Tickets On Sale for Now Now Oh Now!

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Rude Mechs is proud to present the first fully mounted production of NOW NOW OH NOW, previously presented in various workshop versions under the working title “CL1000P.”  Inspired by evolutionary biology, the Brontës, and LARP communities, NOW NOW OH NOW invites you to enter into an interactive puzzle for the stage about the importance and impermanence of selecting for pleasure over survival. A triptych tribute to everyone’s inner geek, NOW NOW OH NOW embodies Rude Mechs’ desire to create a more tangible, social, active, and personal experience for the audience.  The performance marries serious scientific content with the nerdy pleasure of puzzles and gaming and the undeniable satisfaction of Murder Mystery Theatre. This intimate consideration of how our individual choices lead us through life and impact the world takes a locked room puzzle, a lecture on sexual selection in evolutionary biology, and the world's weirdest night of Dungeons and Dragons and weaves them all together to paint a picture of why the things you find beautiful are important to the world.

NOW NOW OH NOW is performed for an intimate audience of only 30 people, so there will be several showings of the performance each night. The audience experience is roaming so we recommend that you wear comfortable shoes and consider leaving big purses and bags at home.

WHEN
May 17 - June 9 | Thursday to Sunday
showtimes vary, visit our website for more information

TICKETS
Thursday and Sunday - Pay Way You Can
Friday and Saturday - $25
For Friday and Saturday, purchase tickets online.
For Thursday and Sunday, reserve online, pay with cash or check only at the door.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
NOW NOW OH NOW is created by Rude Mechs
Concept, Structure, and Content Development by Madge Darlington, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, and Shawn Sides*
Staging by Shawn Sides
Writing by Hannah Kenah
Performers: Robert S. Fisher, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, Lana Lesley, E. Jason Liebrecht, and Shawn Sides

*Rude Mechs creates new works collaboratively, and we believe it is important to acknowledge the work that is done prior to getting the show ready for production. This work begins often with the Co-Producing Artistic Directors finding consensus around a project's concept. That done, a collaborative team refines the concept, develops content, structure and style, and gets the piece on its feet. This collaborative team eventually expands to envelop to the entire production team as the work is created.

This production is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theatre Pilot and The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Rude Mechs is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin's future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.

Rude News - A Few Things to do This Spring, Starting Tonight!

IN BRIEF: This issue is dedicated to telling you we are in rehearsal until May. In the meantime, here are just a few events to keep you busy - our friends are making great art that we hope you will get out and support! WEDNESDAY MARCH 14TH!!! Kirk Lynn to moderate the post-film Q&A at Austin Film Festival's screening of Trip to Bountiful - more below Rubber Repertory presents JUBILEE, their last show in Austin for a while, Jubilee, at The Off Center. You cannot miss this. Rude Mechs is super proud to host Gloria's Cause, by Dayna Hanson (choreographer, I've Never Been So Happy), and presented by Dance Umbrella as part of Fusebox Festival. Go see it! Grrl Action Summer Workshop Summer Workshop dates are June 25 - July 15. Contact madge@rudemechs.com to get an application. A wee Rude update. Austin Film Festival presents A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL part of their Made in Texas: Adaptations Series When: Wednesday, March 14th at 7:30pm Where: Texas Spirit Theater at the Bob Bullock Museum Tickets: $5 (print this newsletter and get $1 off the ticket price when you show it at the door!) Parking: Free parking in the museum parking lot after 6pm Our own Kirk Lynn will moderate the post-screening Q&A, with Producer Dennis Bishop (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, HBO Pictures, “Dexter”) in attendance! Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see one of the finest stage-to-screen adaptations of all time, THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, written by legendary playwright, Horton Foote (inaugural recipient of Austin Film Festival’s Distinguished Screenwriter award). This moving, magnificent film won the hearts of moviegoers and theatergoers everywhere in the 1980s, as well as a Best Actress Academy Award for star Geraldine Page. Page won the Oscar® for her portrayal of Carrie Watts, a sixty year old woman living with her son and daughter-in-law in 1940's Houston, Texas. Carrie wants nothing more than to return to her hometown one more time before she dies, but her son and his wife don't think it's a good idea. Picking the right time, Carrie escapes and begins her trip. Rubber Repertory presents JUBILEE When: April 5 - April 21, 2012 Where: The Off Center Tickets: $15 (Thursdays are PWYW) Get Tix Here What's wonderful about Rubber Repertory is that they take the concepts, the tenets, the expectations of theatre, and blow them out of the water." -Avimaan Syam, Austin Chronicle This will be Rubber Repertory's last show before an indeterminate hiatus, and they're looking for more than just a good idea; they're looking for atonement. They want to find the very proper time to sound the trumpet. They want to put on the clothes that will make them disappear. They want to arrange their bodies in a way that gives real comfort. Part dance and all devotion, JUBILEE is a nonstop, non-narrative, and non-denominational leap of faith. [NOTE: To carnal minds they may appear to act absurdly, but the path of duty is rarely the path of safety.] ABOUT RUBBER REPERTORY: Since 2002, Co-Directors Josh Meyer and Matt Hislope have created some of the most unique theatre in Texas. With shows such as Biography of Physical Sensation, The Casket of Passing Fancy (2007 Rockefeller MAP Fund grant), Surprise Annie, RED CANS, At Home With Dick, and the American premiere of Wallace Shawn's notoriously "unstageable" A Thought in Three Parts, Rubber Rep pushes boundaries and creates work that's high on invention and surprise. Their productions have garnered B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics Table Awards for "Outstanding Theatrical Innovation," "Outstanding Direction," "Unique Theatrical Experience," and "Outstanding Late-Night Adventure." For more information, visit www.rubberrep.org.

Dance Umbrella and Fusebox Festival present GLORIA'S CAUSE When: April 26-27, 2012 7:00 pm, and April 28, 2012 9:00pm Bonus: Dayna Hanson's band, Today!, plays Friday, April 27, 2012 at Fusebox's late night venue. Where: The Off Center Show Info: Fusebox Festival website Tickets: Get your Fusebox Festival Pass while there's still a discount available! Inspired by the complex ironies of the American Revolution, Gloria’s Cause is a full-length dance theater work by 33 Fainting Spells’ co-founder Dayna Hanson (the amazing woman who choreographed the dances in I've Never Been So Happy). Co-commissioned by On the Boards and Under The Radar Festival, this rock-driven piece exhumes the colonies’ forgotten players and offers a layered, colorful and gritty look at the roots of America’s inequities. ABOUT DAYNA HANSON: A 2006 Guggenheim Fellow in Choreography and 2010 United States Artists Oliver Fellow in Dance, Hanson is joined by longtime collaborators Dave Proscia and Peggy Piacenza. Seattle-based performers Wade Madsen, Maggie Brown, Paul Moore, Jim Kent, Pol Rosenthal and Jessie Smith join the cast, together creating a kinetic, darkly funny world where incongruous sources clash and morph. After multiple presentations of 33 Fainting Spells' work by Dance Umbrella in the past, Dayna returns to Austin in this co-presentation between Fusebox and Dance Umbrella, hosted by Rude Mechs.

Tell the nearest Grrl to apply to Grrl Action Summer Workshop! When: June 25 - July 15, 2012 Where: The Off Shoot (2211-A Hidalgo St., Austin, TX 78702) The Grrl Action Summer Workshop is a three-week intensive workshop for teenaged girls, run by Rude Mechs, in which girls envision, create, publish, and perform original works for the stage based on their own life experiences. The three-week intensive culminates in two performances that are free to the public. Don't miss them! Support Grrl Action: Grrl Action is reliant on donations from the community and local foundation grants. We hope you will contribute to sustain this invaluable program.

A Rude update seems in order We premiered I've Never Been So Happy in Los Angeles at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theater in October, and while we were having a blast, building good houses, and getting mixed reviews, we happily accepted a few awards for INBSH from the B. Iden Payne Awards. At the same time, we produced a beautiful re-creation Mabou Mines' amazing play, The B. Beaver Animation, to somewhat confused houses. We promise to offer a little more background and support for the next installment in our Contemporary Classics series. The Method Gun, a project of Creative Capital, was filmed by OntheBoards TV and is available at ontheboards.tv - we get 50% of all the income, so download away! Just remember that video of live performance is, well, video of live performance... We mounted a wee work-in-progress showing of CL1000P (working title, still, yes), which we are rehearsing right now for a full production in May. Stay tuned! Then we toured The Method Gun to Brisbane Powerhouse's World Theatre Festival in Brisbane Australia - could not have had more fun. If you were ever curious about what the City of Austin could have done with the Seaholm, check out Brisbane Powerhouse.

2011 Went Like This, Mostly

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

We hope that you and yours are making a perfect end to 2011 and starting off 2012 in style. One sure way to do both is to honor the philanthropist inside you by making a donation to Rude Mechs!

DONATE TO RUDE MECHS TODAY! That's right - No sassy print mailing this winter asking for your fantastically reliable annual gifts (thank you!), just this simple email letting you know we are in it for the long haul and hoping you can pick up where The Lazy Eye Ball fell short. You can make your tax-deductible contribution via Eventbrite by clicking any one of the buttons below. The site will stay open through January 31, 2011, and we'll probably give you at least one more reminder between now and then.

Rude Mechs really has had a banner year around the country, and here at home in Austin, so we thought we'd share a quick recap - the links will take you to other entries here in our blog, where we dabble in keeping you au courant, like this:

January 2011
• perform I've Never Been So Happy at Arena Stage in Washington DC for their New Play Festival
from Javier Rivera: "Terrific work at Arena last night...never stopped smiling...and I still felt a little sad. Congratulations."
• host Breaking String's New Russian Festival at The Off Center

February 2011
• perform The Method Gun at Yale University's No Boundaries Festival 

from: Catherine Foxahouse: "Method Gun blew me away--incredible!" 

• host Breaking String's New Russian Festival at The Off Center

March 2011 

• receive a huge awesome feature in The New York Times 

• perform The Method Gun at Dance Theatre Workshop 

from Kourtney Rutherford: "You guys have tiger blood and adonis DNA. Obvi. Loved the show!! Congrats!" 

• host Dystheatre's The Duck Variations; rehearse I've Never Been So Happy

April 2011 

• perform world premiere of I've Never Been So Happy at The Off Center 

from Mark Macek: "Participated in I've Never Been So Happy last night. Inventive, complex, and absolutely ecstatic. The ancient Greeks would have been proud of you. Thank you Rude Mechs for blowing me away."• host Rubber Repertory's Biography of Physical Sensation at The Off Shoot

May 2011 

• present Grrl Wrap - Grrl Action's Year-Round Workshop presentations at The Off Shoot 

• host Guerilla Girls workshop for Grrl Action at The Off Shoot

• host Salvage Vanguard's Guest By Courtesy rehearsas at The Off Shoot

• host Andrea Ariel Dance Company's The Grand Theory Of EVERYTHING BETWEEN at The Off Center

• host Ready Set Go Dance's Up, Down, Under, and Through AT THE OFF CENTER

June 2011 

• perform The Method Gun at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre as part of RADAR LA Festival 

• host Breaking String's Uncle Vanya at The Off Center 

from Clayton Farris: "thank you for bringing Method Gun to LA. it was one beautiful piece of theatre." 

• I've Never Been So Happy garners awards for "Production of a Musical", "Music Direction", "The David Mark Cohen New Play Award", and "Ensemble Performance" from the 2011 Austin Critics Table

July 2011 

• conduct Grrl Action Summer Workshop at The Off Shoot 

from Bryanna Estrada: "Whilst writing about Grrl Action in one of my college essays, I was reminded of what an impact this organization had on me! Thank y'all for coming together and forming such an important organization for young women."  

• present Grrl Action public performances at The Off Center

August 2011 

• host Austin Drama Club's Hamlet at The Off Center

• create The Oyster Club season and launch it with a happy hour at the side bar (thank you!)

• host The Lazy Eye Ball in the ether 

from Leslie Bonnell: "Lazy Eyeball = GENIUS."

September 2011 

• perform The Method Gun at Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's TBA Festival 

from Alejandro Novie: "Simply wonderful performance last night for TBA. Ya'll kick ass!" 

The Method Gun performances in Portland were filmed and it is now available to rent or buy the full HD film here: www.ontheboards.tv www.ontheboards.tvHome: host Chaotic Theatre's Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) at The Off Center

• host Loaded Gun Theory's Slapdash Flimflammery VIII: Back to the Flim Flam at The Off Center

• I've Never Been So Happy gets Charles McNulty's Fall Arts Pick in Los Angeles Times 

• rehearse I've Never Been So Happy at The Off Shoot

October 2011 

• perform I've Never Been So Happy at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles, CA 

from Ilana Turner: "I had a chance to tell some of your cast, but I wanted to tell you all ... Thank you, Rude Mechs, for your incredible show, I've Never Been So Happy! I have continued to burst out in laughter when I think about it and I can't quite explain it to others. (I was part of the Loudly Laughing Crew in the 2nd row on Friday.) With this show and Method Gun you people have reinvigorated my love of theater! Truly inspiring." 

• rehearse the legendary The B. Beaver Animation by Mabou Mines at The Off Center

• receive prestigious National Theatre Grant from American Theatre Wing

November 2011 

• perform the legendary The B. Beaver Animation by Mabou Mines at The Off Center 

from Allison Asher: "In a post-B.Beaver feather-dream today. Thanks, Rude Mechs, for continuing to delight. I caught Method Gun at Humana two years ago, and it was one of the reasons that I decided to move to Austin. Can't wait for the next project!" 

• host out of context production's Look Back in Anger 

• I've Never Been So Happy garners awards for "Outstanding Production" and "Outstanding Direction" from the 2011 B. Iden Payne Awards

December 2011 

• perform Dionysus in 69 at Princeton University 

from Dan Bauer: "Only in Princeton! Thanks you Lewis Center Princeton for presenting Rude Mechs (Austin, TX) recreation of the legendary and groundbreaking experimental theater piece "Dionysus in 69." A memorable and brilliant performance!!" 

• receive Best of 2011 for The Method Gun in Time Out New York and New York Magazine, and for The Method Gun and I've Never Been So Happy in the Los Angeles Times 

from The Fringe at CTG: "We loved having you at the Kirk Douglas Theatre twice this past season. Charles McNulty is right, you definitely brought the theatre to life!"   

• Kirk Lynn receives a USA Artist Fellowship - with a $50K prize!!

• host David Berman Gallery's presentation of George Krause Sfumato Nudes

ABOUT 2012

Last year we were awarded (as one of six companies in the country) a prestigious play development award from the New England Foundation for the Arts for a new play we can't seem to title - we will send an invitation for you to view our work-in-progress showing this Jan/Feb. We will premiere the new play in either April, May or June! In February, we will tour The Method Gun to Brisbane Powerhouse's World Theatre Festival (yes - in Australia!!). We are planning summer residencies to workshop Decameron Day 3: Revolution! so you can look forward to new episodes of our original soap opera Harbor Cove. That gets us up to the Summer, and that's about as far ahead as we ever get.

THANK YOU

We sent this very thank you to you last year, but we suspect it slipped by a lot of you, and we made a lot of new friends this year, so here it is again.

We are lucky to live in Austin. We are lucky to live in a city where the press engages the arts in ways that are deep and supportive.

We are lucky to live in a community this creative and hard working and confident and intelligent. All this new work and all these open minds. We are lucky to live in a community where artists support one another, rather than compete with one another – where we lift each other up instead of trying to tear each other down.

We are lucky to have so many amazing creative people that can make work with us, that are interested in making new work of their own, that understand failure is a symptom of working well and working hard and working right, not a predictor of future success.

We are lucky to live in a city where the audience is well-read and has a good sense of humor and brags on itself and yet somehow doesn’t take itself too seriously. We are lucky to have an audience that wants to participate in the creation of the play – that knows it isn’t finished until they show up and bring their own associations and dreams to the piece. And yet an audience that holds us accountable – with honesty but never dismissiveness.

We are lucky to live in a city that is full of bands and reads a lot of books and likes the outdoors and knows that a creative community isn’t just the money-generating ‘movers and shakers’ but also the teenage punk rockers and the quirky artist who builds spaces from trash and the hippies with their butterfly bicycles and the students making films and plays and music and their own new thing, whatever the new form will be.

We are always asked why we chose to live in Austin, so far from the artistic meccas on the coasts. Why would we have chosen anywhere else? Here we have friends and colleagues who know the value of a life lived making art with comrades and taking time to relax on the patio and share a beer and not get all het up about ‘making it’ because ‘making it’ isn’t how much money is in your bank account or how famous you are, or how ‘respected’ or ‘hot’. But how rich the hours in your day are, surrounded by people you love and admire, in a beautiful place that is both a safety net and the trapeze high above it.

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!

RUDE MECHS IS ALL ABOUT DANCE!

1. Meg Sullivan and Rude Mechs are proud to present a work-in-progress dance, MEG.ANNE.MAUD

a Rude Fusion co-production.

Meg.Anne.Maud is an original performance written, choreographed and performed by Meg Sullivan, with music by Graham Reynolds. This show will transform The Off Center into a mapped imaginary landscape where the audience will be invited to think about how archives affect our bodies, how our favorite book characters live within us, how memories move through space

Sullivan combines choreography, video, and maps to re-member the life stories of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, and herself, and to re-imagine places, spaces, and the geographies of memory. Come add a name to the bosom friend map! Taste some raspberry cordial! Watch the radar for coming storms!

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Meg Sullivan is a company member of Rude Mechs, most recently seen as Annabellee in their western operetta I’ve Never Been So Happy, by Kirk Lynn and Peter Stopschinski. Meg is co-Director of Rude Mechs’ outreach program for teenaged girls, Grrl Action, and is a member of The Meeting Point, a dance performance group directed by Julie Nathanielsz. Meg holds an MFA in Performance as Public Practice from The University of Texas at Austin.

Meg.Anne.Maud began as a project in June 2009 when Meg was in residency at the Contemporary Arts Center in Troy, NY. Her previous solo works include Chat/piles: a body of memory, about the history of lead mining in Tar Creek, Oklahoma, performed at the 2008 Micro-Fringe Festival at the ATHE conference in Denver, and A Curious Seaside Feeling, based on Virginia Woolf’s letters, performed as part of the 2008 Frontera Festival.

For more information about this production, please email: meg@rudemechs.com, or see: http://sites.google.com/site/megsullivanperformance/upcoming-events.

ABOUT RUDE FUSION:

Rude Mechs is proud to continue our fourth season of Rude Fusion programming with this collaboration with Ms. Sullivan. Rude Fusion is designed to develop deeper relationships with emergent and under served performing artists in Austin by co-producing their work and offering our support throughout their creative and production process. Rude Fusion offers Austin artists the freedom to take artistic risks, explore new ideas and collaborate with an even greater number of artists. We launched the series in August 2006 with Rubber Repertory Company and their new play Red Cans. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, we continued the series by hosting Pro Arts Collective's Black Arts Movement Festival, and in 2008 and 2009 we supported Red Then Productions with their productions of Sherry Kramer’s When Something Wonderful Ends, and Robert Faires’ Henry V.

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2. Jump Headlong Into The Rude Dance!

Jumping Headlong into the Rude Dance:

An Intimate Conversation about Collaboration and Creation between Rude Mechs and Headlong Dance Theater

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Eponymous Garden

1202 Garden Street

FREE!

Join us for this special evening of what will be no doubt a stimulating and witty conversation led by Company Member and Arts Writer Hannah Kenah. What has kept these two companies not only together but thriving in their respective communities for over 15 years? Headlong Dance Theater and Rude Mechs have a lot in common: we have both been working our communities for many years, we both create original physical theater, and we both operate as collectives. Join the conversation about the nature of long-term collaborations and everything in between.

January 29th & 30th, Dance Umbrella presents Headlong Dance Theater's show, More. Click here for more information and tickets!

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Coming to The Off Center February 12 - 21, a new dance by five local choreographers in the style of Forklift Danceworks, Project Forklift!.



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Statesman Review: Dionysus in 69

"This 2009 ‘Dionysus in ‘69’ is an keen, spirited, brilliantly acted paean to experimental theater past, present and future." – Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin American-Statesman

Click here for full review.

Feel the Glee! Stitchlab event to benefit Grrl Action!

We are thrilled to report that the upcoming Stitch Lab's 1st Annual Indie Crafitivity Scene will benefit Grrl Action by donating a portion of the sales to our program!

Come on out, shop local and celebrate Stitch Lab's Grand Opening, while supporting Grrl Action on December 19th and 20th from noon to 8 pm, at 1000 S. 1st St..

Statesman Article on Dionysus in 69

ARTS

Fleshing out innovative '60s theater

With help from 'Dionysus in 69' director, Rude Mechanicals tackle free-form production.

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN ARTS WRITER
Thursday, December 03, 2009

For 'Dionysus in 69,' actors let the audience be part of the production. Richard Schechner, the original director of the 1960s production, will give a pre-show talk on Friday.

Time was when a stage with no boundary between audience and actors — and a play that changed each night according to how the audience might react — seemed all so terribly new.

It was in 1968 when theater pioneer Richard Schechner led the collective known as The Performance Group in a radical new version of the Greek tragedy, 'The Bacchae,' which Schechner called 'Dionysus in 69.' In a converted garage in New York City's Soho, Schechner and his troupe explored the limits of audience participation, kept the focus of the action always variable and flexible and even moved the show out to the street at times. Actors shed their clothes and spent most of the play naked. They switched characters and invited the audience to dance. In response, audiences staged spontaneous sit-ins or other group actions.

'Dionysus in 69' gave a 1960s spin to Euripides' tale of the struggle — to the death — between self-control and collective passion.

Click here to keep reading.

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

Austin Chronicle Feature Article on Dionysus in 69!

'Bacchae' to the Future

How in (a Greek) god's name can the Rude Mechs re-create 'Dionysus in 69' in '09?

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Excerpt:
"...Now, four decades after Dionysus in 69 rattled the cages of the American theatre, Schechner has come to Austin much as the titular god came to Thebes: a much-lauded figure out of the East seeking new participants in his revels. The key difference here is that Schechner doesn't need to bring a band of dancing, drinking, true-believing maenads with him; they're already here. Local theatrical mavericks the Rude Mechanicals have been carrying the torch of the Performance Group and incorporating many of its tradition-busting practices into their own productions for 13 years now. In fact, within the company, Dionysus in 69 has been the stuff of legend, a production revered for its innovation and daring and impact on audiences. So esteemed is the work by the Rudes that they are taking on their shoulders the ambitious, audacious task of re-creating the production four decades after the fact, something almost no one has attempted in all the years since."

Click here to read entire feature article.

Statesman Review: I've Never Been So Happy

“I’ve Never Been So Happy” is one big smart 21st-century theatrical valentine to the Lone Star State... tender, funny, super-intelligent, super-odd..." – Jeanne Claire van Ryzin

Production Photos for I've Never Been So Happy are up on Flickr

Congressman Doggett to Attend Grrl Action

Rude Mechs is thrilled to announce our selection as one of only three Austin-area agencies to receive funds from the National Endowment for the Arts American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. The funds will be used to support the preservation of jobs surrounding our outreach program for teenaged girls, Grrl Action, and the development of our new musical titled I've Never Been So Happy.

We are also deeply honored that Congressman Doggett plans to attend the Saturday, July 25th performance (2 pm) of Grrl Action to meet Grrl Action participants and their families and to say a few words to the Grrl Action audience before the show.

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!

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

---

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!