that the audience responds. They often can’t believe that it’s happening! It’s really fun just to be able to tilt your butt.

I think that scene’s pretty ingenious. I just love that it becomes a fart-off. It begins as a challenge, but Shrek and Fiona realize what they have in common and fall in love with each other. It’s so ridiculous, but pretty great.

Did you see the movie before you started to work on Shrek?

I’ve only seen the first one.

Has that influenced your interpretation of Princess Fiona?

Definitely. I feel like these characters were created so iconically, so my job was to honor a character already created. At the same time, going from an animated film to a live theatrical production, we had a lot of creative license to really make the characters our own. It was nice to have a template to bounce off of while bringing the characters to physical life.

What do you think makes a hero?

I think a true hero is someone who’s true to themselves and true to their friends and is kind. That’s what Shrek is. It’s not about scaling tours or fighting dragons – it’s about trying and dreaming big and being authentic.

What advice do you have for young artists?

Take as many opportunities as you can. Never stop learning. Learn from your peers and also from your teachers. Be kind to the people you work with. Be open to new ideas, new ways of thinking. Always be really willing to learn.

How to see the show: $26.50 lottery rush at M&M’s World, 1600 Broadway; $36.50 student rush • Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway. For schedule and more information, visit www.shrekthemusical.com

The Play Was...

What's another way to say that you liked or hated a play?
Ploggers brainstormed some creative responses:

The Play Was "Good"
OMG!
The play was bitchin’
The play was energizing and invigorating.
Spectacular! Stupendous! A marvel of the modern stage!
The play was engaging.
It positively penetrated my soul.
The play was sassy!
Colorful.
The play was like the cherry on top of an ice cream cake!
The play was phenomenal.
The play was delicious!
Awww-some!
LMAO! LMFAO! OMG! OMFG!
The play was thought provoking.
The play was unlike most.
Dazzling.
Had the time of my life!
The play made me salivate with joy!
Visually stimulating.
The play was mind boggling fun!
Unbelievable!
Fab!
There were so many captivating moments.
I want to go see it again!
The play was o-o-okay.
The play was intellectually stimulating.
I have never seen a production quite like this.
It was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
I am speechless.
The play stimulated me mentally.
The play intertwined my being (in a good way).
It was out of the world.
I was glued to that stage.
It touched me.
Socially relevant.
Extremely memorable.
The play was mentally captivating.

The Play Was "Bad"

The play did not meet my ecstatic expectations.
Horrid!
The play was grotesque!
The play was disgusting!
The play was bleh.
Sucked balls.
The play was atrocious.
It tried too hard.
If my life depended on the plays outcome I would have died.
That play wasted 3 hours of my life.
Arrgh.
The play let me down.
I was so disappointed!
Despicable.
Surprisingly, the play had a way of crushing my interest.
Ruptured my heart
I might have been killed by that.
I died a little inside…
I felt like I lost a piece of my soul.
This was a waste!
The play was horrific!
The play was atrocious and abominable.
Patronizing, overly-pretentious.
This play was not meant to be publicly presented for a reason.
This play tries too much.
The play was dreadfully boring.
Alienating, forgettable, sleep inducing.
It corrupted my innocent soul and mind.
My eyes and ears may never again function.
The play made my brain hurt.
This is a play?

Add your own responses in the comments!