Flux in 2012

(Post by August Schulenburg. Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum).

What a year! 2012 was a FULL year for Flux Theatre Ensemble, and an absolutely joyful year for me as a creative partner of Flux. Our mission is to build a creative home for artists and audiences, and we are so deeply grateful to all the extraordinary people who make up that home and make our work possible. If you can, please consider making a year-end donation to keep us going strong into 2013.

Here is a month by month breakdown of all we did together!

JANUARY 2012: Something there is that doesn’t love a wall…

Photo: Justin Hoch. Pictured: Isaiah Tanenbaum, Matthew Archambault and Sol Marina Crespo.

The year began with a great big bang with our production of Menders, written by Erin Browne and directed by Heather Cohn. Called “a rare event: true theatrical art” by Jay Reisberg of Culture Catch, Menders was published by Indie Theater Now and made Will Kenton’s Top 10 Plays of Off-Off-Broadway List. This show also marked our first full production at Judson Memorial Church’s new Gym at Judson space, and our first experimentation with video projection.

FEBRUARY 2012: Any Given Sunday…

Photo: August Schulenburg. Pictured: Chris Wight, Lori E. Parquet, Rachael Hip-Flores, Lauren Ferebee, Jennifer Somers Kipley

February marked the return of our regular play development workshops, Flux Sunday. Thanks to the hospitality of Judson Memorial Church and the talent of our 100+ participating artists, Flux helped develop nearly 60 plays in 2012!

MARCH 2012: Evolution Happens…

Photo: Will Lowry. Pictured: David Crommett, Anna LaMadrid

In March, we launched our latest ForePlay series, Human 2.0. Over three nights, twelve playwrights, three directors and nineteen actors riffed on questions of how humans might evolve into something new. This was the series that brought us new languages, cosmic orgasms, and yes…President Cat.

APRIL-MAY 2013: Loop In…

Photo: Justin Hoch at jhoch.com. Pictured: Isaiah Tanenbaum, Ken Glickfeld, Rachael Hip-Flores, Nitya Vidyasagar.

Human 2.0 was riffing on the themes of our next full production, DEINDE, which was presented at the Secret Theatre as part of the BFG Collective. Martin Denton called it “one of the smartest, sharpest, and most important new plays of the theatre season,” and published it in Indie Theater Now. DEINDE also marked our contribution to the BFG Collective, our partnership with Gideon Productions and Boomerang Theatre Company in residence at the Secret.

JUNE 2012: Well, I’m A Steam Roller, Baby…

Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Chinaza Uche, Tiffany Clementi, Christina Shipp, Mike Mihm, Sol Marina Crespo, Joshua Koopman, Matthew Archambault.

The BFG Collective came up big at the NYIT Award Nomination Party in June, with Ajax in Iraq joining Gideon’s The Honeycomb Trilogy and Boomerang’s The Real Thing among the noms. Ajax in Iraq went on to win Outstanding Production of a Remounted Play in September!

JULY 2012: …and I’m not saying I did…

Photo: Alisha Spielmann. Photo: Stephen Conrad Moore, John Greenleaf.

Our extreme staged reading and potluck play series, Food:Soul, returned with  EM Lewis’ If I Did This, directed (and heck, flat our designed) by Pete Boisvert, and featured our return to the hallowed stage of Judson Memorial Church. We also celebrated Flux’s birthday and had cake along with our home-cooked food!

AUGUST 2012: Bros, Bras, and Ghosts of Theatre Companies Past…

Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Jodi Witherell, Becky Byers, Kia Rogers and Marnie Schulenburg.

Our Annual Retreat at the Little Pond Arts Retreat saw 28 theatre artists develop 12 plays over a week…and that’s not counting the partying, game playing, and epic bros versus bras battle. The Retreat is always where Flux feels the most at home, and that felt especially true this year (and Jodi and Kia made their Flux acting debuts!)

SEPTEMBER 2012: Why, yes, I will Have Another…

Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Becky Byers, Sol Marina Crespo, Rachael Hip-Flores and Heather Cohn.

We then brought some of our favorite scenes from the Retreat to our next installment of our scenes-from-plays-shared-in-bars series, Have Another! We featured scenes from my Tidal Devices, Johnna Adam’s Skinless and Kristen Palmer’s Once Upon A Bride There Was a Forest. As per usual, the partying continued long after the actual scenes were through…

OCTOBER 2012: Wands Versus Wings…

Photo: Isaiah Tanenbuam. Pictured: Jeremy Pickard, Mac Rogers, Caridad Svich, Kathleen Chalfant.

In October, the Flux Family Feud returned for what felt like our wildest, most wonderful benefit party yet. Matt Archambault was once again our host with the most in spite of being seriously under the weather, and highlights included our costume booth and Rachael seriously owning the fast money round.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012: …necessary things must happen…

Photo: Isaiah Tanenbaum. Pictured: Aja Houston, Becky Byers, Chester Poon, Jennifer Somers Kipley, Rachael Hip-Flores.

Nope, we didn’t rest at the end of the year like this pair of ill-fated lovers; we produced our third show, Hearts Like Fists, written by Adam Szymkowicz and directed by Kelly O’Donnell. Every show felt like a wonderful, exhausting party, and we received the most positive reviews of any Flux production, including a Critics Pick from The New York Times. What a way to close out a very full year!

Of course, 2013 is looking even busier somehow (two plays in repertory!), so if you can, please make a donation and support our work. Happy New Year!