So, We Hung Out with Some Pigs

We can't thank Ari and Dean and all the amazing artists in residence at The Orchard Project for hosting us yet a third time. 

The first time we were there, we left with The Method Gun in our pockets, which is how we ended up with those wigs. Our second trip out, we walked away with a full third of I've Never Been So Happy drafted.

And this last time, we spent our week in heaven sharing best practices, training/working methods, and creating tiny pieces with Pig Iron Theatre Company. And had the unbelievable pleasure of getting to play several rounds of bananagrams and celebrity with the unbelievably cool Lisa Peterson (she killz at charades, yo), and all the co-co's, but especially our assigned co-co's Yichao and Abby - so game, and hometown girls Alexis and Katie.

We are looking forward to much more hanging out with the lovely pigs of Pig Iron.

Get it. Some Pigs...

 

Dan and Jeff are missing from these photos. That is wrong. 

Here's are pictures I found of them.

Give the Gift of RUDEness! Oyster Club on the Half Shell is Here!

IN BRIEF:

• Looking for a gift for the person who has everything? Oyster Club on the Half Shell is the answer!
  
• Our own Kirk Lynn was awarded a USA Artist Fellowship.
  
• Method Gun gets Best of 2011 in New York Magazine.
  
• More Rude shows on tour! Dionysus in '69 at Princeton in December and The Method Gun heads Down Under in February.
  
• Keep an eye out for the workshop production of our NEXT NEW PLAY in January/February.

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Give an awesome gift that supports the arts!

Looking for a gift for the person who has everything? Something that supports the arts in Austin AND provides you with something special to give? Or maybe you just need the promise of something special in the new year?

Click here to find your answer: A half-season membership to the Oyster Club!

Purchase a half-season membership and attend the remaining four Oyster Club gatherings this season:

January 15th - Behind the scenes tour at the new studios of locally-based internationally-acclaimed artist collective OK Mountain. Wash it all down with award-winning Balcones Whiskey and other edible treats.
February 9th - Rude Mechs' own Kirk Lynn and his beloved partner, National Poetry Award Winner, Carrie Fountain, kick off an open mic for love poems and songs in a unique private home. Austin KOOP radio DJ's will move you with their favorite love songs while you succumb with our intoxicating Love Potion. And yes, there will be cupcakes.
March - Award-winning Austin filmmaker PJ Raval curates a night at the movies. Buttered popcorn will pale in comparison to the treats we will serve!
April - A special night at the wildly popular Fusebox Festival for Oyster Club members. Reception to accompany the event with artful food and drink curated by Edible Austin. (not included: ticket to the performance)

What is the Oyster Club? Meeting once in every month whose name contains an "r" (September-April), the Oyster Club is a way to find pearls of art, architecture, music, film, food, and performance in the oceans of culture in Austin and Central Texas. Rude Mechs will lead this off-beat culture club to backstage access, private tours, secret after-parties, and once-in-a-lifetime spectacles. The Oyster Club will keep you active without making you busy. 

Dionysus in '69 and The Method Gun on tour

After knocking the socks (and shirts, and pants, and many undergarments) off of Austin audiences in late 2009, Rude Mechs' faithful re-enactment of The Performance Group's legendary Dionysus in '69 is headed back east for two performances at Princeton's Lewis Center on December 9th and 10th. The performances will be presented in conjunction with a 2-day Performance Studies Symposium that is free and open to the public.

So we hit nearly every corner of the US with The Method Gun in 2011, and ya know, we're just plain b-o-r-e-d with the Nothern Hemisphere. What's a restless theatre company to do? Head Down Under, of course. February 22 - 26, Rude Mechs will make their first foray into Australia with a week long run of The Method Gun at Brisbane Powerhouse's World Performance Festival. We're trying to act all cool and shit, but we're pretty freakin' excited.

The Method Gun at Dance Theater Workshop

Right, so we finished up our perfect week at  Yale Rep's - No Boundaries festival and landed our tails in NYC that Sunday with a van full  of Method Gun set, props, costumes.

Monday morning we loaded that puppy in to Dance Theater Workshop, and thanks to no light hang, a crack crew, and volunteers  Michael, Megan, and Zach, we did it in record time. Tuesday, our sweet friend D. tuned the room. And Wednesday, well, Wednesday, we did tech/dress and our first photo line-up ever, ate a little food... and then we had what we can only describe as the most perfect opening night possible - and it was press night, so we were more than a little freaked out.

We papered the house with many friends and friendlies, gave as relaxed a performance as we could under the circumstances, and were lucky enough to have a warm, generous, and supportive full house. Thursday, Friday and Saturday went pretty much the same - loving audiences and good times at the bar afterwards. Lowell with Brittany, Tina, Meredith, and Max hit new highs in tech supremacy - they ran a tight tight show, and made everyone's jobs a pleasure. Major props and thanks to Vincent, Mike and Chloe. And of course to Carla! Next time we will hang out!!

Most gratifying, though, was the support we received from our buds in NYC, and the really beautiful emails and notes - thank you all so so so much for coming out and spending time with us and making us feel so at home there.

Here's the review call - it's overall pretty dang nice. There is one shite review from legit source - New York Post - man, we pissed her off ("But overall, this "Method Gun" shoots a blank."). And a couple of shite reviews from non-legit sources, like theatremania and some california lit magazine thingie, so if you're LA press, feel free to copy the good ones listed below when we get there. Or if you want to copy a bad one, at least lay off the Boston Globe review - he gets a lot of shit wrong and you just look stupid when you ape him. I'm talking to you, theatremania.

"I was left breathless... Who knew experimental theater could be both daring and sentimental all at once?" Jerry Portwood, New York Press

"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

"The Method Gun: Our own Helen Shaw raves about the Rude Mechs' "intensely funny, abruptly touching" play in her review in this week's issue, and having seen the show last night, I couldn't agree more. This is a special piece of work that will leave you thinking about theater, people, theater people, teachers, students, nostalgia, kisses, perfection, balloons and tigers. As of this writing, a few tickets remain to the show's last three performances at Dance Theater Workshop, tonight at 7:30pm and 10:30pm and tomorrow at 7:30pm. Buy them." - Upstaged Blog Post - Time Out New York  

"This weekend sees the closing of several of my favorite shows, so this edition of Critic's Picks is less a case of "run, don't walk" than a "stand in line, don't take no for an answer" set of recommendations." - Critics' Picks - Time Out New York

"All I can say is get tickets to this show. It is not to be missed." - Jeremy M. Barker,  Culturebot

"...a fiendish piece of post-ideological work. And like any great piece of theater — or theory — it lies shamelessly to tell the truth." - Scott Brown,  New York Magazine Critics Pick

"...a tender, smart play." – Jason Fitzgerald, Backstage Review  

"Leave it to the Rude Mechs to take a topic that would seem to only speak to insider (aka theater insiders), and make it not only fabulously funny, but also universal. " - Amanda Cooper, Curtain Up

"Coming off the 2010 Humana Festival (and no doubt on its way to a theater near you), "The Method Gun" is a choice example of Rude Mechs' satirical wit and inventive performance style." - 

Variety Review

"It’s nice to finally see a company from Texas that I’ve been hearing and reading about for years, and to find that they’re as good as the advance word suggested." -  New Haven Advocate Review

"The Method Gun is funny, bleak, satirical and serious in equal parts, so well-balanced and timed that you trust it implicitly and just follow along without questioning its intentions. " - New Haven Advocate Review

And last but not least... the fun one

New York Times Review - Jason Zinoman - Yeah - we're told this is a nice review "for The Times". The only real reason to share this slap/tickle paragraph is to let us all stare slack-jawed at The Times for being so freaking lazy, and sexist.

Zinoman writes: "But despite the sophomoric moments the performers win you over with sincerity and even showmanship. Lana Lesley spins mundane moments with a delightful quirk. And the director, Shawn Sides, lanky and swaggering, doubles as a performer whose persona might be called Indie Rock Brando. He stages a lovely montage sequence, including swinging industrial lights, that gives the piece an elegant finish."

This is the correction after we alerted NYT to the fact that Shawn is, in fact, a woman.

"But despite the sophomoric moments the performers win you over with sincerity and even showmanship. Lana Lesley spins mundane moments with a delightful quirk. The actor Jason Liebrecht, lanky and swaggering, has a persona that might be called Indie Rock Brando. Shawn Sides stages a lovely montage sequence, including swinging industrial lights, that gives the piece an elegant finish."

Rude Mechs Feature in The New York Times

Many Methods to Collaborative Madness

Alan Simons

From left, Hannah Kenah, rear; Lana Lesley; Jason Liebrecht; and Thomas Graves of Rude Mechs perform “The Method Gun.”

By JOAN ANDERMAN

Published: February 22, 2011

IT began, as actors’ stories often do, with a guru. Her name was Stella Burden, a k a “the other Stella.” Ms. Burden created a risky suite of training exercises called the Approach, attracted a fervent band of followers and abandoned them nine years into rehearsals for a high-concept production of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” to be performed without Stanley, Blanche, Stella or Mitch.

Alan Simons

Shawn Sides, left, one of the Rude Mechs’ co-producing artistic directors, in “The Method Gun” with Jason Liebrecht, center, and Thomas Graves, another one of the ensemble’s “co-pads.”

What in the name of madcap Method acting is a company member to do?

That’s the absurdly literal and keenly figurative question at the heart of “The Method Gun,” a play about the creative process by the Austin, Tex., ensemble Rude Mechs, which since it was founded in 1995 has become one of the nation’s leading proponents of devised theater: works developed collaboratively by a company rather than an individual playwright.

“The Method Gun,” which comes to Dance Theater Workshop from March 2 to 11, is the most autobiographical of the company’s pieces. It’s satirical and celebratory in roughly equal parts, exploring ideas of togetherness and loss, the dynamics of being part of a tight-knit group and what it means to take care of one another.

While the show’s premise nods to celebrated acting teachers like Stella Adler and to extreme, emotion-based techniques like the Method, specifics are left aside in favor of merciless riffs on codified approaches to art. But the Rude Mechs’ wicked sense of humor tempers a sincere streak that the company wears like a badge of honor.

“Humor leavens the cringe-worthy part of being totally earnest,” said Kirk Lynn, who wrote the script. “It makes a little space for us to speak our desires or, God forbid, our message.”

Themes of community bubble up in many of the Rude Mechs’ shows, including the current work in progress, a musical exploration of the American West called “I’ve Never Been So Happy.” It is a big moment for the company, which received one of only five inaugural grants from the National Endowment for the Arts’ New Play Development Program.

Last month the company presented a concert staging of “I’ve Never Been So Happy” at Arena Stage, in Washington, which is administering the Endowment program. “One of the things that’s so disarming about them is how much they are themselves,” said the Arena Stage associate artistic director David Dower of the members of Rude Mechs. “It’s challenging, not so much for them but for East Coast audiences, which are much more used to irony.”

The company’s unstructured methods place it alongside the New York contemporaries Radiohole, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, and National Theater of the United States of America. Six of the Rude Mechs’ seven founding co-producing artistic directors , or co-pads, shared (or, as they put it, survived) a common guru in the late 1980s and early 90s. The University of Texas professor emeritus James Ayres ran the school’s demanding and rigorously communal Shakespeare at Winedale course, a nine-week play-performance program 75 miles from Austin.

“I’m not going to say that Winedale is a cult,” said Shawn Sides, who directed “The Method Gun.” “But we were isolated, there was sleep deprivation and a charismatic leader.”

The Rude Mechs’ 1996 debut was staged with cardboard sets and clip lamps in a rented hall. Three years later they landed the lease on 10,000 square feet of cinderblock and tin in east Austin, dubbed it the Off Center and christened the space with an unlikely adaptation: “Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century,” based on rock journalist Greil Marcus‘s mind-bending, plot-free ode to fringe cultural movements. It toured internationally, and blew Mr. Marcus away.

“There was an energy, a flair, a looseness, a daring in their play that I felt I was always reaching for,” Mr. Marcus said in an interview. “For me their production was the completion of the book.”
“The Method Gun” was the Rude Mechs’ first play to receive significant development support, including grants from the Creative Capital Foundation and the MAP Fund. It was hatched at the Orchard Project, a theater retreat in the Catskills where company members began to build the Stella Burden myth and formulate the fictional Approach. In one series of workshops members masterminded their own training methods and put their colleagues through the paces. It was intense.

“At some point one of us just sort of had a tantrum and screamed and got up and left the room,” Ms. Sides recalled. ”We were all pretty sure it was a put-on, but we were 20 percent worried that she was going to quit the company.“

It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. “The collective remains tenuous,” Mr. Lynn said.
The idea for “The Method Gun” stretches back to 2005, when after receiving numerous invitations to teach master classes on the company’s process the co-pads realized they didn’t have a process. Soul searching ensued around notions of structure, self-transformation and what on earth it is that actors do. “I feel like this show is, in a lot of ways, as silly as some of the moments are, pretty naked,” Ms. Sides said. (In one scene some of the actors are thoroughly naked, if you don’t count the balloons tied to the men’s penises.)

Because the Rude Mechs operate as a consensus democracy, with forays into a sort of ardent autocracy, there is no hierarchy, no decider. A reporter is instructed to e-mail the co-pads en masse; a response from one is accompanied by an invitation to the others to confirm or deny. Asked to explain how they make choices, one of the co-pads, Lana Lesley, said, “Sometimes there’s a particular person who’s particularly passionate about a particular thing.”

That’s an arduous way to create, and a rarity, even in experimental theater.

“It’s very, very tricky,” said Anne Bogart, the artistic director of the SITI company in New York and, as co-developer of another performance-training technique, called Viewpoints, something of an expert. Rude Mechs has close ties with SITI, having trained and worked with that company over the years.
“My company is very collaborative, but there has to be, I think, a leader,” said Ms. Bogart. ”Somebody has to say, ‘We’re going over here.’ What Rude Mechs manage to do is nothing short of remarkable.”
The secret to the Rude Mechs’ success? Amnesia. “Putting on a play is hell. But once we get the production up, we forget about how hard it was on all of us to do it and how hard we were on each other,” Ms. Lesley said.

The payoff erases the memory of pain, a version of transcendence that “The Method Gun” captures in its penultimate scene.

Think of Indiana Jones dodging boulders and knives. Onstage. While performing a classic.

A version of this article appeared in print on February 27, 2011, on page AR4 of the New York edition.

Rude Mechs Time at Humana Festival

QUICK RECAP

Ooohh - it was a good and busy few weeks for Rude Mechs and now we are up and running at Humana! We have been blown away by the unbelievably generous volunteers got us set up in our apartments, our most excellent production team that has generously fulfilled every production desire we've had. Thank you, Dot & Cyndil and all the volunteers!!! Thank you Adrien-Alice, Zach and Zach, Rachel, Marissa, Kathleen, Alexis, Rob, Paul, Gretchen, Philip - seriously the list just goes on and on and every single person has just been amazingly cool and awesome at what they do. And thank you, Marc, and Sean and Jennifer, for inviting us here and making us feel so at home.

We spent the first three weeks in rehearsal six days a week / 8 hours a day. The phenom for us is to have this kind of time to work on a play with a script in hand. Ultimately it means we can go with the 5th or 6th idea instead of the 1st or 2nd. Luxury! True to form, we reworked every moment - tightening, loosening, replacing scenes wholesale. It is said to be 10% sadder. And we ratcheted up the final performance of the Burden Company. You'll have to see it to find out how.

We performed 16 shows in 12 days! We had houses full of industry professionals and press, and also plenty plenty of Louisville locals and ATL subscribers. We enjoyed really nice houses, about 6 walkouts, and very generous audiences. Every second we had just a crazy amount of fun.

Big giant love to Mark & Dana, Stephanie & Michael, and Vicky Boone and Mari Marchbanks for coming to town and supporting us. That meant the world. We are also in love with Thomas' parents and Hannah's parents. We were fed and loved and doted on as if we were all their own.

The first performance week ended with Live Band Karaoke night at Freddie's which was ASTOUNDINGLY FUN. Our hometown boy Michael Raiford killed it with pitch-perfect and super slick rendition of 3 Dog Night's "One", and then took a turn at the drums and again SLAYED. Thank god he was there, because Austin was next represented by Lowell, Lana and Jason delivering "Saved by Zero", without practice... well, Lowell has pictures somewhere.

The second week we were stoked to hang out with Alice Tuan - we don't see her enough. Shanghai is on the horizon, though. We were also overwhelmed by the love from all of the Baylor grad students who came in to see the show. Dang y'all!

The second performance week ended with tears, basically. Nobody wanted to leave. We made really great friends with many of the artists and staff there, and as soon as we actually had time to hang out, it was time to go. Booooooo. We haven't told Ron Berry yet, but we've invited all of them to perform in Fusebox. We hope he has that whole artist housing & transportation thing worked out, cause it's gonna be a madhouse!

GOOD REVIEWS

Well, the press didn't show up in droves this year, unless they were within driving distance. Seriously, ask Faires. Aside from him and somebody from the Wall Street Journal, the rest of the press corps stayed home this year. The New York Times just couldn't spare anyone this year. We're told more reviews will come in, but here's what we've dug up so far.

We got an amazing and awesomely written legit review of The Method Gun from Erin Keane at the Louisville Courier-Journal. This might be our first ever "run, don't walk" review: "If you only have time to see one show between now and March 28, make it The Rude Mechanicals' 'The Method Gun.'" Suhweet.

This just in: a really lovely write up of Humana Festival and thoughts on The Method Gun from our own Robert Faires of The Austin Chronicle. He spent three days there and we spent every free second we had hanging out in the bar with him, sharing stories, and getting blown away by his passion for theatre. Our nights with him definitely count among our top bar nights. We came away sooo grateful that he took the time to come out to the festival, and above all else, that we have a great writer and friend in our corner. He has observed our company since its inception, and has seen damn near all of our plays. So, Robert, thank you - having open friendly and ongoing critical dialogue can only result in better and deeper work, and friendship.

MISSING and MEH REVIEWS

These will be forwarded to me later by the extraordinary ATL staff, but the following blurbs and reviews trickled by while we were there, and then I lost them online.

The Louisville Leo (their weekly)– Rude Mechanicals cultivate a stunning virtuosity that... is essential viewing for anyone interested in theater. Pretty sure this reviewer also used the phrase "cloyingly sentimental" at some point... and "droll." Will post link when found.

Remember seeing The Cincinnati Enquirer and Minneapolis City Pages go by. Think they had meh mentions for us, but I can't find them now. Don't feel like digging them up.

Chicago Sun-Times' Lewis Lazare reviews the festival and blurbs The Method Gun here. "It’s both fascinating and terrifying, in a bizarre sort of way."

RADIO PRESS

Fun spot on BBC's "The Strand" where Aron Posner says we suck, and then says Method Gun is not a play, but rather a "performance event." He was kidding on both counts, of course. We know this because he called us fabulous too.

The local NPR station posted this uncut / unedited interview we did with Elizabeth Kramer for a national NPR story featuring The Method Gun and Fissures about collaborative playmaking. Here is The Method Gun interview for 27 minutes of listening pleasure or pain, depending on your outlook.

And the national NPR story, "Ensemble Theatre at the Humana Festival", aired today, 4/1/10. It's an interview with Rude Mechs and former Jeune Lune members at Humana with their show Fissures.

CITIZEN BLOG REVIEWS

Dan Buck loved it!: On March 26th, the Rude Mechs gave me my first transcendent theatrical experience as an audience member. That's grace. And for that they have my sincerest gratitude.

Bill Felty dug it!: a daring,unexpected, thrill.

Pam Harbaugh dug it!: Especially surprising was the quirky "The Method Gun."

Larry hated it!: Fortunately, these ensemble events almost always are short. Unfortunately, they never have intermissions. So, a word to the wise: unless you are the sort of theatergoer who actually likes this kind of theatre, be sure to ask for a seat near the exit door, so you can ditch unobtrusively. [Side note - think he ran out as soon as helium balloon moment happened.]

Sherry Deatrick: seemed to like it but maybe didn't see the ending? Or at least she didn't buy it: The show lures us with talk of Burden's “dangerous” theatre method. But in the end, the company never confronts that danger, or does so only in a superficial manner.

We're fairly certain this was the woman who hopped up and ran backstage (yes, backstage, not out of the theater) about two seconds before pendulum started, then panicked and tried to climb up a ladder to the deck Lowell was calling cues from, then scrambled down the ladder and further backstage and almost went out a fire door exit to the roof before our back stage manager, Zach, grabbed her and put her in the parking garage. She had to pee, she said.

IN CLOSING
Production photos by Alan Simmons

What Is Going On with the Rudes?

Well -
We are currently in the "center center" freezing our asses off rehearsing The Method Gun for Humana Festival. We leave for Louisville on the 19th of Feb and don't get back until March 29th, so things will be quiet for a while on the Rude front - we will try to post our way through the festival. But before we go, the entire cast is heading INNU Salon to get our hair did, and we couldn't be more grateful! INNU has been quietly cutting and styling Rude heads for our shows for years and years. We hope you will show your appreciation to them for their ongoing support of Rude Mechs. We guarantee you will love your hairs!

What else...

We are still renovating The Off Shoot, and we still need money for that, so if you have an extra $10K, don't be shy! The Off Shoot is a classroom dedicated to our program Grrl Action. If you want to swing by and check out the progress, we'd love to show you around. Just email grrlaction@rudemechs.com to set up a time.


Also - Kirk will miss our first weekend in Louisville hanging out at Arena Stage for the Devised Work Convening. He'll be in conversation with our beloved Barney O'Hanlon of SITI Co. (you will remember him from our show Match-Play) and Geoff Sobelle (Rainpan 43). You can watch it live on Saturday, February 20th at 7pm central on livestream.com.


Now through April at The Off Center
The Oyster Club is still going strong. This weekend, members are invited to Casa Neverlandia to hang out with Allison Orr of Forklift Danceworks because they are opening their new dance, Project Forklift!, at The Off Center, tonight! For tickets visit: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/94830.

After Forklift, keep your eye on The Off Center calendar for shows from Chaotic Theater, Steven Tomlinson, Ricki Vincent, Allan Baker. We will be hosting Fusebox Festival again this year, so make sure we see you there!

The Method Gun Fires Off to 2010 Humana Festival of New American Plays

Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > November > 18 > Entry

‘The Method Gun’ heads to Humana Festival

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin | Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 11:42 AM

The Rude Mechanicals are getting ready to hit the road to the prestigious Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

For 34 years, the best of new American theater has been showcased at the Humana Festival. And the Rudes will take their wonderous ‘The Method Gun’ to ATL’s Victor Jory Theatre for a run March 16-28, 2010.

A valentine to the process of art-making, ‘The Method Gun’ impressed when it opened the Long Center’s Rollins Studio Theatre in 2008.

Then last season, the Rudes’ offered a slightly re-tweaked version at the Off Center. And as I said then, ‘The Method Gun’ ranks as one of the best productions to grace the Austin theater scene in the past few years.

See a slide show of the production here.

The Rudes next production, ‘Dionysus in ‘69’ opens Dec. 3.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment

I've Never Been So Happy is chugging along

G'bye Again Method Gun

We're sad to see The Method Gun go. Everyone that worked on it kicked serious tail and it was a total thrill to have it running during Fusebox Festival. We can't wait to take it on the road next Spring!



H'lo Again I've Never Been So Happy
First - We were featured in Stage Directions Magazine and they recorded the interview - Lana, Peter, Kirk and Thomas talking for at least 40 minutes about the making of I've Never Been So Happy. Here's a podcast of our interview.

Right now we are gearing up to do some more work on I've Never Been So Happy. We're taking a new approach and only developing this piece as money becomes available. Usually we set a premiere deadline and then produce it come hell or high water - which usually means we lose money or that we premiere a show that will need more work later. This time we are spending only what we have and stopping development in its tracks until more money becomes available. We would love a commission.

In the meantime, we are very proud to receive development support from two new sources: The University of Texas New Musical Theatre Initiative has requested a two-week development workshop on the piece to be done on their students. We will spend June 1 - 12th collaborating with the UT cast to create new scenes and music and projection ideas. On the 13th, we'll present a very casual showing of what we accomplished during the two week workshop.

The very next day, Peter, Lana, Kirk and Thomas will fly off to The Orchard Project (Hunter, NY) to continue dreaming on the production and to figure out what we'd like to present in September '09 with our last chunk of change. We are looking forward to decompressing from the UT workshop, hanging out with The Team (NYC) and perhaps finding some answers about this piece.

SAVE THESE SUMMER DATES!
July 25th & 26th - Grrl Action Summer Performances (FREE!)
August 22nd - The Sci f-Eye Ball - that's right.

Tiger Interview #5 - The Method Gun

The Stranger Reviews The Method Gun

Sodom in Austin

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 1:05 PM

Best in show at the Festival so far: the Rude Mechs—another Austin company—with The Method Gun, an awesomely tragic and occasionally goofy show about a 1970s acting guru named Stella Burden. She disappeared, but her company soldiered on, rehearsing their experimental production of A Streetcar Named Desire for nine years: a production of Streetcar

without the characters Stanley, Blanche, Stella, or Mitch. Just everyone else.

Theater about theater, like writing about writing, is usually a solipsistic disaster. I assumed The Method Gun would be a chore.

I've never been more wrong. (Again.)

Plus, it stars this tiger.

Somebody had better bring this show to Seattle.

The Method Gun - You have this weekend and next, then it's gone forever!

THE METHOD GUN
ONLY 7 SHOWS LEFT!
Get your tickets here and now.
The best way to support the arts is to see the shows!

"...make your way out to the Off Center and get ready to have your mind blown." – Ryan E. Johnson, austin.com 2009

"The Rudes craft compelling theater... 'The Method Gun' packs more intensity and more poignancy... And the Rudes' tweaks have made it much more intimate and immediate... And the final scene... emerges as one of the most polished, gorgeous, breathtaking and riveting moments on an Austin stage. To this critic, 'The Method Gun' still ranks as one of the best productions to grace the Austin stage." – Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin-American Statesman 2009

"...a powerful piece of work." Dan Solomon, austinist.com 2009

“The ‘final performance’ of Burden’s Streetcar features a characteristically Rude-ish blend of physicality and audaciousness... so precisely timed, so crisply executed... almost hypnotic.” — Austin Chronicle 2008

"Top 10 Theatrical Treasures and Pleasures of 2008" — Austin Chronicle

"In the arts, the Eight from '08" — Austin American-Statesman

..and if you don't believe the hype, just listen to TIGER in his/her 4th interview!!

Tiger Interview #4 - The Method Gun

Rude News - Statesman Reviews Method Gun; Tenebrism this weekend; Grrl Wrap next week!

IN THIS ISSUE

1. TIGER says: The Method Gun is up, running and brilliant! Keep reading to see what The Statesman has to say in their review. Buy your tickets here and now!

2. Tenebrism by Minneapolis phenoms Lamb Lays with Lion runs THIS Thursday - Sunday after The Method Gun.

3. Grrl WRAP - It's a festival and the Opening Reception is this Saturday @ 2pm at Willow Arts. Support Grrls!

THE METHOD GUN

Now through May 2, 2009 (Thursday - Sunday at 8pm)
"The Rudes craft compelling theater... 'The Method Gun' packs more intensity and more poignancy... And the Rudes' tweaks have made it much more intimate and immediate... And the final scene... emerges as one of the most polished, gorgeous, breathtaking and riveting moments on an Austin stage. To this critic, 'The Method Gun' still ranks as one of the best productions to grace the Austin stage."

– Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin-American Statesman 2009

Keep reading to see what all the ...'s are about!

Tickets: Online Reservations: http://www.rudemechs.com.
Phone Reservations through Brown Paper Tickets: 1-800-838-3006.

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

Ticket Prices: Friday & Saturday: Sliding Scale $12 - $25; Thursday & Sunday: Pay-What-You-Can
Fusebox Festival passes will be accepted on a limited basis.

The Method Gun has received support from Creative Capital Foundation, Rockefeller MAP Fund, The Orchard Project,
The National Endowment for the Arts, The Humanities Institute and The Harry Ransom Center.
Rude Mechs is supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division.

Photo by Bret Brookshire

tenebrism

Rude Mechs is crazy proud to present the work of Minneapolis-based theatre company Lamb Lays with Lion with their original performance, Tenebrism. Tenebrism is the first experiment in the Theatre of Disruption. Performed in an intentionally fragile atmosphere, Lamb Lays with Lion blurs the line of performance and reality by sharing its failure with the audience. Tenebrism is inspired by the religious imagery of Renaissance painter Caravaggio, Martin Scorsese’s "The Last Temptation of Christ," and legendary rock star Ian Curtis and his iconic post-punk band, Joy Division.

The host, Jeremey, promises the audience a show about Jesus, Joy Division, and Caravaggio. However, as Tenebrism unfolds, it becomes clear that the real performance is in witnessing just how hard it is for Jeremey and his assistant, Jayne, to get the show to “go on” at all. Tenebrism is the result of Lamb Lays with Lion’s “Theatre of Disruption” approach to creating ensemble performance. Tenebrism is performed by Lamb Lays with Lion founding-members, Jeremey Catterton and Jayne Deis. Tenebrism promises to be an unforgettable evening of entertainment.

When: April 16 - 19, 2009 (Thursday - Sunday at 10:30 PM - after Rude Mechs' The Method Gun) Latecomers very welcome!!

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

Tickets: Tickets are sold only at the Box Office each performance night beginning at 9:30 PM. No reservations accepted.

Ticket Prices:
CASH ONLY!!! Sliding Scale $5 - $25

GRRL WRAP

a festival of art projects by the participants of Grrl Action's 2008/2009 class



GRRL WRAP FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:

Grrl Wrap Opening Reception
Saturday, April 18, 2 - 4 pm
featuring photography by Shelby, collage by Isaura, costumes by Monique, ceramics by Emelia
Willow Arts, 1617 Willow St., Austin, TX 78702

Cafe Grrl
Tuesday, April 21, 7 - 9 pm viewing, 8 pm poetry reading
featuring illustrations by Lola and costumed poetry by Geneva
Cafe Mundi
1704 E. 5th St. #100, Austin, TX 78702

Grrl Salon
Wednesday, April 22, 7 pm
featuring a documentary by Isaura and a performance by Trey
ISESE Gallery at The Warfield Center on the UT campus (Jester Center A232A)
201 E. 21st St., Austin, TX 78705

Grrl Finale
Saturday, April 25, 2 pm
performances by Anna, Bryanna and Christina featuring all the grrls
The Off Center. 2211-A Hidalgo St., Austin, TX 78702

Tickets: Admission to the performances is FREE. Donations welcome!

Statesman Review: The Method Gun

Review: ‘The Method Gun’

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin | Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 02:14 PM

The Rude Mechs can’t help themselves. They have to tweak whatever they do every time they do it.

And with ‘The Method Gun’ — the theater collective’s much-heralded play from last season — the tweaks, and the Rudes, are alright.

Better than alright actually. To this critic, ‘The Method Gun’ still ranks as one of the best productions to grace the Austin theater scene in the past few years.

I said as much last year when I reviewed the show’s premiere, one of the many productions that helped open up the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

But now the Rudes are back home at the Off-Center, their East Austin warehouse performance space. And now ‘The Method Gun’ packs more intensity and more poignancy. In the Long Center’s Rollins Studio Theater, the show featured plenty of visual — and theatrical — volume. Now, in the much more intimate Off-Center, there’s no escaping the intense emotional and ultimately endearing ride. And the Rudes’ tweaks have made it much more intimate and immediate.

Of course, the sweet absurdity is still there. What’s not absurd about a group of actors still following an illusory acting guru named Stella Burden long after she has disappeared. So fixated with Burden’s acting technique — the method known as ‘The Method Gun’ — this group can’t let their guru go. Burden’s biggest challenge to her troupe? Present a production of Tennessee Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ performed without any of the principal characters.

Isn’t that an impossibility?

But, oh, does the troupe — superbly acted by Thomas Graves, Heather Hannah, Jude Hickey, Hannah Kenah and Lana Lesley — try hard to make it work. They put themselves through humiliating exercises, frustrate themselves with acting challenges and otherwise unravel their emotions. They fight each other, they kiss each other, they scream at one another. They fumble with out-dated audio-visual equipment, plunk out tunes on a piano and consult a miniature tiger figurine that Stella Burden held dear.

Played in a series of quick-fire almost hallucinatory scenes that ricochet around in time, the play (the script was written by Kirk Lynn) seemingly in brilliant manner builds and unravels at the same time.

And the final scene — Stella Burden’s principal-less ‘Streetcar’ — emerges as one of the most polished, gorgeous, breathtaking and riveting moments on an Austin stage.

The Rudes Mechs plan to take ‘The Method Gun’ to New York’s P.S. 122 next year. Let’s hope the folks realize what we already know: The Rudes craft compelling theater.

‘The Method Gun’ continues 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through May 2 at the Off Center, 2211 Hidalgo St. See www.rudemechs.com for ticket information.

Photo by Bret Brookshire.

Tiger Interview #3 - The Method Gun

Come see The Method Gun at The Off Center!!

Tiger Interview #2 - The Method Gun

Opening this week, April 9th!

RUDE NEWS - A MESSAGE FROM TIGER: TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR THE METHOD GUN!

IN THIS ISSUE

1. Tiger says: The Method Gun opens next week! Click here to purchase tickets!
2. Mark your calendars, Rude Mechs presents Tenebrism by Minneapolis phenoms Lamb Lays with Lion.
3. Absolutely do not miss Grrl WRAP - an arts festival of new works by Grrl Action year-round participants.
4. Big love to our 2008/2009 Season Sponsors! And if you are interested in joining us for 2009/2010, let us know by June 1st!

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SERIOUSLY - NO FOOLIN' - NOW'S THE TIME TO BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR THIS SHOW!!!! Most of you missed it at The Long Center last year (we have ways of knowing these things), and to those of you that did see it last year: it's very much worth another viewing what with the new cast, the new ending, costumes, staging and video... The only thing you can really count on is TIGER!

The Method Gun
created by Rude Mechs
directed by Shawn Sides
written by Kirk Lynn

When: April 9 - May 2, 2009 (Thursday - Sunday at 8pm)
There is no performance on Sunday April 12th.

Tickets: Online Reservations: http://www.rudemechs.com.
Phone Reservations through Brown Paper Tickets: 1-800-838-3006.
Friday April 10th and Saturday April 18th are reserved for a private groups. Should tickets become available for those nights, we will shoot you an email. Tickets are available for all other performances.

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

Ticket Prices: Friday & Saturday: Sliding Scale $12 - $25; Thursday & Sunday: Pay-What-You-Can

Fusebox Festival passes will be accepted on a limited basis.

"The Method Gun... is nothing short of the best work this theater collective has done in its 13 years as it has carved out its well-respected reputation on the international indie theater scene." – Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin-American Statesman

"Top 10 Theatrical Treasures and Pleasures of 2008" - Austin Chronicle

"In the arts, the Eight from '08" - Austin-American Statesman

This original performance explores the life, ethos, and techniques of actor-training guru, Stella Burden, as recounted through the eyes of her students. Ms. Burden’s training technique, The Approach, fused Western acting methods and more dangerous METHODS in an effort to infuse even the smallest of roles with SEX, DEATH and VIOLENCE. We promise: guns, pendulums, “Streetcar,” and physical danger. We make no claims on behalf of narrative, common sense, or safety.

Using found text from the journals and performance reports of Stella Burden’s company, “The Method Gun” re-enacts the final months of her company’s rehearsals for their nine-years-in-the-making production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Stella left the company under mysterious circumstances in 1972, and the actors’ diaries express a sense of desperation, inadequacy, frustration, and confusion universal to performers - and which infuses ‘regular’ life. Set amid swinging pendulums and talking tigers, “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 has received support from Creative Capital Foundation, Rockefeller MAP Fund, The Orchard Project, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Humanities Institute and The Harry Ransom Center. Rude Mechs is supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division.

Photo by Bret Brookshire

Media Sponsor:

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2. TENEBRISM

Rude Mechs is crazy proud to present the work of Minneapolis-based theatre company Lamb Lays with Lion with their original performance, Tenebrism. Tenebrism is the first experiment in the Theatre of Disruption. Performed in an intentionally fragile atmosphere, Lamb Lays with Lion blurs the line of performance and reality by sharing its failure with the audience. Tenebrism is inspired by the religious imagery of Renaissance painter Caravaggio, Martin Scorsese’s "The Last Temptation of Christ," and legendary rock star Ian Curtis and his iconic post-punk band, Joy Division.

The host, Jeremey, promises the audience a show about Jesus, Joy Division, and Caravaggio. However, as Tenebrism unfolds, it becomes clear that the real performance is in witnessing just how hard it is for Jeremey and his assistant, Jayne, to get the show to “go on” at all. Tenebrism is the result of Lamb Lays with Lion’s “Theatre of Disruption” approach to creating ensemble performance. Tenebrism is performed by Lamb Lays with Lion founding-members, Jeremey Catterton and Jayne Deis. Tenebrism promises to be an unforgettable evening of entertainment.

When: April 16 - 19, 2009 (Thursday - Sunday at 10:30 PM - after Rude Mechs' The Method Gun) Latecomers very welcome!!

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

Tickets: Tickets are sold only at the Box Office each performance night beginning at 9:30 PM. No reservations accepted.

Ticket Prices:
CASH ONLY!!! Sliding Scale $5 - $25

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3. GRRL WRAP - a festival of art projects by the participants of Grrl Action's 2008/2009 class

GRRL WRAP FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:

Grrl Wrap Opening Reception
Saturday, April 18, 2 - 4 pm
featuring photography by Shelby, collage by Isaura, costumes by Monique, ceramics by Emelia
Willow Arts, 1617 Willow St., Austin, TX 78702

Cafe Grrl
Tuesday, April 21, 7 - 9 pm viewing, 8 pm poetry reading
featuring illustrations by Lola and costumed poetry by Geneva
Cafe Mundi
1704 E. 5th St. #100, Austin, TX 78702

Grrl Salon
Wednesday, April 22, 7 pm
featuring a documentary by Isaura and a performance by Trey
ISESE Gallery at The Warfield Center on the UT campus (Jester Center A232A)
201 E. 21st St., Austin, TX 78705

Grrl Finale
Saturday, April 25, 2 pm
performances by Anna, Bryanna and Christina featuring all the grrls
The Off Center. 2211-A Hidalgo St., Austin, TX 78702

Tickets: Admission to the performances is FREE. Donations welcome!