Raconteur Theatre: Elepant in the Room

Tickets for Raconteur Theatre Company`s Production of:


Elephant in the Room (4th Annual Flex Series)
A Collection of Shorts by Various Playwrights

Flexible theatre for your lifestyle. You can choose to see a little or lot of theatre in this production of short plays.

When: Thursday, March 17th – Saturday, April 2nd, 2011. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm, with a matinee at 2:30pm on Sunday, March 27th.

Where: Club Diversity, 863 S. High St., Columbus, OH. Map and Directions

Reserve tickets below, by email: tickets {at} raconteurtheatre(.)com or by phone 614.495.7946 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 614.495.7946 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. If reserving by email or phone, please provide your full name, number and type (regular or student/senior) of tickets to reserve, and date for which you’re requesting the reservation

Questions: email tickets {at} raconteurtheatre(.)com or call 614.495.7946.
For general questions about Raconteur Theatre, email info {at} raconteurtheatre(.)com

See the review from Theatre Vault
See the review from Naked Sunfish

Submission Opportunity: Comedy Sketches and Monologues Wanted

Acclaimed writer, director and actor, Scott Tobin, is soliciting comedy sketches and monologues from 1-7 minutes to implement into Comedy Town's running series at The Gateway Film Center. They will be producing a show every Thursday starting in April and are intending to produce a sketch night once a month.


 Submit your scripts to the comedy troupe Frogs With Fangs: frogswithfangs (at) gmail (dot) com

MadLab Prom 2011: Careless Whispers

MadLab will present MadLab Prom 2011: Careless Whispers at 7:30pm on Saturday Apil 16th at MadLab Theatre & Gallery, 227 N. 3rd St., Columbus.   Tickets cost $15 per person or $25 per couple.   Call 614-221-5418 or visit http://www.madlab.net/MadLab/Buy_Tickets.html


Dust off your dancing shoes and squeeze into that old tux, because MadLab wants to take you to Prom! Come dressed to the nines in your favorite prom attire as we celebrate high school romance and reckless abandon. Its all the fun parts of prom without the stress of zits and homework. We'll have prom photos, a rockin' DJ playing retro hits, punch, and beer (just don't let the principal catch you). You can vote for prom king and queen. While you're there, look out for some of the heroes and villains of prom that we know and love from cinema. This a great way to support the MadLab Theater and Gallery as it continues to bring new and exciting works to the Columbus art scene. "Careless Whispers" is the party to be at this Spring!

All the info is here: http://www.madlab.net/MadLab/prom.html


The GCAC, The Columbus Foundation, Scion, and the OAC support MadLab throughout the year.

MadLab's Theatre Roulette 2011

MadLab Theatre & Gallery will present Theatre Roulette 2011 at 8:00, May 5th-May 28th, Thursday though Saturdays at MadLab Theatre & Gallery, 227 N. 3rd St. Columbus.  All 10 shows will be presented on the final day of the festival, May 28th beginning at 2 pm. Tickets cost $12, $8 Students/Seniors, $6 Members.   Call 614-221-5418 or visit http://www.madlab.net/


With their 12th annual Theatre Roulette, MadLab, now settled into their new space, returned to their usual method of operation for Roulette. They received 566 submissions and from that group of scripts, 10 were selected. 1 was written by a MadLab ensemble member (Jennifer Feather Youngblood), another by their former artistic director Chris Lane, 3 more by playwrights who have had plays performed at Roulette in the past (Christopher Lockheardt, Donald Dewey, and Mark Harvey Levine) with the remaining 5 from playwrights who had no previous Roulette experience.

Auditions were held in January. 22 actors were cast in 30 roles. Four of them will make their MadLab debuts (Mony Carpenter, Vince Reese, Hilary Shelton, and Damian Synadinos). This will be David Tull’s Roulette debut. 13 of MadLab’s 25 ensemble members accepted roles with many accepting multiple parts.

The Columbus Foundation, GCAC, Scion, and OAC support MadLab throughout the year.

Following each playwright name is the city they live in and previous Roulette appearances.

As always, the Roulette shows are split into 3 nights, shown in a rotating basis, until the final day when all 10 shows are presented. The names for the nights this year are Queen of Hearts, One-Eyed Jacks, and Suicide Kings.

Queen of Hearts
SELDOM IS HEARD by Mary Steelsmith Los Angeles, California

A woman whose husband newly returned from combat in Afghanistan, copes with his I.E.D.-caused head injury. battles a local kind of terrorist, the pink suited president of their local Neighborhood Restoration Association (N.R.A.).

CAST AND CREW

Melissa Bair as Hanna
Jennifer Feather Youngblood as Marilyn
Vince Reese as Ivan
Directed by Michelle Batt

L.A. playwright Mary Steelsmith makes her Roulette debut. It is also her MadLab debut, kinda. In February 2009, Raconteur Theatre Company performed Steelsmith’s “Isaac I Am” at MadLab’s former space at 105 Grant Avenue.

MORNIN’, DAUGHTER MINE by Tom Dieker Clive, Iowa

A mother makes a radical proposal to save the life of her suicidal daughter.

CAST AND CREW

Melissa Bair as Nan
Hilary Shelton as Robyn
Directed by David Thonnings

Hilary Shelton makes her MadLab debut in a big way in the role of Robyn.

BOOM, POW, OOF by Jennifer Feather Youngblood - Columbus, Ohio (THE REBUTTAL - Roulette 06 & Quint, IN A BAD PLACE - Roulette 10)

In a comic-book world of superheroes and supervillians, civilians have to learn to be powerful without powers.

CAST AND CREW

David Tull as Henry
Stephen Woosley as Martin
Jim Azelvandre as Gary
Josh Kessler as Sean
Linda O’Donnell as Gladys
Michelle Batt as Dr. Nebula Bryce
Directed by Jennifer Feather Youngblood

Youngblood, a member of the MadLab Artistic Council, directs her own work. David Tull makes his Roulette debut, alongside a hostof Madlab stalwarts. He made his MadLab debut in March in A Shadow in the Dark (also under Youngblood’s direction).

One-Eyed Jacks

THIS ALMOST JOY by Barbara Lindsay Shoreline, Washington

Friendly Professor Hart-Meadows, an actor in what he believes is a rather dull play, decides to speak directly to the audience, engaging them in a conversation about the nature of reality. This is upsetting for the other characters in the play, Sylvia and Bradley, for whom the play is the real world. The confrontation intensifies as Sylvia and Bradley’s desire to save Prof. Hart-Meadows from madness bumps up against the Professor’s insistence on his own truth.

CAST AND CREW

Jim Azelvandre as Professor Steven Hart-Meadows
Vicki Andronis as Sylvia Hart Johns
Michael Moore as Bradley Johns
Mony Carpenter as Margaret Hart-Meadows
Directed by Travis Horseman

Horseman, one of MadLab’s best actors, makes his directorial debut. Mony Carpenter, who has appeared with numerous Columbus theatre companies, makes her MadLab debut.

LOLLY by Donald Dewey New York, New York (JAMS & JELLIES - Roulette 06)

Barbara goes to Leo's Doll Repair store to get the eyes changed on her doll. When the mysterious --- and mysteriously aggressive --- Leo asks her why, she says it's because she wants to pass the doll on to her daughter and have the girl's doll see different things than her mother's has. Before she knows it, Leo has her revealing some of those things, and not merely for therapeutic purposes.

CAST AND CREW

Sarah Brunet as Barbara
Peter Graybeal as Leo
Directed by Randi Morgan

Comedic Lab veteran Peter Graybeal takes a darker turn in this piece from the writer of Jams and Jellies, part of Roulette 2006.

THE MEETING by Greg Freier Norwalk, Iowa

A small group of corporate executives attempt to disavow themselves from their own ineptness in a nonsensical, gibberish induced forum and arrive at the only logical conclusion they can deduce: violent incompetence.

CAST AND CREW

Vicki Andronis as Jenkins
Sarah Brunet as Dibble
Josh Kessler as Porter

Erin Prosser as Smith
Directed by Peter Graybeal

Graybeal directs 4 of Columbus best improvateurs (Andronis, Brunet and Kessler in MadLab’s resident troupe, Full Frontal Nudity and Prosser is a part of the Shimmy Shake Project).

Suicide Kings

HOUND DOG AND ME by Chris Lane -- Columbus, Ohio(THE JUNGLE - Roulette 00, CUT & DRIED - Roulette 01, SPREE - Roulette 02)

An exploration of the inner workings of a mind that is in duress.

CAST AND CREW

Chris Lane as Hound Dog
Andy Batt as Me
Directed by Michelle Batt

Lane, MadLab’s former artistic director and frequent contributor, returns to MadLab to appear in this absorbing piece.

STUCK by Christopher Lockheardt Andover, MA (NOT FUNNY - Roulette 09)
They say that you never really know someone until you're trapped in a revolving door with them.

CAST AND CREW

Stephen Woosley as Man
Michelle Batt as Woman
Directed by Andy Batt

Lockheardt’s Not Funny closed the Theatre Roulette festival in 2009.

UP ON THE ROOF by Mark Harvey Levine - Pasadena, California (SURPRISE - Roulette 05, SAVER - Roulette 07, THE RENTAL - Roulette 08, THAT WORD - Roulette 10)

Jason is looking for a sign from God. Carrie is looking for a little help with the dishes.

CAST AND CREW

Damian Synadinos as Jason
Christina Duryea as Carrie
Directed by Andy Batt

This is MadLab favorite Levine’s record 5th Roulette production.

THERE IS NO GOOD NEWS by Quentin James Cambridge, Massachusetts

Jerry, Carmichael, and Paul. Three grown men running in the desert. With them a caboodle of other inspired and unheralded runners trudging their lives behind them in their wake. How long they’ve been running is too long for their comfort. To where they are running they have no idea. The reason they are running is beyond their comprehension. They are tired, stinky, and confused; yet the only thing that they are certain of is that they all must keep going.


CAST AND CREW

Andy Batt as Jerry
Brendan Michna as Carmichael
David Thonnings as Paul
Directed by Nikki Smith

Andy Batt is joined by scene stealers Brendan Michna, who stole Cabfare for the Common Man as the title character of sorts in Superhero and David Thonnings who stole 2010’a Roulette with his performance in The Final Scene.

I'd like to thank...

the writers Rick Hole, Jon Calig and Stephen Woosley for sharing their work and food with us on Saturday, March 26. I'd also like to thank the actors Tom Shafer, Rich Stadler, Amy Talbott, Dan O'Reilly, Therese Nolan, (the infamous) Michelle Batt, Jon Calig, Stephen Woosley, Aran Carr and Angela Cutrell for taking the time to read for us. They all did a fabulous job. Stay tuned for the April meeting and while you wait - keep writing.

Leave Your Presciptions in the Medicine Cabinet

At the beginning of every meeting I read the meeting guidelines. The fifth guideline states:

Don't be prescriptive.

"What does that mean?" That means we ask that people who participate in the feedback sessions give the writer's the dignity of discovering for themselves the story they are trying to write. The way to do this is by not prescribing to the writer what we think as a participant they need to do to improve their script.

"Um... wait a second. This is a feedback session. Aren't we supposed to be telling the writer what we think of their work?" You are very curious today Mr. anonymous, make-believe, inquisitor but I'm glad you asked... The answer is, "sort of." The way I have set up meetings to be run is to ask the group questions to help the writer and explore their work. The reasons for this approach are multiple.

People don't like to be judged; especially when trying to be creative. It's a basic fear - right up there with being devoured by a mountain lion. That dynamic pisses all over the creative process.

When someone is bringing a new piece to share, it's like they are bringing a new born child to introduce to the world. When a scenario arises where you have one person in a submissive role of taking direction from another, the situation shuts down the participants intuitive mind. People become guarded. Everyone enters the realm of the critical left-brain and people's egos take over. My goal is to make sure that feedback sessions do not become a place for folks to jockey for displays of competency or to show everyone that they have read more books then everyone else in the room.

A technique that William Ball author of, A Sense of Direction, and founder of the American Conservatory of Theatre used with actors is to put feedback in the form of questions. In tailoring feedback sessions with Drama Foundry participants in a similar way, we are working to get folks to trust their intuition. By learning what questions to ask the writers and actors in the group will inherently learn to trust their intuition and come up with the right answers to fuel their own creative processes.

For me, another aspect to framing feedback in a non-prescriptive way is that I know that I am very guilty at times of wanting someone to tell me how to do my art. I'm scared I'm not going to do it perfectly. When I get like this I am not having to take responsibility for the choices I make and that usually also means I am not mindful of why I made the choices I made in the first place. When I get in that space, then I'm not owning my writing. In order to be successful in life people have to own their territory. That's true whether someone is constructing a narrative or they are an actor making decisions in how to interpret a character. In feedback sessions where their is a dynamic of participants being prescriptive it will foster a dynamic where the writers and actors will be looking over their shoulder to see whether or not they are doing their art "right". When caught between the book ends of right and wrong nothing is ever finished creatively. We have to give ourselves permission to do things messy so we can get something finished.

Why is this so important? The experience a writer has at one of our meetings after bringing a piece to share may determine if they continue working on the piece. Or worse, their experience may determine if they continue writing. My hope is that who ever runs a meeting, whether it is myself or someone else, that they understand that they are there to protect the dynamic of the group and the creative process of the writers and the actors. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly nor is it one that can afford to be tarnished by self-serving intentions.

The Drama Foundry Writers' Group Meeting Announcement

When: Saturday March, 26, 2011 From 1:45pm to 4:45pm
What: Script readings, finger food, and feedback
Where: Upper Arlington Main Library, The Theater
2800 Tremont Road
Upper Arlington, Ohio 43221

Why: To hear an axis of dramatic onslaught unleashed upon us by the cryptic scribes of apocalyptic carnage Rick Hole, Stephen Woosley and Jon Calig. They will show no mercy. It'll be fun.