Sign up for Off Center Teens!

Our unique curriculum of performance, collaborative theatre-making, and self-defense training.

SUMMER 2015 REGISTRATION OPEN NOW. 

Fill out and submit the ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM today!

When
Classes: June 15 - June 28, 2014 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday

(Early and late pick-up/drop-off available.) 
Public Performances: Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28, 2015 at 2:00 p.m.

Where  
The Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo St., Austin, TX 78702

Tickets to the Public Performance 
Admission to the performance is FREE. Donations welcome!  Tickets available at the door only and seating is first-come, first-served.

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ABOUT OFF CENTER TEENS SUMMER CLASSES

OFF CENTER TEENS is the all-gender inclusive evolution of Grrl Action, Austin’s premier all-girls theatre workshop by Rude Mechs, named "Best Club for Teen Performers" by The Austin Chronicle’s Readers’ Poll. Off Center Teens is a 2-week, full-day summer camp that builds toward a final production collage entirely created and performed by teens. 

Run by Austin's acclaimed theatre company, Rude Mechs, Off Center Teens is a theatre summer camp program in which 13 to 16 year-olds write, create, publish, and perform original works for the stage drawn from their own life experiences. This year, we are thrilled to continue our partnership with Sun Dragon Martial Arts and Self Defense. Sun Dragon is a non-profit with a 25-year history of violence prevention education in Austin. Their considerable talents and experience will help Off Center Teens build even more strength, confidence and self-care.

On Saturday June 27th and Sunday 28th at 2:00 p.m., the participants will take the stage and transform their autobiographical writing into powerful and personal public performances at The Off Center, Rude Mechs' performance home in East Austin. 

Off Center Teens is led by former Grrl Action Program Co-Directors Madge Darlington and Jodi Jinks, and enhanced by workshops from professional guest artists with expertise in movement and writing.

Teens who participate in Off Center Teens are given space, materials, skills, and guidance as they work individually and as a group to generate poems, stories, songs, collages, dances, and drawings from their life experiences. They then craft this material into a live performance and a published anthology which is available to the audience, free of charge, before and after the public performances.

Off Center Teens is made possible by generous support from The John F. Kenny Writing Center Fund. Rude Mechs is supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

ABOUT SUN DRAGON MARTIAL ARTS

The mission of Sun Dragon Martial Arts and Self Defense is to use karate, self-defense, and violence prevention skills to empower youth and adults to enact positive change in their communities based on principles of compassion, courage, respect, and justice. The Grrl Action self-defense classes will be led by Executive Director Senpei Joy Williamson. More information can be found here: http://sundragon.org/ 

ABOUT GRRL ACTION

Grrl Action began in 2000 as a writing and performance program designed to empower girls between the ages of 13 and 16 to find their public voices while building confidence, interacting with girls from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and creating community. From the program, Grrl Action participants learn to expand their practice beyond the theatre space and into their everyday lives and communities, making them not only better writers and performers, but better citizens, activists, and role models. Engaging them through collectivity and community involvement, Grrl Action inspires young women to widen and transcend their definitions of what it means to be an artist.

Summer 2014 marked the 15th anniversary of this groundbreaking summer program!!!
Read more about Grrl Action at:
http://www.impact-austin.org/downloads/press/press_release_20070507.pdf
http://austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A280638
http://feministspectator.blogspot.com/2006/08/grrl-action-and-american-fiesta-in.html
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2000-06-30/cols_pnotice.html

CONTACT US

General questions and inquiries:

email: info "AT" rudemechs.com

tel: 512/476-7833

Rude Work March - June 2015

On Thurs, January 29, 2015, KLRU premiered the Arts In Context documentary on Rude Mechs. Click the picture above to watch the video.

Rude Mechs' summer camp in performance, collaborative theatre-making, and self-defense training. SUMMER 2015 REGISTRATION OPEN NOW.  Fill out and submit the ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM today!

AT HOME FIELD GUIDE a first-draft workshop production created by Rude Mechs TICKETS ARE FREE! When: March 19 - 29 Thursday - Sunday ALL SHOWS ARE AT 9:00 P.M. Where: The Off Center  Get pumped for a very rough first look at our newest play-in-creation, Field Guide. We're trying to figure out HOW TO LIVE by diving into stand-up comedy, The Brothers Karamazov, and heart-throb Yul Brynner. Come tell us whether you dig the direction we are headed with this new play or what. Voluntary talk-back after each show.  Collaborators: Madge Darlington, Robert S. Fisher, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, Lana Lesley, Kirk Lynn, Graham Reynolds, Brian Scott and Shawn Sides.  ON TOUR NOW NOW OH NOW Fringe Arts (Philadelphia) - April 22 - 25, 2015 STOP HITTING YOURSELF AT&T Performing Arts Center - May 28-30, 2015

AT HOME MACBETH directed by Rosalind Faires a rude fusion presentation co-produced by Plan II, The Broccoli Project, and Foot in the Door LIMITED SEATING! When: March 14-16, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. Where: The Off Shoot Eastern-most part of The Off Center complex. Tickets: $10.00 + cc and service fees Scotland's most infamous king and queen are coming to dinner for this intimate and innovative new staging of Shakespeare's tragedy. An undergraduate thesis project from University of Texas student Rosalind Faires, Macbeth takes the form of a dinner party hosted by the Witches, where audiences are invited to dine alongside those vying for Scotland's throne. Featuring a multi-generational cast and elegant designs from Ia Enstera and Jason Amato, the play examines the rules of hospitality and the fragile balance between love and personal ambition. About Rude Fusion Rude Mechs' Rude Fusion series is a venture designed to develop deeper relationships with some of Austin's finest theatre artists by co-producing their work and offering our support throughout their creative process.

Rude Mechs Arts In Context PBS Documentary

On Thurs, Jan 29 KLRU will present an Arts In Context documentary on Rude Mechs at 7:30 p.m. CST Rude Mechs will be at the the side bar to watch this ground-breaking in-depth hard-core 26-minute unauthorized bio-doc. Join us! Airing nationally and on other dates. Check your local PBS station for listings. Click image below to watch the trailer.

Ante Up for Art is January 17th!

WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 17th Doors at 7:30 p.m. Games at 8:00 p.m. Final Four Showdown at 10:30pm. WHERE: The Off Center,  2211-A Hidalgo, 78702 TICKETS: On sale now at www.rudemechs.com $25 to enter (entrance gets you two free game tokens, on the house) Game tokens $5 each Emcee Rebecca Havemeyer Game Guide Graham Reynolds DJ Mickey Jay TEEN EDITION INFO WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 17th 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. WHERE: The Off Shoot (easternmost section of The Off Center) TICKETS: Free if parents attending adult event or if not, $5 cash at the door. Either way, guardian must be on site.

ANTE UP FOR ART Our Boom-Boom Casino Barrage Game Night Fundraiser All proceeds benefit Rude Mechs and everything that goes on at The Off Center. This just in - Rebecca Havemeyer has agreed to host the evening and to perform at least one sweet gorgeous song with the inimitable Graham Reynolds. You please gotta come to  Ante Up for Art – our first-ever epic tournament game night fundraiser. Our good friends at the side bar will be slinging drinks from a cash bar as we offer a stunning array of diversions, from casino games to bar games to family-style and brainiac games, all culminating in a Final Four Showdown of the night’s top winners. The night will feature emcee hostess-with-the-mostess Rebecca Havemeyer, DJ Mickey Jay on the 1s and 2s, and game guide Graham Reynolds running our Texas Hold-Em table and settling all disputes in this epic tournament of hot damn good time gaming entertainments! Including, but not nearly limited to: Darts, Twister, Texas Hold-Em, Speed Chess, Bananagrams, Dominoes, Simon, Jenga, and Celebrity. Play what you like! Winners and Losers Welcome! Prizes and surprises for both! Plus we're gonna have some snacks. Need a more inspiration? Here's a little video...  Ante Up for Art from Rude Mechs on Vimeo. ANTE UP FOR ART: TEEN EDITION Yes - Our own Madge Darlington is hosting a teen version of the event for 12-16 year olds. There will be good times, games, some prizes, snacks and sodas. We'll also hand out information about our new gender inclusive outreach program for teens - Off Center Teens.

Two Public Readings of Fixing Timon of Athens

FIXING TIMON OF ATHENS

HELP US FIX IT BY COMING TO A PUBLIC READING!
Shakespeare wrote it, Kirk Lynn is fixing it right now. (warning: strong language)

When: November 2nd and November 9th, 2014

Sundays at 5:00 p.m.

Where: The Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo St.

Tickets: $10.00 General Admission (GET TICKETS HERE or HERE)
Note: There is a $2 surcharge on tickets purchased via artful.ly. See our website for alternatives to paying this $2 ticket surcharge.

Ticket sales go directly to this super ensemble of artists: Lowell Bartholomee. Florinda Bryant, Jay Byrd, Barbara Chisholm, Robert Faires, Robert Fisher, Tom Green, Hannah Kenah, and Adriene Mishler, plus Aron Taylor, who will be experimenting with live drawing the show.

About The Readings

Most of the cast of Fixing King John plus a couple of friends, have agreed to perform two public readings of the first draft of Fixing Timon of Athens by Kirk Lynn, and we invite you to be a part of the development process as we prepare for its world premiere in 2015. Fixing Timon of Athens is the second installment in our Fixing Shakespeare series. We hope you will join us for the readings and then stick around to give us your feedback in an environment that involves drinking boozy things and standing around casually after each performance. 

About Timon of Athens

It's pretty simple. Timon starts out super rich and super positive and super popular, but his frivolous generosity takes its toll. After getting even with the people he feels betrayed him, he wanders off into the woods, super poor and super pissed off... finds more gold, then dies alone. Also there's a warrior that is in some kind of trouble with the Senate.

About our FIXING SHAKESPEARE Series

Taking place in rotation with our Contemporary Classics series, our Fixing Shakespeare series will make William Shakespeare's least-produced works useful again. Ask yourself how many Shakespeare plays you know or have seen, subtract that number from thirty-seven (depending on who you ask), and those are the plays we are working to fix using our patented performance creation methodology, contemporary English, and adding curse words. (Shakespeare cursed plenty, but most Elizabethan curse words have lost their spice. Zounds!)

In some ways, we're offering you a more authentic experience of what a new Shakespeare play might be like than an actual Shakespeare play. In other ways, not so much.

The Method Gun @ UT - 6 shows only

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!   When: Sept. 10 - 14, 2014 Wednesday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Sat and Sun matinees at 2:00 p.m.  Where: Oscar G. Brockett Theatre (it's in the Winship Building on campus) Tickets: $15 - $25 Purchase at: texasperformingarts.org “charming… gorgeously rendered… both stunning and haunting.” – American Theatre Magazine "In this immensely funny, abruptly touching physical-theater work... They keep taking perilous theatrical leaps, but we are the ones to feel sweaty-palmed, nearly vertiginous exhilaration." – Helen Shaw, Time Out New York Review "Relentlessly inventive... Beneath its zany, passionate surfaces lie some fierce investigations into the nature of art... brilliantly orchestrated" – John Beer, Time Out Chicago 2010 "Best of 2011" - Los Angeles Times "Best of 2011" - Time Out New York "2011 Culture Award" - New York Magazine "Best Touring Show of 2011" - Columbus Alive "Top 9 Creative Arts, Ah, Things I Was Lucky Enough to Experience This Year" - Austin Chronicle "Top 10 Theatrical Treasures and Pleasures of 2008" - Austin Chronicle "In the Arts, the Eight from '08" - Austin-American Statesman This year The Pearl Dive will be held on October 26, 2014 SAVE THE DATE!!!! And it will be right here in Austin, TX! Stay tuned for updates.

The Method Gun created by rude mechs presented by The University of Texas at Austin Dept. of Theatre and DanceWe are really very very happy to deliver to Austin the final version of The Method Gun. We finished the play back in 2010 at The Humana Festival, and Austin's never seen this super tweaked and loved on version. This presentation comprises part of our stay as UT Austin's Dept. of Theatre and Dance Resident Theatre Company, and we are excited to share this work with the students and our longtime friends and patrons in the city we love to love. About The Play A play about the ecstasy and excesses of performing, the dangers of public intimacy and the incompatibility of truth on stage and sanity in real life, The Method Gun bounces between interior monologues, rehearsal sequences of Streetcar, and group interactions – all gleaned from historical documents – to express a longing for the return of inspiration and a more believable presentation of self in everyday life. The Method Gun contains adult content, including full frontal male nudity. About Rude Mechs Rude Mechs is an ensemble-based theatre company that operates with a full company of 28 members and has run The Off Center since 1999. We create original plays that we produce in Austin, TX, and tour nationally and internationally. Our touring productions include "The Method Gun", "I've Never Been So Happy", "Now Now Oh Now", "Dionysus in 69", "Stop Hitting Yourself", “Get Your War On”, “How Late It Was, How Late”, “Cherrywood”, and “Lipstick Traces.” Our Off-Broadway productions include "Stop Hitting Yourself", "The Method Gun", “Get Your War On”, and “Lipstick Traces.” Our production "The Method Gun" was selected for the 34th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Stop Hitting Yourself Rude Mechs is thrilled to announce Stop Hitting Yourself will premiere next month at Lincoln Center Theater as part of LCT3, a program for new artists and new audiences. Stop Hitting Yourself created by Rude Mechs Jan. 15 - Feb 23, 2014 only 49 performances! (heh) All tickets $20 Get Tickets Featuring: Thomas Graves, Heather Hanna, Joey Hood, Hannah Kenah, Lana Lesley, Jason Liebrecht, Paul Soileau

RudeCare.gov Rude Mechanicals 2013 Year-End Deductible Request to Individuals, Families, & Businesses ANNOUNCING THE NEW RUDE MECHS  PREMIUM HEALTH CARE PLAN™ Brought to you by Rude Mechs “Affordable Care Actors” Recent changes in Federal Health Care regulations (alongside ongoing cuts to arts funding and the general harassment of artists by the Texas Legislature) have led Rude Mechs to the only rational plan for future fiscal solvency—in 2014, Rude Mechs will begin transitioning from the performing arts and make its way into the Healthcare Insurance Marketplace.   Please take a few minutes to compare Rude Mechs Premium Health Care Plan™ to the Government Mandated Plans, and plans previously available from Private Insurers.

Is your health insurance provider funny?   PRIVATE INSURERS No. When my baby got stuck in the birth canal and my wife had to go for an emergency C-section they charged us for two births!!!  A vaginal birth and the c-section. Seriously. It’s like they literally want to kick you when you are down.  GOVERNMENT It is funny how badly they screwed up the roll out of the ACA, but not “haha” funny. More like gallows humor. I’m still sick and now I’m also confused.  I’m lost.  I’m depressed and did I mention I’m still sick?  RUDE MECHS Frequently funny and often intentionally so (at least 53% of the time), whether adding curse words to Shakespeare, mocking Ayn Rand, or asking actors to perform the blocking of Streetcar in and among swinging pendulums of death, Rude Mechs usually finds a way to make people laugh. LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE: CHOOSE RUDE HEALTH  Pay your deductible for cheap laughs HERE. Does your health care provider care about your mental health?   PRIVATE INSURERS Let me put it to you this way: They’ll pay for Cialis but not on-going counseling. Seriously, the reason I need counseling is because I keep getting screwed.  Private Insurance plans have never cared about mental health. GOVERNMENT Are you kidding?  They’re the ones making me crazy right now. You sign on to the website and click about 1,000 buttons and then when you submit it, a screen comes up telling you the site is currently down, try again later.  When later? They don’t say.  So you wait 24 hours, do it again, and then the same message.  I can’t wait to see what they say when I finally get thru…  RUDE MECHS Rude Mechs create several group therapy sessions a year in the form of talkbacks, parties, and annual charity balls.  And consider this: What is theatre but a safe place for people who like to believe they have several other personalities to gather together and get off the street. We’re like a modern nuthouse serving Austin since 1996.  THE BRAIN IS PART OF THE BODY: CHOOSE RUDE HEALTH Pay your deductible for peace of mind HERE. Is your coverage good nationally?   PRIVATE INSURERS I have a friend who broke her arm in Hawaii and the doctors there recommended she get on a plane and fly back to Texas because the insurance penalties she would pay for breaking her arm in Hawaii were so much more painful than flying with a broken wrist.   GOVERNMENT This is what they said when I finally got thru: “Based on the information you provided, the new federal health care law provides that you could be eligible for free or low cost health care through Medicaid. However, the state of TX has chosen not to offer you this new health care coverage at this time.” RUDE MECHS You can catch STOP HITTING YOURSELF at Lincoln Center in NYC in Jan. and Feb.  You can see workshops of NOW NOW OH NOW in North Carolina in 2014. And we’re not abandoning you, Texas, in summer of 2014, on the one-year anniversary, we’ll be recreating Wendy Davis’ filibuster, honest to God, in a show we’re calling SB5.  COVERING THE USA: CHOOSE RUDE HEALTH You're covered! If you pay your deductible HERE. For the low introductory cost of ‘whatever you can afford,’ we will send you a personal get well card as a way of saying THANKS for making RUDE MECHS the healthiest theatre collective in the history of the USA. 18 years and going strong! WE THANK YOU. AUDIENCES EVERYWHERE THANK YOU. www.rudemechs.com Pay your deductible HERE :)

Fixing King John Opens November 7th!

FIXING KING JOHN 

Shakespeare wrote it, Rude Mechs fixed it.

November 7 - 24, 2013 at The Off Center
Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8:00 p.m. | Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. | Monday Nov 18 at 8:00 p.m.

Tickets: $25.00 General Admission (GET TICKETS HERE)
Thursdays 8pm and Sundays 2pm: 2-for-1 tickets available with discount code "halfrude"


Join us on Sunday, November 24th after the 2pm show for the closing Party with the Rudes
$35.00 entry pays artist fees. More info soon (but there will be snacks and booze and people!)

About The Play

Fixing King John tells the story of one of history's shittiest kings, so self-obsessed with his own legacy that he drives his country to war, is willing to kill women and children, and rejects the authority of God and church. But even within King John there is a drop of sweet honey. Will he find a way to redeem his rule before his kingdom collapses? You can't go wrong trying to find out. Whether you know Shakespeare's King John backwards and forwards, or simply want to see the best contemporary drama, attending Fixing King John will fix everything that's wrong in your life.

The ridiculously talented ensemble features Lowell Bartholomee, Florinda Bryant, Jay Byrd, Barbara Chisholm, Robert Faires, Robert S. Fisher, Tom Green, E. Jason Liebrecht, Jeffrey Mills, and Adriene Mishler, with design by Stephen Pruitt and Olivia Warner, and original music from Peter Stopschinski.

About our Fixing Shakespeare Series

Taking place in rotation with our Contemporary Classics series, our new series, Fixing Shakespeare will make William Shakespeare's least produced works useful again. Ask yourself how many Shakespeare plays you know or have seen, subtract that number from thirty-seven (depending on who you ask), and those are the plays we are working to fix using our patented performance creation methodology, contemporary English, and adding curse words. (Shakespeare cursed plenty, but most Elizabethan curse words have lost their spice. Zounds!)

In some ways, we're offering you a more authentic experience of what a new Shakespeare play might be like than an actual Shakespeare play. In other ways, not so much.

Application Open for UT Student Internships

Rude Mechs is proud to serve as the Resident Theatre Company for the University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance. For more information about UT's Theatre and Dance Department, visit jointhedrama.org.

From now through the 2014/15 scholastic year, Rude Mechs will serve as the Resident Theatre Company. Through this innovative partnership of a renowned Tier 1 research university and Rude Mechs, a generation of new undergraduate and graduate students will gain a unique perspective on collectively devising new plays and managing a mid-size theatre.

The fall internship begins September 15th and the application is available here.

If you aren't familiar with our company, please take a few minutes to browse our website - look at our mission, our past productions, our programming. www.rudemechs.com

Our goal is to provide you with opportunities to either work or observe work in your area of interest, should your interest align with our schedule and projects this semester.  We will not ask you to perform volunteer duties that do not build your desired skill set. (For example, if you are interested in learning arts administration, we will not ask you to perform in our next play for free, but we might ask you to help archive our marketing materials or create a production budget.)

It is our expectation that you will commit 48 hours (approximately 4 hours per week) to Rude Mechs to complete your internship during the semester. Your internship will span roughly 12 weeks beginning September 15 ^th and end December 15 ^th , 2013. We will never ask you for more than 10 hours in a given week. 

Please know that we also accept internships from students around the country, so feel free to use this application to let us know you are interested in spending some time down here with us.

You're Invited to The Pearl Dive at The Plant - Join us!

When: Sunday, September 29th, 4pm to 7:30pm  Where: The Plant at Kyle, directions upon purchase confirmation Event Tickets: $100 per person at http://rudemechs.com Raffle Tickets: $75 for 2 chances, $50 for 1 chance at http://rudemechs.com Austin's innovative and wildly generous food community is preparing a seafood feast at The Plant at Kyle, our favorite dramatic architectural landmark in Kyle, TX.  Curated by business partners Roberto San Miguel and Shane Stark (Executive Chef of Kenichi) of the up-and-coming Mongers Fish House, the event will feature Austin chefs preparing an unforgettable seafood feast procured from the Gulf. Chefs Brandon Fuller of Café Josie, Paul Hargrove of East Side Showroom, W Hotel and the forthcoming Pleasant Storage Room, Jason Stude of 2nd Kitchen + Grill, Alex Jackson and Josh Jones of Salt & Time, and Ruston Richardson of Paggi House will present a menu including oysters every way, grilled and boiled shrimp, fresh fish, and farmers market-inspired side salads.  Composer Graham Reynolds will deejay while you relax in the hill country shade and partake of the region's finest food, perfect drink pairings, and succulent desserts in the perfect company of Austin's avid arts lovers. And, as if that weren't enough, we are thrilled to have Golden Hornet Project's Peter Stopschinski and Graham Reynolds on site to share a short, sweet sample from their upcoming Requiem project, premiering Spring 2014. Enter raffle for 2 Nights at The Plant at Kyle! Entry in the raffle is your chance to win a two-night stay at The Plant - an AIA award-winning architectural landmark incorporating parts of the former Alamo Cement Plant. Designed by Lake|Flato, this unique structure is nestled in a hill-country setting ~40 minutes drive from downtown Austin. To learn more about this beautiful site, go to their website. Only residents of Texas may participate in this raffle. Winner will be drawn at random at the event. You do not need to be present to win. Major holidays and other blackout dates apply. Retail value of prize is over $1,200.