The Word on the Street...
Mum's the Word, Fantastic's the Performance
IN CHARLOTTE VIEWPOINT
AUTHOR: John Hartness
Mum’s the Word
Patchwerk Playhaus at Century Vintage
1508 Central Avenue
Thursday - Saturday Through 3/27 (No Performance 3/19)
$10
Nestled in the back of a vintage clothing and furniture store on Central Avenue, a revolution is taking place. The boys and girls from the
Machine Theatre co-founder Matt Cosper is to blame for the shenanigans onstage. As writer and director, Cosper blends influences from throughout world and local theatre history into a surprisingly cohesive production. Under his stylized direction, actors never leave the stage, they turn their backs to the audience to signify leaving the scene. His set design leans heavily on a black-plastic Fahrenheit 451 from the old Children’s Theatre space, but the sparseness works well with the spare language his characters employ. In its roughest sense, the script is the story of a Todd (Jim Yost) and Lois (Julie Strassel), a stereotypically unfulfilled couple whose lives are turned topsy-turvy when Lois adopts a baby from Somalia (The Kid, played by Biniam Tekola) without telling Todd until just before the baby is delivered.
The Kid turns out to be less an infant than a teenage gun-toting junior pirate, and the play rapidly careens out of control from there. If Lois and Todd are stereotypical Americans, The Kid serves as the playwright’s mouthpiece, telling the placid locals, and thus the audience, exactly what he thinks of McDonald’s (awful), whiskey (good), and the family (twisted). The conflict between old America in the form of Todd and the new world in The Kid finally comes to a head in one of the rawest scenes of theatrical confrontation I’ve seen in years.
While Tekola and Strassel are newcomers to me, Jim Yost is a very familiar sight to these old theatre-going eyes. The role of Todd is similar enough on the surface to roles Yost has played handily before, but he brings such a heartbreaking honesty to the pill-addled character that I felt like I was seeing a brand new actor. This is simply the finest work I’ve seen him do in the decade I’ve watched him. And while Yost has elevated his game for this show, his cast mates have no problem keeping up. Tekola has all the swagger and bluster of a pirate-in-training, which makes his emotional breakdown all the more gut wrenching. And Strassel mixes delusional conversation with other characters with direct address to the audience deftly, slipping in and out of the fourth wall with aplomb. All three actors navigate the changing landscape of Cosper’s script well, managing the shifts between real and surreal with apparent ease.
The play is good, if rough in spots (I could live without the psychedelic Thanksgiving scene). The acting is excellent, raw and exposed and honest, as befits a theatre production in the back of furniture store. The company is young and hungry to save the world from complacency, and the venue is charmingly odd, quirky, and comfortable. In short, it’s just what Charlotte needs to complete the cultural landscape. It’s theatre with scars and blemishes and everything real, and it deserves to be seen.
John G. Hartness is a veteran of the Charlotte theatre scene, with over fifteen years on and around Queen City stages. He's directed, designed, performed, and produced in many of Charlotte's finest venues, including Theatre Charlotte, Spirit Square, the Off-Tryon Theatre Company and many more. A poet and budding novelist, his work can be found at his
Getting homeless people involved becomes their art. Machine Theatre reaches out to and engages those who are part of the community.
Posted: Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009
Eavesdrop on a cocktail party discussion about the theatre scene in Charlotte, and you're not likely to hear much chatter about the city's homeless population.
But if Barney Baggett or Matt Cosper are in attendance, you may find yourself spellbound to hear of their experiences in bringing performance art and technique to a growing group of Charlotte neighbors whose temporary daytime address is the Urban Ministry Center, an agency in downtown Charlotte that helps the homeless.
Baggett and Cosper are founding members of a fledgling Charlotte theater company, Machine Theater, that was launched in July. With veteran Charlotte theater personnel Barbi Van Schaik, Robert Haulbrook and Carlisle Kellam, and musician Jon Lindsay, the two high school friends have developed a theater troupe that is committed to producing new, internally developed work. They also plan to provide better acting training in body and voice work, and to reach out to the community.
"We don't want to make our art in a void," Cosper said. "It is important to us to reach out and develop work that is reflective of the community where we share our work. Charlotte has many communities, from ethnically diverse neighborhoods and parts of town, to suburbanites, to people who are down on their luck and facing difficult situations.
"Charlotte certainly is a city with a bright future and many aspects to be proud of, (but) we also face very real challenges, such as homelessness, that should not be ignored or neglected in our art."
Steadfastly following their vision, Machine Theater has already put on two productions since July - including one written by Cosper - and has hosted a number of training sessions that provide training that is specific for the theater and serve as recruiting sessions for upcoming works.
To reach out to the community, Cosper connected with Penny Mann of the Urban Ministry Center this fall about how the group might be able to support the ministry and its CommunityWorks945 - a collection of programs that engage the homeless in athletic, artistic and horticultural programs.
Mann is the director of Artworks945, which enables homeless people to share their message through art while creating a community and a support structure that helps them overcome their challenges.
"We have pottery, poetry, photography and a number of visual arts involvement activities but had never had a performing arts component to what we do here," Mann said. "Matt, Barney and others from Machine Theater have been coming regularly and engaging the neighbors in a series of workshops that have opened up new worlds of possibilities for many."
Baggett had worked with a younger homeless population earlier in his career, when he was studying in California. He experienced some success with a hands-on approach to involving people with no formal theater training in learning body and voice control.
"We have a workshop called The Art of Play and Talking Bodies," Baggett said. "These are very physical and involve developing strategies of communication with your body, and helping participants gain awareness in how much they can say nonverbally. It has been very rewarding to see after just a few short sessions, some of the neighbors opening up, communicating more effectively and finding their voice."
According to Baggett, theater creates an instant community within the audience and among performers. Mann echoed the positives of the theater company's involvement with her program. "I see a sense of pride, increased feelings of self-worth and self-esteem in our participants after each session," said Mann.
That goes both ways, according to Cosper. He can see a day in the not-too-distant future in which a production that's written, performed and directed by the neighbors could be possible. "There are many different stories to tell in our community," Cosper said. "We should all have a voice."
Michael J. Solender is a freelance writer who writes about Charlotte neighborhoods. You can reach him at
michaeljsolender@gmail.com.
But if Barney Baggett or Matt Cosper are in attendance, you may find yourself spellbound to hear of their experiences in bringing performance art and technique to a growing group of Charlotte neighbors whose temporary daytime address is the Urban Ministry Center, an agency in downtown Charlotte that helps the homeless.
Baggett and Cosper are founding members of a fledgling Charlotte theater company, Machine Theater, that was launched in July. With veteran Charlotte theater personnel Barbi Van Schaik, Robert Haulbrook and Carlisle Kellam, and musician Jon Lindsay, the two high school friends have developed a theater troupe that is committed to producing new, internally developed work. They also plan to provide better acting training in body and voice work, and to reach out to the community.
"We don't want to make our art in a void," Cosper said. "It is important to us to reach out and develop work that is reflective of the community where we share our work. Charlotte has many communities, from ethnically diverse neighborhoods and parts of town, to suburbanites, to people who are down on their luck and facing difficult situations.
"Charlotte certainly is a city with a bright future and many aspects to be proud of, (but) we also face very real challenges, such as homelessness, that should not be ignored or neglected in our art."
Steadfastly following their vision, Machine Theater has already put on two productions since July - including one written by Cosper - and has hosted a number of training sessions that provide training that is specific for the theater and serve as recruiting sessions for upcoming works.
To reach out to the community, Cosper connected with Penny Mann of the Urban Ministry Center this fall about how the group might be able to support the ministry and its CommunityWorks945 - a collection of programs that engage the homeless in athletic, artistic and horticultural programs.
Mann is the director of Artworks945, which enables homeless people to share their message through art while creating a community and a support structure that helps them overcome their challenges.
"We have pottery, poetry, photography and a number of visual arts involvement activities but had never had a performing arts component to what we do here," Mann said. "Matt, Barney and others from Machine Theater have been coming regularly and engaging the neighbors in a series of workshops that have opened up new worlds of possibilities for many."
Baggett had worked with a younger homeless population earlier in his career, when he was studying in California. He experienced some success with a hands-on approach to involving people with no formal theater training in learning body and voice control.
"We have a workshop called The Art of Play and Talking Bodies," Baggett said. "These are very physical and involve developing strategies of communication with your body, and helping participants gain awareness in how much they can say nonverbally. It has been very rewarding to see after just a few short sessions, some of the neighbors opening up, communicating more effectively and finding their voice."
According to Baggett, theater creates an instant community within the audience and among performers. Mann echoed the positives of the theater company's involvement with her program. "I see a sense of pride, increased feelings of self-worth and self-esteem in our participants after each session," said Mann.
That goes both ways, according to Cosper. He can see a day in the not-too-distant future in which a production that's written, performed and directed by the neighbors could be possible. "There are many different stories to tell in our community," Cosper said. "We should all have a voice."
Michael J. Solender is a freelance writer who writes about Charlotte neighborhoods. You can reach him at
michaeljsolender@gmail.com.
Machine Theatre: A Company All About Community
AUTHOR: Michael Solender
charlotteviewpoint.org
In certain arts circles, people talk about the fledgling theater community in Charlotte in hushed tones and with despair. Discussion rages amongst a small cadre of enthusiasts about how to achieve vibrant and sustainable theater that engages audiences and stimulates discussion across the community. At times insular and narrowly focused, both producers and patrons of the performing arts in our city seem to gravitate to safe, carefully packaged products with broad audience appeal, following prescribed formulas for financial success.
Money, of course, is the lubricant and lifeblood of both traditional and experimental theater and tried, known, and commercial theater sells. Trouble is, at least in this town, there are only so many buyers of that product. One need only look around when the lights go up to see that it is a fairly homogenous (read; middle aged, middle class, white) crowd doing the buying.
Few conversations in Charlotte envision the theater as community. Charlotte is not a string of suburbs in search of a city like many American burghs of comparable size. We are a grouping of eclectic and diverse neighborhoods from NoDa, to Chantilly, First and Fourth Wards, Elizabeth, and beyond. Performance art that represents the diverse cultures and fabric of the growing region isn’t often found in touring Broadway productions or at Uptown’s larger venues.
Area residents will need to venture further afield than Trade and Tryon to find theater that explores Charlotte’s shining promise as well as our social challenges. One freshly launched theater company is doing just that. Machine Theater is taking the lead as a strong contender for those hungry for locally produced work that is truly reflective of the region. Machine currently operates out of the StorySlam space off Central Avenue in the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood.
Co-founded by former Farm Theater alumni and high school chums, Matt Cosper and Barney Baggett, Machine also boasts a core foundation of Queen City veterans whose names should be familiar to those in tune with Charlotte’s theater scene. Barbi Van Schaik (Innovative Theater, Charlotte Rep, Children’s Theater of Charlotte) and Robert Haulbrook (Children’s Theater of Charlotte) bring solid performing chops to the company, while Charlotte photographer Carlisle Kellam and musician Jon Lindsay lend design and a strong musical sensibility to Machine.
Barely six months old, Machine Theater is setting out to redefine the meaning of contemporary theater in Charlotte, a city that has seen many struggling theater companies come and mostly go. “We want to develop a company that doesn’t produce art in a void,” said Cosper. “It is important to us to be reflective of the whole community that we are part of.”
To that end, Machine Theater’s vision incorporates three distinctive elements. First, the company is committed to producing locally developed work. Next, they identify actor and ensemble training, specifically voice and body training for the stage, as an ongoing component of their raison d’être. Finally, the company wants to actively incorporate community outreach as part of their mission.
It is community outreach where Machine Theater is making unusually creative and exciting inroads in pushing theater’s traditional boundaries. The group has been working with the Urban Ministry Center of Charlotte, a service organization dedicating to providing support services to Charlotte’s poor and homeless. In 90 minute sessions held every other week since October, the company has been holding workshop training sessions with a group of Charlotte neighbors whose daytime address just happens to be the Urban Ministry Center.
“Our sessions are designed to break down physical barriers people have in communicating and involve a large element of play and movement,” said Baggett, who worked with disenfranchised youth in a similar program while studying theater in California. “We work with this group using the same techniques we use with theater professionals. It has been amazing watching people open up, become more trusting and confident in their own abilities.”
Penny Mann is the Director of Artworks945, the in-house project at Urban Ministry that invited Cosper and Baggett in to work with the neighbors. “Their ongoing commitment to working with us has been tremendous,” she said. “We now have people seeking these sessions out and attend on a routine basis. I’ve seen people blossom and find a voice that they weren’t aware they had.”
Cosper cited this work as one example of tapping into the tremendous level of talent and energy in the city. “Machine Theater is committed to Charlotte, we have talent and opportunity here on par with any of the major theater centers in the U.S. whether it be New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago,” he said. “There is no reason why in the future Charlotte can’t be seen as a destination for performing arts talent and patrons alike. One of the reasons training is part of our mission is to attract people to the work that we are doing and fill a void that exists in the region. Most all of the performance training held in this area is for film or TV. To our knowledge, we are the only actor training in and around Charlotte that focuses on performing for the stage.”
Cosper and Baggett both noted that they approach actor training focused on voice and body first, allowing the emotion and “cerebral” character development to flow naturally from the physical nature of the performance. “We want all our actors to be able to speak the same language and approach the work in the same way,” said Cosper. “Working in a physical style often allows for a deeper and more visceral portrayal to emerge.”
The company already has two separate performances under their belt in 2009 and ambitious plans for the 2010 season. While their inaugural performance of Ionesco’s absurdist classic The Bald Soprano was not home grown, it allowed the company to make a statement, generate buzz, and establish a following. The show ran four performances in July at Patchwerk Playhaus at Century Vintage and gained favorable notices.
Building on the momentum generated by their success, Cosper took his own work-in-progress play Thom Thom, and brought the first act to the Carolina Actors Studio for three performances in September. The production, a tragic-comic what if riff on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird, follows the two protagonists based upon Boo Radley and Scout Finch in their later lives. Billed as a metaphysical adventure, the Company has been invited to perform the play in its complete form at the Pristina International Theatre Festival in Kosovo in November of 2010. The festival is hosted by the National Theatre of Kosovo.
That represents pretty heady territory for a troupe without a full year under its belt or substantial reserve in its coffers. The company has filed for their non-profit 501c3 status which will allow them to pursue grant funding, tax free donations, and lend credibility to their status.
Machine Theater is planning two offerings in the first half of the New Year. Mum’s the Word, another Cosper written play, is a pitch black comedy. It features an affluent childless American couple who adopts an African child. When the baby they have been expecting turns out to be a Congolese child soldier, things fall apart. Cornelius and Bartholomew, written by Baggett, looks at two Victorian era scientists conducting an exhibition of their latest experiments. Hi-jinks and disaster ensue.
“We know that Charlotte as a community has a unique voice and perspective that embodies the diverse identity of the region,” said Baggett. “As a theater company we want to be able to provide a platform for work beyond the cultural homogenization that all too often exists and let unique perspectives be seen and heard.”
This company is taking the notion of community based theater and standing it on its head.Radical? When it is all about the community, maybe it’s not so radical after all.
Money, of course, is the lubricant and lifeblood of both traditional and experimental theater and tried, known, and commercial theater sells. Trouble is, at least in this town, there are only so many buyers of that product. One need only look around when the lights go up to see that it is a fairly homogenous (read; middle aged, middle class, white) crowd doing the buying.
Few conversations in Charlotte envision the theater as community. Charlotte is not a string of suburbs in search of a city like many American burghs of comparable size. We are a grouping of eclectic and diverse neighborhoods from NoDa, to Chantilly, First and Fourth Wards, Elizabeth, and beyond. Performance art that represents the diverse cultures and fabric of the growing region isn’t often found in touring Broadway productions or at Uptown’s larger venues.
Area residents will need to venture further afield than Trade and Tryon to find theater that explores Charlotte’s shining promise as well as our social challenges. One freshly launched theater company is doing just that. Machine Theater is taking the lead as a strong contender for those hungry for locally produced work that is truly reflective of the region. Machine currently operates out of the StorySlam space off Central Avenue in the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood.
Co-founded by former Farm Theater alumni and high school chums, Matt Cosper and Barney Baggett, Machine also boasts a core foundation of Queen City veterans whose names should be familiar to those in tune with Charlotte’s theater scene. Barbi Van Schaik (Innovative Theater, Charlotte Rep, Children’s Theater of Charlotte) and Robert Haulbrook (Children’s Theater of Charlotte) bring solid performing chops to the company, while Charlotte photographer Carlisle Kellam and musician Jon Lindsay lend design and a strong musical sensibility to Machine.
Barely six months old, Machine Theater is setting out to redefine the meaning of contemporary theater in Charlotte, a city that has seen many struggling theater companies come and mostly go. “We want to develop a company that doesn’t produce art in a void,” said Cosper. “It is important to us to be reflective of the whole community that we are part of.”
To that end, Machine Theater’s vision incorporates three distinctive elements. First, the company is committed to producing locally developed work. Next, they identify actor and ensemble training, specifically voice and body training for the stage, as an ongoing component of their raison d’être. Finally, the company wants to actively incorporate community outreach as part of their mission.
It is community outreach where Machine Theater is making unusually creative and exciting inroads in pushing theater’s traditional boundaries. The group has been working with the Urban Ministry Center of Charlotte, a service organization dedicating to providing support services to Charlotte’s poor and homeless. In 90 minute sessions held every other week since October, the company has been holding workshop training sessions with a group of Charlotte neighbors whose daytime address just happens to be the Urban Ministry Center.
“Our sessions are designed to break down physical barriers people have in communicating and involve a large element of play and movement,” said Baggett, who worked with disenfranchised youth in a similar program while studying theater in California. “We work with this group using the same techniques we use with theater professionals. It has been amazing watching people open up, become more trusting and confident in their own abilities.”
Penny Mann is the Director of Artworks945, the in-house project at Urban Ministry that invited Cosper and Baggett in to work with the neighbors. “Their ongoing commitment to working with us has been tremendous,” she said. “We now have people seeking these sessions out and attend on a routine basis. I’ve seen people blossom and find a voice that they weren’t aware they had.”
Cosper cited this work as one example of tapping into the tremendous level of talent and energy in the city. “Machine Theater is committed to Charlotte, we have talent and opportunity here on par with any of the major theater centers in the U.S. whether it be New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago,” he said. “There is no reason why in the future Charlotte can’t be seen as a destination for performing arts talent and patrons alike. One of the reasons training is part of our mission is to attract people to the work that we are doing and fill a void that exists in the region. Most all of the performance training held in this area is for film or TV. To our knowledge, we are the only actor training in and around Charlotte that focuses on performing for the stage.”
Cosper and Baggett both noted that they approach actor training focused on voice and body first, allowing the emotion and “cerebral” character development to flow naturally from the physical nature of the performance. “We want all our actors to be able to speak the same language and approach the work in the same way,” said Cosper. “Working in a physical style often allows for a deeper and more visceral portrayal to emerge.”
The company already has two separate performances under their belt in 2009 and ambitious plans for the 2010 season. While their inaugural performance of Ionesco’s absurdist classic The Bald Soprano was not home grown, it allowed the company to make a statement, generate buzz, and establish a following. The show ran four performances in July at Patchwerk Playhaus at Century Vintage and gained favorable notices.
Building on the momentum generated by their success, Cosper took his own work-in-progress play Thom Thom, and brought the first act to the Carolina Actors Studio for three performances in September. The production, a tragic-comic what if riff on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird, follows the two protagonists based upon Boo Radley and Scout Finch in their later lives. Billed as a metaphysical adventure, the Company has been invited to perform the play in its complete form at the Pristina International Theatre Festival in Kosovo in November of 2010. The festival is hosted by the National Theatre of Kosovo.
That represents pretty heady territory for a troupe without a full year under its belt or substantial reserve in its coffers. The company has filed for their non-profit 501c3 status which will allow them to pursue grant funding, tax free donations, and lend credibility to their status.
Machine Theater is planning two offerings in the first half of the New Year. Mum’s the Word, another Cosper written play, is a pitch black comedy. It features an affluent childless American couple who adopts an African child. When the baby they have been expecting turns out to be a Congolese child soldier, things fall apart. Cornelius and Bartholomew, written by Baggett, looks at two Victorian era scientists conducting an exhibition of their latest experiments. Hi-jinks and disaster ensue.
“We know that Charlotte as a community has a unique voice and perspective that embodies the diverse identity of the region,” said Baggett. “As a theater company we want to be able to provide a platform for work beyond the cultural homogenization that all too often exists and let unique perspectives be seen and heard.”
This company is taking the notion of community based theater and standing it on its head.Radical? When it is all about the community, maybe it’s not so radical after all.
Machine Theatre Act Two
"Last Tuesday we had our second meeting with Machine Theatre. The company members of Machine have teamed up and partnered with us to bring a new form of expression and yes, play, to the Neighbors here at Urban Ministry Center. Our first session consisted more of meeting each other and introducing this exciting project to the Neighbors. The second session proved to be much more active as you can see in the picture. Here, Luis and Carlisle meet head to head in the final round of Scorpion, a game used to help actors become more aware of the space and players around them.
The hope behind this new partnership is to help Neighbors at Urban Ministry Center rediscover their voice and self worth. Many individuals facing homelessness find themselves isolated and disconnected from themselves, as well as the society around them. When daily life is so focused on survival individuals tend to miss out on those little gifts of living... within these workshops and the relationships already forming, our Neighbors can breathe, play and once again hear the individual within them.
A huge thanks to Machine Theatre... this is going to be beautiful!"
From the ArtWorks945 blog. ArtWorks945 is a division of the Urban Ministry Center, an interfaith agency serving poor and homeless in Charlotte NC with love, compassion, and tangible help.
For more info on ArtWorks945 or the Urban Ministry Center, check out www.urbanministrycenter.org
The hope behind this new partnership is to help Neighbors at Urban Ministry Center rediscover their voice and self worth. Many individuals facing homelessness find themselves isolated and disconnected from themselves, as well as the society around them. When daily life is so focused on survival individuals tend to miss out on those little gifts of living... within these workshops and the relationships already forming, our Neighbors can breathe, play and once again hear the individual within them.
A huge thanks to Machine Theatre... this is going to be beautiful!"
From the ArtWorks945 blog. ArtWorks945 is a division of the Urban Ministry Center, an interfaith agency serving poor and homeless in Charlotte NC with love, compassion, and tangible help.
For more info on ArtWorks945 or the Urban Ministry Center, check out www.urbanministrycenter.org
Arts: Performing Arts
Half-baked ThomThom
Published 09.22.09
By Perry Tannenbaumen
Machine Theatre has trained an artistic shotgun at Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird and forced it to couple with a menacing band of nocturnal marauders plucked half-baked out of Samuel Beckett's imagination. The result is a work-in-progress by Matt Cosper, ThomThom (if that bird won't sing), that aspires to Joycean richness and slapstick silliness at the same time. Very Beckett indeed -- plus a musical score by Jon Lindsay.
ThomThom may also be objectively described as half-baked, since only Act 1 of the two-act tragicomic musical was presented as a latenight workshop production last weekend at CAST after performances of Master Class. Act 2 is scheduled to emerge from Machine's oven next spring. Ambiguity and inertia are the essence of absurdism, so we may never learn whether ThomThom is a Huck Finn sequel to Mockingbird or it's a deconstruct of the Gothic nocturnal climax of the novel when the mysterious Boo Radley saves Scout Finch's life.
The eccentric recluse and the budding actress are back in the darksome woods, either fleeing home or trying to reach it. Repeatedly, they encounter the sinister gang led by Cort, a surreal hobo who can be described as a compound of Vladimir and Estragon, the protagonists of Waiting for Godot, and Dickens' malevolent Bill Sikes. With CAST stalwart Robert Lee Simmons in the role, Cort is riveting.
Kate the Killer, played by Barbi VanSchaick in pirate garb, is constantly bickering with Cort and plotting to seize leadership of the marauding band. The less-evolved primates who answer to Cort -- or Kate -- are Lizzie Lies, a lascivious circus equestrian to judge by her costume (and lipstick), Savage Red, an aspiring cone-headed poet, and Heartless Thom, a gangly adolescent besotted with Scout. Think Jesus in a sock hat.
Fittingly, ThomThom was put provisionally on its feet at the CAST boxagon, where action can come at us swiftly from all directions without ever going anywhere. So far, through Act 1, that seems to be the deep magic in Cosper's design. So far, it's working.
There's a comical accretion as Cort & Crew continue to stalk and attempt to affright the unflappable Scout, played with tomboy pluckiness by Chloe Aktas. The plotting may crystallize into a concrete goal in Act 2, or it may dissolve amid the shifting tides of the band's internal politics. Even without Boo's protection, Scout seems indomitable. From a dramatic standpoint, the greatest suspense whipped up so far is whether Scout and Thom will connect or if they're fated to be a star-crossed Romeo and Juliet romance. Luke Pizzato is adorably pathetic as Thom with all the awkward adolescent accoutrements.
VanSchaick may be viewed as reprising her pirate antics from last season's Peter Pan at ImaginOn -- thicker accent, same soft children's villain spine. No, the greatest threat to the Scout-Thom consummation is Arthur "Boo" Radley, simmering, fiercely protective, and even mildly articulate, another definitive oddball performance by Robert Haulbrook.
Jenny Wright as Lizzie and Jeremy Shane as Red are perpetually diverting bottom-feeders, constantly echoing the master-slave dynamic that Beckett wove into Godot. Make-up by Cosper and VanSchaick is delightfully ghoulish, and Barney Baggett takes to the boxagon zestfully in his Charlotte directorial debut. Bring on Act 2!
Half-baked ThomThom
Published 09.22.09
By Perry Tannenbaumen
Machine Theatre has trained an artistic shotgun at Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird and forced it to couple with a menacing band of nocturnal marauders plucked half-baked out of Samuel Beckett's imagination. The result is a work-in-progress by Matt Cosper, ThomThom (if that bird won't sing), that aspires to Joycean richness and slapstick silliness at the same time. Very Beckett indeed -- plus a musical score by Jon Lindsay.
ThomThom may also be objectively described as half-baked, since only Act 1 of the two-act tragicomic musical was presented as a latenight workshop production last weekend at CAST after performances of Master Class. Act 2 is scheduled to emerge from Machine's oven next spring. Ambiguity and inertia are the essence of absurdism, so we may never learn whether ThomThom is a Huck Finn sequel to Mockingbird or it's a deconstruct of the Gothic nocturnal climax of the novel when the mysterious Boo Radley saves Scout Finch's life.
The eccentric recluse and the budding actress are back in the darksome woods, either fleeing home or trying to reach it. Repeatedly, they encounter the sinister gang led by Cort, a surreal hobo who can be described as a compound of Vladimir and Estragon, the protagonists of Waiting for Godot, and Dickens' malevolent Bill Sikes. With CAST stalwart Robert Lee Simmons in the role, Cort is riveting.
Kate the Killer, played by Barbi VanSchaick in pirate garb, is constantly bickering with Cort and plotting to seize leadership of the marauding band. The less-evolved primates who answer to Cort -- or Kate -- are Lizzie Lies, a lascivious circus equestrian to judge by her costume (and lipstick), Savage Red, an aspiring cone-headed poet, and Heartless Thom, a gangly adolescent besotted with Scout. Think Jesus in a sock hat.
Fittingly, ThomThom was put provisionally on its feet at the CAST boxagon, where action can come at us swiftly from all directions without ever going anywhere. So far, through Act 1, that seems to be the deep magic in Cosper's design. So far, it's working.
There's a comical accretion as Cort & Crew continue to stalk and attempt to affright the unflappable Scout, played with tomboy pluckiness by Chloe Aktas. The plotting may crystallize into a concrete goal in Act 2, or it may dissolve amid the shifting tides of the band's internal politics. Even without Boo's protection, Scout seems indomitable. From a dramatic standpoint, the greatest suspense whipped up so far is whether Scout and Thom will connect or if they're fated to be a star-crossed Romeo and Juliet romance. Luke Pizzato is adorably pathetic as Thom with all the awkward adolescent accoutrements.
VanSchaick may be viewed as reprising her pirate antics from last season's Peter Pan at ImaginOn -- thicker accent, same soft children's villain spine. No, the greatest threat to the Scout-Thom consummation is Arthur "Boo" Radley, simmering, fiercely protective, and even mildly articulate, another definitive oddball performance by Robert Haulbrook.
Jenny Wright as Lizzie and Jeremy Shane as Red are perpetually diverting bottom-feeders, constantly echoing the master-slave dynamic that Beckett wove into Godot. Make-up by Cosper and VanSchaick is delightfully ghoulish, and Barney Baggett takes to the boxagon zestfully in his Charlotte directorial debut. Bring on Act 2!
ARTS à la Mode
THOM THOM
(if that bird won't sing)
ACT I
By Matt Cosper
Directed by Barney Baggett
Machine Theatre
Carolina Actors Studio Theatre (CAST)
September 17-19 (11 pm)
Writers often ask the question, “What if?” If Scout Finch and Boo Radley from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird had to be on the run to protect innocence, what would happen? Thus we have Jean Louise (Chloe Aktas), the given name of Scout in the novel, and Arthur (Robert Haulbrook), Boo’s given name, on the move. In the novel Scout is smart beyond her years. She initially misjudged Boo, who was in fact, a protector.
This odd couple is nomadic but can’t seem to escape a roving band of creepy characters who are loosely set up as a family, or a gang, or fatal flaws, or a nightmare? (It’s difficult to tell, or maybe Mr. Cosper trusts the audience enough to decide for themselves.) The leader is one Magisterial Cort (Robert Lee Simmons), the “mother” figure and pirate, is Kate the Killer (Barbi Van Schaik), young Lizzie Lies (Jenny Wright), comic relief Savage Red (Jeremy Shane), and the title character Heartless Thom (Luke Pizzato).
Through a series of short scenes, perfect for a black box or simple, unadorned production, we see Jean Louise and Arthur traveling around with little focus except escape. Questions are asked, but not answered, yet there are many allusions to sex and violence. Loaded words like: brutal copulation, ghouls of war, dogs of war, blood drops on the snow, rape, knives, power, be willing to do whatever it takes, and more. Blood doesn’t gush, but it is literal at times, such as when it is used to paint on third eye on Jean Louise’s forehead or coming from Thom’s heart.
Director Barney Baggett is fortunate to have such a stellar cast, and he gets excellent performances, with conviction, from all of them. An intense actor to begin with, no one does menace better than Robert Lee Simmons. His presence in any scene assures a tension and uneasiness among the characters. Barbi Van Schaik has been a Charlotte treasure for a number of years now, versatile enough to play many types of roles from innocent to eerily wicked. Jenny Wright has a sweetly corrupt presence that adds to the chaos. Jeremy Shane’s face is covered so that much of his acting in Thom Thom has to be more physical. His “poetry” rendition, as performance art, is wonderfully funny. Robert Haulbrook brings a seriousness and weight to Arthur. His line readings can be surprisingly inventive and droll.
Then we have the two youngest actors, Chloe Aktas and Luke Pizzato. I have watched these two for several years now on various stages in Charlotte and both show admirable growth as actors. The pretty Ms. Aktas does her role in overalls, a la Scout the tomboy, but she is able to evoke the awakening emotions of a young girl. It’s important to have someone who can carry that role since it’s her innocence (and that of all young woman?) that’s at stake. Luke Pizzato shows range and intensity, too, as he is given the chance to show his acting and singing ability.
The songs and music direction by Jon Lindsay add to the ritualistic nature of the group’s doings. It’s more like a Greek chorus rather than razzle dazzle show stopping tunes but fits with tone of the work.
Machine Theatre bravely put on this first act to get feedback about the play, and openly seem to want it. I can’t say that I honestly understand everything (especially the metaphors and symbolism) that Mr. Cosper is trying to say with this work, but he’s obviously put much thought into it, and besides, ACT II usually answers the questions that are posed in ACT I. I’m genuinely interested to see where this is going. If you are intrigued by philosophical ideas I would certainly recommend this play as an example of avant-guard originality.
Charlotte needs and should welcome distinctive new voices. There’s no reason innovative theatre has to side-step the Queen City. (The acting alone here is worth seeing.) Every theatre company has its own unique qualities. I can’t envision Machine Theatre ever doing a production of South Pacific, unless it’s got some way out spin on it. And that’s a very good thing. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
Ann Marie Oliva is an award-winning playwright. She is the producer/editor of ARTS à la Mode and a judge for the National Youth Theatre Awards. Ann Marie is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
(if that bird won't sing)
ACT I
By Matt Cosper
Directed by Barney Baggett
Machine Theatre
Carolina Actors Studio Theatre (CAST)
September 17-19 (11 pm)
Writers often ask the question, “What if?” If Scout Finch and Boo Radley from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird had to be on the run to protect innocence, what would happen? Thus we have Jean Louise (Chloe Aktas), the given name of Scout in the novel, and Arthur (Robert Haulbrook), Boo’s given name, on the move. In the novel Scout is smart beyond her years. She initially misjudged Boo, who was in fact, a protector.
This odd couple is nomadic but can’t seem to escape a roving band of creepy characters who are loosely set up as a family, or a gang, or fatal flaws, or a nightmare? (It’s difficult to tell, or maybe Mr. Cosper trusts the audience enough to decide for themselves.) The leader is one Magisterial Cort (Robert Lee Simmons), the “mother” figure and pirate, is Kate the Killer (Barbi Van Schaik), young Lizzie Lies (Jenny Wright), comic relief Savage Red (Jeremy Shane), and the title character Heartless Thom (Luke Pizzato).
Through a series of short scenes, perfect for a black box or simple, unadorned production, we see Jean Louise and Arthur traveling around with little focus except escape. Questions are asked, but not answered, yet there are many allusions to sex and violence. Loaded words like: brutal copulation, ghouls of war, dogs of war, blood drops on the snow, rape, knives, power, be willing to do whatever it takes, and more. Blood doesn’t gush, but it is literal at times, such as when it is used to paint on third eye on Jean Louise’s forehead or coming from Thom’s heart.
Director Barney Baggett is fortunate to have such a stellar cast, and he gets excellent performances, with conviction, from all of them. An intense actor to begin with, no one does menace better than Robert Lee Simmons. His presence in any scene assures a tension and uneasiness among the characters. Barbi Van Schaik has been a Charlotte treasure for a number of years now, versatile enough to play many types of roles from innocent to eerily wicked. Jenny Wright has a sweetly corrupt presence that adds to the chaos. Jeremy Shane’s face is covered so that much of his acting in Thom Thom has to be more physical. His “poetry” rendition, as performance art, is wonderfully funny. Robert Haulbrook brings a seriousness and weight to Arthur. His line readings can be surprisingly inventive and droll.
Then we have the two youngest actors, Chloe Aktas and Luke Pizzato. I have watched these two for several years now on various stages in Charlotte and both show admirable growth as actors. The pretty Ms. Aktas does her role in overalls, a la Scout the tomboy, but she is able to evoke the awakening emotions of a young girl. It’s important to have someone who can carry that role since it’s her innocence (and that of all young woman?) that’s at stake. Luke Pizzato shows range and intensity, too, as he is given the chance to show his acting and singing ability.
The songs and music direction by Jon Lindsay add to the ritualistic nature of the group’s doings. It’s more like a Greek chorus rather than razzle dazzle show stopping tunes but fits with tone of the work.
Machine Theatre bravely put on this first act to get feedback about the play, and openly seem to want it. I can’t say that I honestly understand everything (especially the metaphors and symbolism) that Mr. Cosper is trying to say with this work, but he’s obviously put much thought into it, and besides, ACT II usually answers the questions that are posed in ACT I. I’m genuinely interested to see where this is going. If you are intrigued by philosophical ideas I would certainly recommend this play as an example of avant-guard originality.
Charlotte needs and should welcome distinctive new voices. There’s no reason innovative theatre has to side-step the Queen City. (The acting alone here is worth seeing.) Every theatre company has its own unique qualities. I can’t envision Machine Theatre ever doing a production of South Pacific, unless it’s got some way out spin on it. And that’s a very good thing. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
Ann Marie Oliva is an award-winning playwright. She is the producer/editor of ARTS à la Mode and a judge for the National Youth Theatre Awards. Ann Marie is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
ARTS à la Mode
THE BALD SOPRANO
By Eugene Ionesco
Directed by Matt Cosper
Machine Theatre
Patchwerk Playhaus at Century Vintage
1508 Central Avenue
July 9-12, 2009
This is not an easy play to perform. But Machine Theatre makes it easy to enjoy. For its first offering, this new company picked a classic absurdist play from the 1950s, where the ordinary world of a British dinner party goes topsy-turvy, especially through language. Yet, under the astute direction of Matt Cosper, the play jumps into the 21st century, with lots of current weirdness emerging through tones of voice, the spaces between words, and the actors' ADHD, multi-channeling actions.
Chairs are packed tightly into the small backroom performance space at Century Vintage. But the walk through that shop, with its many odd and charming antiques from decades ago, sets up the play very well. The setting for the play seems drawn from the store: mod paintings and a background panel, a furry lamp with an African-style wood-carved face at its base, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith already sitting in a mismatched chair and sofa. Lighting instruments (designed by Carlisle Kellam) are craftily hidden in set pieces near the front row of seats—adding to the normalcy and yet strangeness that eventually erupts.
When the audience is seated and quiet, the characters come to life. Mrs. Smith (Caroline Bower) prattles on and on while her husband (J. R. Adduci) grunts and reads his paper, which has the face of a young Michael Jackson on its cover. Both of the Smiths exhibit a middle-class British air, while wearing trim costumes (designed by Amy Holroyd) in styles that bridge the last half century. But odd terms pop up as Mrs. Smith speaks. And the logic continues to twist as Mr. Smith joins in dialogue. (Ionesco wrote the script as a Romanian immigrant to France, puzzled by the strange phrases in language learning books.)
Some of the best professionals in Charlotte are in this cast. They create many surprising details, with ways of speaking and moving that are comical, yet also painfully absurd. It's like the classic Abbott and Costello routine: Who's on first, What's on second, and I Don't Know is on third. And then a clock chimes (in the sound design by Jonathan Lindsay) interrupting their conversation, again and again, while eerily suggesting that time itself, like language, may be going haywire.
The play gathers more steam, with hints of the uncanny, when the Maid (Barbi Van Schaik) goes mad all on her own, then returns to her proper role, as servant and master to the dinner party that's 4 hours late. Her farcical jests almost make sense out of the non-sequiturs in the script. Yet her passion is both funny and frightening.
The guests, Mr. and Mrs. Martin (Jeremy Shane Kinser and Jes Dugger), are politely received by the Smiths, but also blamed for the dinner's delay. When the Smiths leave for a bit, the Martins play a silly game of pretending not to know each other, while being surprised at the "coincidences" of living together and having the same child. Yet the Maid makes the obvious conclusion more twisted—into a Twilight Zone unknown.
After the Smiths' return, a repeated doorbell ringing with no one at the door divides the men and women into an argument about what that means. Then the Fire Chief (Robert Haulbrook) arrives, becoming a confessor to them all and a lover to the Maid. The characters also compete in telling stories, with Mr. Smith's, about a snake and fox, turning into the most sinister.
As such "fires" proceed, domestic rules of behavior spin beyond limits. "All that is human is honorable," one character says (with irony more apparent in 1950 than today). Yet that sentiment is also undercut in this show, with costumes coming off, lights flashing, and a violent storm of madness erupting toward the end.
Be assured, however, it's all very funny, even if disturbing, and a great offering by a new company (with a core group from Children's Theatre). At just over an hour, and costing about the same as a movie, this show is an exciting opportunity to experience "theatre of the absurd": live, homegrown, and at its best in bridging the past and present, nonsense and meaning. Review by Mark Pizzato
By Eugene Ionesco
Directed by Matt Cosper
Machine Theatre
Patchwerk Playhaus at Century Vintage
1508 Central Avenue
July 9-12, 2009
This is not an easy play to perform. But Machine Theatre makes it easy to enjoy. For its first offering, this new company picked a classic absurdist play from the 1950s, where the ordinary world of a British dinner party goes topsy-turvy, especially through language. Yet, under the astute direction of Matt Cosper, the play jumps into the 21st century, with lots of current weirdness emerging through tones of voice, the spaces between words, and the actors' ADHD, multi-channeling actions.
Chairs are packed tightly into the small backroom performance space at Century Vintage. But the walk through that shop, with its many odd and charming antiques from decades ago, sets up the play very well. The setting for the play seems drawn from the store: mod paintings and a background panel, a furry lamp with an African-style wood-carved face at its base, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith already sitting in a mismatched chair and sofa. Lighting instruments (designed by Carlisle Kellam) are craftily hidden in set pieces near the front row of seats—adding to the normalcy and yet strangeness that eventually erupts.
When the audience is seated and quiet, the characters come to life. Mrs. Smith (Caroline Bower) prattles on and on while her husband (J. R. Adduci) grunts and reads his paper, which has the face of a young Michael Jackson on its cover. Both of the Smiths exhibit a middle-class British air, while wearing trim costumes (designed by Amy Holroyd) in styles that bridge the last half century. But odd terms pop up as Mrs. Smith speaks. And the logic continues to twist as Mr. Smith joins in dialogue. (Ionesco wrote the script as a Romanian immigrant to France, puzzled by the strange phrases in language learning books.)
Some of the best professionals in Charlotte are in this cast. They create many surprising details, with ways of speaking and moving that are comical, yet also painfully absurd. It's like the classic Abbott and Costello routine: Who's on first, What's on second, and I Don't Know is on third. And then a clock chimes (in the sound design by Jonathan Lindsay) interrupting their conversation, again and again, while eerily suggesting that time itself, like language, may be going haywire.
The play gathers more steam, with hints of the uncanny, when the Maid (Barbi Van Schaik) goes mad all on her own, then returns to her proper role, as servant and master to the dinner party that's 4 hours late. Her farcical jests almost make sense out of the non-sequiturs in the script. Yet her passion is both funny and frightening.
The guests, Mr. and Mrs. Martin (Jeremy Shane Kinser and Jes Dugger), are politely received by the Smiths, but also blamed for the dinner's delay. When the Smiths leave for a bit, the Martins play a silly game of pretending not to know each other, while being surprised at the "coincidences" of living together and having the same child. Yet the Maid makes the obvious conclusion more twisted—into a Twilight Zone unknown.
After the Smiths' return, a repeated doorbell ringing with no one at the door divides the men and women into an argument about what that means. Then the Fire Chief (Robert Haulbrook) arrives, becoming a confessor to them all and a lover to the Maid. The characters also compete in telling stories, with Mr. Smith's, about a snake and fox, turning into the most sinister.
As such "fires" proceed, domestic rules of behavior spin beyond limits. "All that is human is honorable," one character says (with irony more apparent in 1950 than today). Yet that sentiment is also undercut in this show, with costumes coming off, lights flashing, and a violent storm of madness erupting toward the end.
Be assured, however, it's all very funny, even if disturbing, and a great offering by a new company (with a core group from Children's Theatre). At just over an hour, and costing about the same as a movie, this show is an exciting opportunity to experience "theatre of the absurd": live, homegrown, and at its best in bridging the past and present, nonsense and meaning. Review by Mark Pizzato
Cosper’s Comet
June 26th, 2009 by Perry Tannenbaum in Arts
Thanks to Matt Cosper’s predisposition toward forming guerilla groups, we get to see the absurdist works of Eugène Ionesco in Charlotte with more regularity than named comets. Cosper dropped the last dose on us back in the days of the Children’s Theatre Black Box when, as co-founder of The Farm, he brought The Lesson to the Morehead Street fantasy palace in 2004.
Now Cosper, who still frequently acts and directs at Children’s Theatre, has hatched another newborn theater company, Machine Theatre. The fledgling’s first production, Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano, will land with a meteor shower of six performances over the weekend of July 9-12. I’ve known about the new company for a little while but only yesterday learned where it plans to perform.
Get out your trustiest GPS device and set its coordinates to 1508 Central Avenue. Machine Theatre’s production of The Bald Soprano, directed by Cosper, will perform at the newly-minted Patchwerk Playhaus inside Century Vintage. Shows begin at 8 p.m. with extra latenight performances on Friday and Saturday, July 10-11. Tickets are $8, a steal when you consider that Cosper’s cast includes Caroline Bower, Robert Haulbrook, and the venerable Barbi Van Schaik. With limited seating, low prices, and tickets available only at the door, early arrival is strongly advised.
Thanks to Matt Cosper’s predisposition toward forming guerilla groups, we get to see the absurdist works of Eugène Ionesco in Charlotte with more regularity than named comets. Cosper dropped the last dose on us back in the days of the Children’s Theatre Black Box when, as co-founder of The Farm, he brought The Lesson to the Morehead Street fantasy palace in 2004.
Now Cosper, who still frequently acts and directs at Children’s Theatre, has hatched another newborn theater company, Machine Theatre. The fledgling’s first production, Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano, will land with a meteor shower of six performances over the weekend of July 9-12. I’ve known about the new company for a little while but only yesterday learned where it plans to perform.
Get out your trustiest GPS device and set its coordinates to 1508 Central Avenue. Machine Theatre’s production of The Bald Soprano, directed by Cosper, will perform at the newly-minted Patchwerk Playhaus inside Century Vintage. Shows begin at 8 p.m. with extra latenight performances on Friday and Saturday, July 10-11. Tickets are $8, a steal when you consider that Cosper’s cast includes Caroline Bower, Robert Haulbrook, and the venerable Barbi Van Schaik. With limited seating, low prices, and tickets available only at the door, early arrival is strongly advised.
Catch debut of Machine Theatre
Charlotte Observer
By Lawrence Toppman
Theater Critic - Posted: Friday, Jul. 03, 2009
What to do when the summer sun is burning down, and you're burning to create drama that doesn't have any ready outlet in Charlotte? Design a new theatrical machine.
That's what Machine Theatre is meant to be. It'll debut with an adaptation of Eugène Ionesco's first play, “The Bald Soprano,” Thursday through July 12. Performances will begin at 8 p.m., and there will be additional shows July 10-11 at 10:30 p.m. The comedy will run at Patchwerk Playhaus, inside the Century Vintage store at 1508 Central Ave.
Machine Theatre's manifesto says it's “committed to developing new works for the stage in Charlotte, as well as touring nationally and internationally.” It also wants to “share its expertise with Charlotte-area theater artists and students through actor-training workshops that emphasize voice, movement and ensemble creation. (We're) reaching out to… teachers, students, and theater practitioners around the world.”
This sounds Napoleonically ambitious, but actors and musicians behind this effort are established local names: Matt Cosper (who'll direct “Soprano”), Barney Baggett, Robert Haulbrook, Jon Phillips and Barbi Van Schaik.
“Soprano,” which is (some say) about the breakdown of communication in modern society, will be followed by “ThomThom,” an original musical to be done in August.
“Soprano” seating is limited, and $8 tickets are available only at the door. Details are at www.machinetheatre .org.
By Lawrence Toppman
Theater Critic - Posted: Friday, Jul. 03, 2009
What to do when the summer sun is burning down, and you're burning to create drama that doesn't have any ready outlet in Charlotte? Design a new theatrical machine.
That's what Machine Theatre is meant to be. It'll debut with an adaptation of Eugène Ionesco's first play, “The Bald Soprano,” Thursday through July 12. Performances will begin at 8 p.m., and there will be additional shows July 10-11 at 10:30 p.m. The comedy will run at Patchwerk Playhaus, inside the Century Vintage store at 1508 Central Ave.
Machine Theatre's manifesto says it's “committed to developing new works for the stage in Charlotte, as well as touring nationally and internationally.” It also wants to “share its expertise with Charlotte-area theater artists and students through actor-training workshops that emphasize voice, movement and ensemble creation. (We're) reaching out to… teachers, students, and theater practitioners around the world.”
This sounds Napoleonically ambitious, but actors and musicians behind this effort are established local names: Matt Cosper (who'll direct “Soprano”), Barney Baggett, Robert Haulbrook, Jon Phillips and Barbi Van Schaik.
“Soprano,” which is (some say) about the breakdown of communication in modern society, will be followed by “ThomThom,” an original musical to be done in August.
“Soprano” seating is limited, and $8 tickets are available only at the door. Details are at www.machinetheatre .org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Charlotte Theatre Company, "MACHINE THEATRE", Debuts with The Bald Soprano July 9, 2009
June 25, 2009
Contact: Matt Cosper
Email/Telephone: machinetheatre@gmail.com / 704-996-3432
Charlotte, NC: A cadre of well known Charlotte arts professionals have joined forces to found Machine Theatre, an innovative theatre company that will make its local debut with performances of an original adaptation of the absurdist comedy The Bald Soprano on July 9-12th. Shows begin at 8pm with additional performances on Friday and Saturday at 10:30pm. All take place at Plaza-Midwood's Patchwerk Playhaus located inside Century Vintage, 1508 Central Avenue.
Unique among area theatre companies, Machine Theatre is committed to developing new works for the stage in Charlotte as well as touring nationally and internationally. In addition, Machine Theatre will share its expertise with Charlotte-area theatre artists and students of all ages through actor training workshops that emphasize voice, movement and ensemble creation. Machine Theatre is reaching out to collaborate with teachers, students, and theatre practitioners around the world.
The Bald Soprano; a slap-happy and anarchic re-imagining of Eugene Ionesco's classic play with a cast of Charlotte’s finest actors in an intimate and eclectic venue promises to provide a theatrical experience audiences won’t soon forget. Seating is limited and tickets are only available at the door ($8) so be sure to arrive early, get your ticket and browse through Century Vintage’s excellent inventory of Vintage Clothing, Furniture and Kitsch!
Matt Cosper directs The Bald Soprano and is a founding member of Machine Theatre. He has been a fixture of Charlotte theatre for over ten years, as an award winning actor and director. Other core members of Machine Theatre include Barney Baggett – a founding member of The Farm Theatre and recent graduate of The Dell 'Arte International MFA program in Ensemble Physical Theatre, acclaimed local actor Robert Haulbrook, musician, singer and composer Jon Phillips, and actor/designer Barbi Van Schaik. (Bios of the company creators are available on Machine Theatre’s website /company.html.) The Bald Soprano features actors J.R. Adduci, Caroline Bower, Jes Dugger, Robert Haulbrook, Jeremy Shane, and Barbi Van Schaik.
The Bald Soprano kicks off Machine Theatre's Summer Season, which also includes a premier of the company's first original musical production, ThomThom(if that bird won’t sing), this August, 2009. ThomThom… is described as "An original musical comedy that skewers and elegizes the American dream: our myths, our heroes, and our collective nightmares. Follow beloved characters from American fiction as they navigate love, loss and capitalism!" It is being funded by an innovative pledge drive also conceived and implemented by Machine Theatre. Please visit the following link for more information on this drive: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162329110/thomthom-if-that-bird-wont-sing-0
For more information about Machine Theatre, The Bald Soprano, ThomThom…, future productions, and workshops, please contact Matt Cosper and visit http://www.machinetheatre.org.
MACHINE THEATRE ... is a collective of Performers, Directors, Designers, Writers, Musicians, and Artisans
creating new theatrical experiences. We believe in the power of storytelling, the magic of poetic faith,
and the value of community. Machine Theatre is committed to radically altering the profile of contemporary theatre
in the Southeast and beyond, the continued development of creative vision through ensemble training,
and the generation of new work as well as inventive adaptation of classic texts.
With collective tenacity and imaginative spirit, Machine Theatre creates engagements of brutal and elegant humanity.
Contact:
http://www.machinetheatre.org
machinetheatre@gmail.com
Matt Cosper (704.996.3432)
Charlotte Theatre Company, "MACHINE THEATRE", Debuts with The Bald Soprano July 9, 2009
June 25, 2009
Contact: Matt Cosper
Email/Telephone: machinetheatre@gmail.com / 704-996-3432
Charlotte, NC: A cadre of well known Charlotte arts professionals have joined forces to found Machine Theatre, an innovative theatre company that will make its local debut with performances of an original adaptation of the absurdist comedy The Bald Soprano on July 9-12th. Shows begin at 8pm with additional performances on Friday and Saturday at 10:30pm. All take place at Plaza-Midwood's Patchwerk Playhaus located inside Century Vintage, 1508 Central Avenue.
Unique among area theatre companies, Machine Theatre is committed to developing new works for the stage in Charlotte as well as touring nationally and internationally. In addition, Machine Theatre will share its expertise with Charlotte-area theatre artists and students of all ages through actor training workshops that emphasize voice, movement and ensemble creation. Machine Theatre is reaching out to collaborate with teachers, students, and theatre practitioners around the world.
The Bald Soprano; a slap-happy and anarchic re-imagining of Eugene Ionesco's classic play with a cast of Charlotte’s finest actors in an intimate and eclectic venue promises to provide a theatrical experience audiences won’t soon forget. Seating is limited and tickets are only available at the door ($8) so be sure to arrive early, get your ticket and browse through Century Vintage’s excellent inventory of Vintage Clothing, Furniture and Kitsch!
Matt Cosper directs The Bald Soprano and is a founding member of Machine Theatre. He has been a fixture of Charlotte theatre for over ten years, as an award winning actor and director. Other core members of Machine Theatre include Barney Baggett – a founding member of The Farm Theatre and recent graduate of The Dell 'Arte International MFA program in Ensemble Physical Theatre, acclaimed local actor Robert Haulbrook, musician, singer and composer Jon Phillips, and actor/designer Barbi Van Schaik. (Bios of the company creators are available on Machine Theatre’s website /company.html.) The Bald Soprano features actors J.R. Adduci, Caroline Bower, Jes Dugger, Robert Haulbrook, Jeremy Shane, and Barbi Van Schaik.
The Bald Soprano kicks off Machine Theatre's Summer Season, which also includes a premier of the company's first original musical production, ThomThom(if that bird won’t sing), this August, 2009. ThomThom… is described as "An original musical comedy that skewers and elegizes the American dream: our myths, our heroes, and our collective nightmares. Follow beloved characters from American fiction as they navigate love, loss and capitalism!" It is being funded by an innovative pledge drive also conceived and implemented by Machine Theatre. Please visit the following link for more information on this drive: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162329110/thomthom-if-that-bird-wont-sing-0
For more information about Machine Theatre, The Bald Soprano, ThomThom…, future productions, and workshops, please contact Matt Cosper and visit http://www.machinetheatre.org.
MACHINE THEATRE ... is a collective of Performers, Directors, Designers, Writers, Musicians, and Artisans
creating new theatrical experiences. We believe in the power of storytelling, the magic of poetic faith,
and the value of community. Machine Theatre is committed to radically altering the profile of contemporary theatre
in the Southeast and beyond, the continued development of creative vision through ensemble training,
and the generation of new work as well as inventive adaptation of classic texts.
With collective tenacity and imaginative spirit, Machine Theatre creates engagements of brutal and elegant humanity.
Contact:
http://www.machinetheatre.org
machinetheatre@gmail.com
Matt Cosper (704.996.3432)
