April 2012
1 post
April 2 – The Secret’st Man of Blood
I guess it’s no big surprise that the world of MACBETH is full of secrets. After all, the play begins with prophetic witches on the one hand and deceitful political betrayals on the other, even before Macbeth and Lady Macbeth take any action. But I’m beginning to see how notable it is what is NOT talked about in the play, given how much we are able to see of people’s motives.
For...
March 2012
3 posts
March 15 – Macduff, baby. Ooofff.
I’m keying into Macduff’s dilemma in the play – is it desirable to remain honest in a world gone bad? What would you be willing to lose to protect your integrity?
I don’t think that Macduff is meant by Shakespeare to feel heroic; we are not meant to feel any sense of triumph or satisfaction when Macduff finally kills Macbeth. I think we’re meant to feel troubled by the choices he’s made, to have...
March 12/13 – first rehearsals - Shakespeare's...
Starting rehearsal down two tracks – the deep realness and humanity of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship – “Shakespeare’s only working marriage” as Jim Shapiro puts it – and the world of the witches.
Ultimately the first question of the play is two-fold, or maybe two sides of the same coin: What makes the witches and their prophecies credible to Macbeth, and, what makes Macbeth susceptible...
March 9 – pre-rehearsal design meeting for MACBETH
Working with the design team tonight on the infamous Lady Macbeth “mad scene.”
The text does point to the standard vision of this scene as we usually see it performed, nightgown, candle, uplight, etc… And it makes a kind of theatrical sense. But it’s so commonly done that I feel like it’s become cliché. And as such, it does not get at the visceral sense of fragmentation that the text points to...
January 2012
4 posts
THIS BLOG IS BACK!
Hi everyone! Ron Russell here - as of January 24th, 2012, portions of this blog were moved to ArtsJournal blogs at www.artsjournal.com/theatricalimperative
Please find me there, too, where I continue to post about Strategically Raising Artists Value in our Culture.
BUT - I am now officially re-launching this blog as the new home of my thoughts on Shakespeare’s MACBETH, as I direct a...
My response to Tom Laughlin's outrageous post...
Tom! I wanted to thank you for your recent post “The Great Whiter-Than-Ever Way,” (http://www.apoorplayer.net/2012/01/the-great-whiter-than-ever-way) which is now being commonly referred to as the “Is it so bad to admit that theatre is for white people?” post. It’s a brilliant expose of the banal, but still incredibly insidious, dangerous, modern-day racism that lies beneath the innocent-looking...
RE-POST of entire Part 1: "Becoming Essential:...
From “A Strategic Approach to Increasing the Value of the Theatre Artist,” by Ron Russell, Executive Director of Off-Broadway’s Epic Theatre Ensemble: This is a slightly abridged re-post of BOTH blogs of Part 1: “Becoming Essential,” (be warned – it’s about 7 pages!) which focuses on what the true value of theatre-makers is, or could be, in today’s America, starting from the perspective of “value”...
Part 1b: "Becoming Essential: Why Do Theatre...
This is Part 1 of a multi-part blog series called “A Strategic Approach to Increasing the Value of the Theatre Artist,” by Ron Russell, Executive Director of Off-Broadway’s Epic Theatre Ensemble. Part 1, “Becoming Essential,” is in two sections and focuses on what the true value of theatre-makers is, or could be, in today’s America, with this second section looking at why these artists matter and...
December 2011
4 posts
Are the Arts Irrelevant to the Next Generation? →
though it’s Norway, this article cites many of my key concerns about kids now in college in the US - a declining interest in artistic engagement - and the only “good thing” it says is that young people still have a “certain ‘reverence’ for the value of ‘high’ culture,” which terrifies me even more! Reverence? Yikes!
Part 1: "Becoming Essential: What Are Theatre...
This is Part 1 of a multi-part blog series called “A Strategic Approach to Increasing the Value of the Theatre Artist,” by Ron Russell, Executive Director of Off-Broadway’s Epic Theatre Ensemble. Part 1, “Becoming Essential,” is in three sections and focuses on what the true value of theatre-makers is, or could be, in today’s America, starting from the perspective of “value” as...
8 tags
Prologue: "A New Contract"
This is the Prologue of a multi-part blog series called “A Strategic Approach to Increasing the Value of the Theatre Artist,” by Ron Russell, Executive Director of Off-Broadway’s Epic Theatre Ensemble, with input from the staff and artists of the organization. Working from the assumption that theatre-makers and their skills are critical to the health of our American democracy, the series explores...
8 tags
Introduction: The Scarcity Principle
This is the Introduction of a multi-part blog series called “A Strategic Approach to Increasing the Value of the Theatre Artist,” by Ron Russell, Executive Director of Off-Broadway’s Epic Theatre Ensemble, with input from the staff and artists of the organization. Working from the assumption that theatre-makers and their skills are critical to the health of our American democracy, the series...
November 2011
2 posts
Gwendolyn Brooks, "We Real Cool"
sharingpoetry:
We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.
(Submitted by theoldlie)
