OT: My influences
Hey all.
I'm a bit behind on the challenge - two days behind now - but I will catch up tonight/today. I've been asked recently about some of my influences in my writing and in theatre, and I just wanted to give a shoutout to some artists who have been inspiring me theatrically as of late. In no particular order:
Antonin Artaud: I talk about this guy a lot. Theatre of Cruelty? Aka the idea that we need to assault the audience's senses completely and shatter any idea of pretense (in an almost Brechtian sense), and display the full range of the human condition with the use of movement and dialogue. It's wonderfully frightened and something that can never be fully realized, as ToC was never fully realized during Artaud's lifetime but his work is still nonetheless tirelessly inspiring and fascinating to me.
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa: Even though I can barely spell his name without Googling it, this guy is the bee's knees. He's a playwright, a comic book author AND has written films and for television (ranging from "Glee" to the remake of "Carrie"). What I enjoy most about him are definitely his plays. They contain elements of horror, science fiction and surrealism in them which I enjoy a lot. A few of my favorites include his love-letter play to horror "The Weird", as well as "Say You Love Satan". Other favorites of his include the dream-play "The Velvet Sky", and his only realist work that I've read: "Good Boys And True". He writes very snappy and realistic dialogue (even in the most surreal bizarre situations) and has a wonderful dark sense of humor. His earlier works really challenge "traditional subject material" in theatre, and I am obsessed with his use of the supernatural on stage.
David Lindsay-Abaire: I have a major writer's crush on DLA. First off, I directed his play "Kimberly Akimbo" when I was seventeen (which is a lot of the inspiration tone-wise I'm trying to create for "Shelly Sells Seashores") and it was love at first script. DLA is so funny, wise, sad, tragic and real. DLA writes realism with a capital R and writes beautifully flawed and multi-dimensional characters. It seems weird in this list of mostly avant-garde artists to include him, but he is honestly one of few realist writers I enjoy.
Richard O'Brien/The Rocky Horror Picture Show: I'm not even going to humor you with a hyperlink. If you don't know what the Rocky Horror Picture Show is, you should be disappointed in yourself. Richard O'Brien writes the most bizarre musicals of all time ("Rocky Horror", "Shock Treatment" and the unfinished "Revenge Of The Old Queen" are his only musical works to date that I know of) that include heavy themes of sexuality, deconstruction of gender roles and monogamy, societal values and of course--extra terrestrial entities. While his work is certainly not perfect, his songwriting is kick ass and Rocky Horror's ability to make beautiful communities of freaks all over the world for over almost 40 years is endlessly inspiring to me. Without RHPS, I would not have my theatre company, and I would not be the artist I am today. I owe so much to him.
Ira Levin: Ira Levin was a science fiction writer and playwright who was mostly famous for his novels "The Stepford Wives" and "Rosemary's Baby" and his plays "Deathtrap and Veronica's Room". Each and every one of his works are so unique in subject material and he totally captures the essence of what suspense is. I have tried to adapt one of his works unsuccessfully in the past, but I will keep trying, even if it kills me. His works are classic and definitely underrated. He is both political and magical in his writing, and constantly makes the characters--and audience--second guess what is real and what is not.
Hilary Bettis: I had the pleasure of meeting Hilary this summer at NTI. She wrote an amazing play called "Alligator" about queer people of color struggling to make a living in the 90's in the sticks of Florida. When Hilary came in, she looked like a rock star. She talked about how she cut school a lot and "Alligator" was inspired from her experiences at rock concerts and a waitress she worked with who knew people who wrestled gators for a living. She's also been in a lot of indie horror films. She's gonna be the next big thing soon, so ya heard it from me first.
The Sick And Twisted Players: Existed in the early 90's in San Francisco, founded by Tony Vaguely. The group has since disbanded, but would only present mashups and parodies of horror films on stage (such as "A Very Brady Friday the 13th", "Snow White's Bloody Valentine", "The Exorcist: A Danse Macabre" among others). It seemed like it was a for-queer people by-queer people type thing done in cabarets and night club venues. It seems like they had quite the cult following, and used as the Dadaists would call "anti actors", or people who didn't have a traditional background in performance. Everything about them inspires me - their content, the audience they attract, their venues, performers (who were mostly in drag, btw) and their legacy.
Squat Theatre: I came across Squat Theatre totally by accident by IMDB-stalking an actress who was in "Louie". Squat Theatre was a radical anarchist theatre group who would perform their shows in store front theatres. To elaborate, the audience would be able to see the street passerbys outside and vice versa. Often times passerbys didn't even know they were performances, and police were called on them multiple times. Their shows would constantly examine the idea of what it means to be a spectator and often used multimedia as well. They were true punks, and I love them for it.
Greg Allen and The Neo Futurists: Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Greg Allen, the founder of the Neo Futurists movement. The Neo Futurist movement is centered around the idea that the performer is also the writer, and they are not playing a character - but rather, themselves, and the material they create is a response to either what's relevant in their lives currently or in the world around them. It's very focused on performing "in the now" and shattering any sense of disillusionment in the theatre. Greg has also done some awesome work outside of Neo Futurism, and I have a huge artist crush on him. Please check out their work.
John Waters: Most famous for his film "Hairspray", John Waters would make exploitation films which were low-budget films which would have disturbing subject material and stunned audiences around the world. He also launched the career of Divine, a 300 pound drag queen who would play everything from a cannibal murderer to a suburban housewife in his films. He totally defied the beauty standard, the MPAA and has pissed off and inspired people all over the world. Recently on Netflix they released the documentary "I Am Divine" which I have been supporting since its very early stages, where you can learn extensively about John and Divine's collaboration. His films are the pinnacle of trash, and portray the world as a very nitty-gritty, utterly absurd and filthy place. The dialogue is crass, the acting is questionable, but it is so beautifully raw and uncensored - John does not hold back and punches. I saw him speak at Cornell my sophomore year and it was one of the best lectures, if not the best, I've ever heard in my life.
InGen Productions: I only recently found out about InGen based on their production of "EllioT" which is a devised production of "ET". I've never seen their work live (yet) but they seem to be a really progressive out-of-the-box thinking type group which will take a bunch of ideas and mash them up into one piece, and so far they have mostly used science fiction and fantasy as the basis for a lot of their works. They seem super cool and I hope their run of "EllioT" goes swimmingly and that I will be able to see them in the future.
Now back to writing AKA procrastinating on cleaning my (very messy and semi unpacked) room.
I'm a bit behind on the challenge - two days behind now - but I will catch up tonight/today. I've been asked recently about some of my influences in my writing and in theatre, and I just wanted to give a shoutout to some artists who have been inspiring me theatrically as of late. In no particular order:
Antonin Artaud: I talk about this guy a lot. Theatre of Cruelty? Aka the idea that we need to assault the audience's senses completely and shatter any idea of pretense (in an almost Brechtian sense), and display the full range of the human condition with the use of movement and dialogue. It's wonderfully frightened and something that can never be fully realized, as ToC was never fully realized during Artaud's lifetime but his work is still nonetheless tirelessly inspiring and fascinating to me.
(Picture of an unknown production of Artaud's "Spurt Of Blood")
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa: Even though I can barely spell his name without Googling it, this guy is the bee's knees. He's a playwright, a comic book author AND has written films and for television (ranging from "Glee" to the remake of "Carrie"). What I enjoy most about him are definitely his plays. They contain elements of horror, science fiction and surrealism in them which I enjoy a lot. A few of my favorites include his love-letter play to horror "The Weird", as well as "Say You Love Satan". Other favorites of his include the dream-play "The Velvet Sky", and his only realist work that I've read: "Good Boys And True". He writes very snappy and realistic dialogue (even in the most surreal bizarre situations) and has a wonderful dark sense of humor. His earlier works really challenge "traditional subject material" in theatre, and I am obsessed with his use of the supernatural on stage.
David Lindsay-Abaire: I have a major writer's crush on DLA. First off, I directed his play "Kimberly Akimbo" when I was seventeen (which is a lot of the inspiration tone-wise I'm trying to create for "Shelly Sells Seashores") and it was love at first script. DLA is so funny, wise, sad, tragic and real. DLA writes realism with a capital R and writes beautifully flawed and multi-dimensional characters. It seems weird in this list of mostly avant-garde artists to include him, but he is honestly one of few realist writers I enjoy.
(Publicity Shot of Richard and Tim Curry in "Rocky Horror")
(Image above inspired by "The Stepford Wives" by Ira Levin)
Ira Levin: Ira Levin was a science fiction writer and playwright who was mostly famous for his novels "The Stepford Wives" and "Rosemary's Baby" and his plays "Deathtrap and Veronica's Room". Each and every one of his works are so unique in subject material and he totally captures the essence of what suspense is. I have tried to adapt one of his works unsuccessfully in the past, but I will keep trying, even if it kills me. His works are classic and definitely underrated. He is both political and magical in his writing, and constantly makes the characters--and audience--second guess what is real and what is not.
Hilary Bettis: I had the pleasure of meeting Hilary this summer at NTI. She wrote an amazing play called "Alligator" about queer people of color struggling to make a living in the 90's in the sticks of Florida. When Hilary came in, she looked like a rock star. She talked about how she cut school a lot and "Alligator" was inspired from her experiences at rock concerts and a waitress she worked with who knew people who wrestled gators for a living. She's also been in a lot of indie horror films. She's gonna be the next big thing soon, so ya heard it from me first.
The Sick And Twisted Players: Existed in the early 90's in San Francisco, founded by Tony Vaguely. The group has since disbanded, but would only present mashups and parodies of horror films on stage (such as "A Very Brady Friday the 13th", "Snow White's Bloody Valentine", "The Exorcist: A Danse Macabre" among others). It seemed like it was a for-queer people by-queer people type thing done in cabarets and night club venues. It seems like they had quite the cult following, and used as the Dadaists would call "anti actors", or people who didn't have a traditional background in performance. Everything about them inspires me - their content, the audience they attract, their venues, performers (who were mostly in drag, btw) and their legacy.
(Picture from Squat Theatre's "Pig!Child!Fire")
Squat Theatre: I came across Squat Theatre totally by accident by IMDB-stalking an actress who was in "Louie". Squat Theatre was a radical anarchist theatre group who would perform their shows in store front theatres. To elaborate, the audience would be able to see the street passerbys outside and vice versa. Often times passerbys didn't even know they were performances, and police were called on them multiple times. Their shows would constantly examine the idea of what it means to be a spectator and often used multimedia as well. They were true punks, and I love them for it.
(Picture from "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind", as performed at Wooly Mammoth Theatre)
Greg Allen and The Neo Futurists: Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Greg Allen, the founder of the Neo Futurists movement. The Neo Futurist movement is centered around the idea that the performer is also the writer, and they are not playing a character - but rather, themselves, and the material they create is a response to either what's relevant in their lives currently or in the world around them. It's very focused on performing "in the now" and shattering any sense of disillusionment in the theatre. Greg has also done some awesome work outside of Neo Futurism, and I have a huge artist crush on him. Please check out their work.
(Picture of a very inebriated Divine and John Waters)
InGen Productions: I only recently found out about InGen based on their production of "EllioT" which is a devised production of "ET". I've never seen their work live (yet) but they seem to be a really progressive out-of-the-box thinking type group which will take a bunch of ideas and mash them up into one piece, and so far they have mostly used science fiction and fantasy as the basis for a lot of their works. They seem super cool and I hope their run of "EllioT" goes swimmingly and that I will be able to see them in the future.
Now back to writing AKA procrastinating on cleaning my (very messy and semi unpacked) room.
Comments
Post a Comment