Flux Sunday, December 13th

(What is Flux Sunday?)

Playwrights: Throwing Gumballs (Rob Ackerman), Red Horses (Johnna Adams), Going Out Dancing (Katherine Burger), McTeague (James Comtois), Moving Statues (Corey Ann Haydu), Untitled Russian Project (David Ian Lee), Dark Matter (August Schulenburg), The Sleeping World (Crystal Skillman)

Directors: Angela Astle, Rob Ackerman, Katherine Burger, Crystal Skillman

Actors: Ryn Andes, Matthew Archambault, Carissa Cordes, David Crommett, Nancy Franklin, Candice Holdorf, Ingrid Nordstrom, Gretchen Poulos, Jane Taylor, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Richard Watson, Cotton Wright

Sometimes, I plan things out just right…and then there was this Sunday. We went way over time, though for good reason – we had a ton of great material, and actors and directors who wanted to dig deeper.

Highlights included:

-Isaiah Tanenbaum playing Luke Wilson, a Bengali physicist, an elderly shut-in, a miser, and a friendly barkeep all in one day
-Carissa Cordes as a fierce Bright Wing in Johnna’s prequel (!) to Angel Eaters
-Ryan Andes’ lovably simple McTeague facing down Richard Watson’s drunkenly embittered Marcus (the fight scene hilariously directed by Rob Ackerman)
-Katherine’s direction of David Ian Lee and Jane Taylor in her Going Out Dancing – I’d previously seen this play at a much faster clip, which put the epiphany in the hands of the audience: here, the more deliberate pace gave Jane’s Anna the full opportunity to realize what was happening, and to a degree, accept it
-Working with Cotton on Crystal’s The Sleeping World, where complex emotionally rich moments must move quickly – a surprisingly challenging script for a seemingly naturalistic play
-Matt Archambault and Candice Holdorf got to let their hair down a little in Corey’s Moving Statues, and the result were two relaxed, highly present, and engaging performances

Artists who attended, what were your highs and lows?