The Unauthorized Autobiography

YOU GUYS! LOOK! I didn’t know it until I saw it, but I...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:21:25 -0500

YOU GUYS! LOOK!

I didn’t know it until I saw it, but I have always wanted this.

Theatre of Twenty-Year-Olds #2amt

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:37:00 -0500

I have heard many colleagues complain in the past year that there seems to be a surfeit of early twenty-somethings creating plays about what it is like to be that age or younger, and written in that particular voice. The argument is that this isn’t compelling theatre. But… haven’t we all been saying for over a decade that North American theatre is entering into a crisis because it hasn’t found a younger audience?

Why would you expect a twenty-year-old to sit through an hour+ of some character’s late-life crisis if you don’t want to sit through a play about high school injustices and novice relationships?

You could argue that it’s the difference between being well-written or not, I suppose. I do not, however, see the value in being that dismissive. I also doubt that that is always true. Especially since plays by older people which I consider to be poorly written win awards all the time.

Perhaps we need to broaden our collective idea of what makes compelling theatre. There are a lot of productions out there that are not to my taste. A LOT. Like… a shocking number of them, actually. However, I usually manage to appreciate the elements I consider to be strong within the plays I don’t think are fantastic on the whole.

No, I don’t really want to see an episodic play about feeling old at 24, but I also don’t want to watch another mild tale of a late life crisis, or even an epic political piece that just comes off as a rant, either. That doesn’t mean these productions aren’t valuable to someone else who has had a different life experience, and who is looking for something specific. Namely, an audience that responds to their particular writing style.

The young people writing new works have probably been exposed to some good theatre in their youth, or it would never have occurred to them to create their work in the first place. This is good. Now, they are speaking to their peers in a way that larger theatres are not. They need to keep writing and producing, using their distinct voice. I’m looking forward to when they grow into telling polished stories in their later life…

… and bring their established audiences with them.

mattsbrickgallery: LEGO Graffiti submission...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:00:23 -0500

mattsbrickgallery:

LEGO Graffiti

submission from ifwordscouldkill:

cutlerish: gwenfrankenstien: [photograph: a deer with antlers...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:12:26 -0500

cutlerish:

gwenfrankenstien:

[photograph: a deer with antlers that form a star of David.]

varlandgear:

YOUR ANTLERS ARE A STAR OF DAVID.

Oh my goodness it’s like a mythical deer that appears to really good Jews or something. Like one day you step out into a clearing, just minding your own business and suddenly out it bounds. And it stops and stares right at you and as you meet it’s gaze it says “I enjoyed your discussion of that Midrash. Very insightful” and like that it’s gone.

Oy! You don’t know from deers.

A Cervid of David? A star of Cervid. You know, If those were on a cow, it could be a STEER of David.

labellefilleart: The Spanish Shawl, Ruth Pratt Bobbs

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:01:45 -0500

labellefilleart:

The Spanish Shawl, Ruth Pratt Bobbs

allidoistalkandwant: Emma Peel + Robocop + Equestrian Barbie...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:53:09 -0500

allidoistalkandwant:

Emma Peel + Robocop + Equestrian Barbie in 1970s Moscow filtered through a Brave New World Instagram app on Ricardo Tisci’s Iphone = Givenchy Pre-Fall 2012.

ukehunt: I was writing this song up today and wondered what...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:14:06 -0500

ukehunt:

I was writing this song up today and wondered what headstock guy was thinking. I think this is the most likely candidate.

stilllifequickheart: Christopher Stott Anything Can Happen,...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:53:36 -0500

stilllifequickheart:

Christopher Stott

Anything Can Happen, Down the Road

2011

List 8 things you've done that most Tumblr folk have probably never done

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:09:00 -0500

1. Was hired to tap dance at some guy’s birthday party at the legion in a small town.

2. Had to sleep overnight in the back of a cube truck in one of Toronto’s sketchier parks to guard some lighting and sound gear.

3. Leapt out of a moving cab during a dispute with the driver.

4. Got lost while being chased by the cops in France but hid out in an alley until one of the people I was with finally found me.

5. Threw up in the lobby bathroom at the Fairmont Hotel in Maui.

6. Flew to Japan with a guy I met through Flickr, even though we didn’t meet in person until I got there. (Good news — I didn’t get internet murdered.)

7. Locked myself out of the theatre of which I was technical director and had to sleep under a bush until the box office opened the next morning.

8. Won a prestigious award for my high level of professionalism and proficiency in my career somehow.

mrsemmapeel07: I think I was quite daring. I was once escorted...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:13:38 -0500

mrsemmapeel07:

I think I was quite daring. I was once escorted out of a restaurant because I was wearing a trouser suit. It wasn’t considered good breeding for a woman to go around in trousers after 6pm, especially in smart restaurants in bars such as the Connaught hotel, which served the best cocktails. - Diana Rigg

cutlerish replied to your photo: blanddiva11: blanddiva11: Was going through a… Lindsay,...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:22:22 -0500

cutlerish replied to your photo: blanddiva11: blanddiva11: Was going through a…

Lindsay, I kind of want to hit you right now.

Yeah. I get that a lot.

blanddiva11: blanddiva11: Was going through a drawer today and...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:51:45 -0500

blanddiva11:

blanddiva11:

Was going through a drawer today and found this set of 6 vintage coasters that I bought a million years ago, I think in Toronto at a second-hand shop.

Aren’t they adorable? The “records” are even grooved.

I wonder what they’d be worth? I’m not going to put them in my charity box. I would prefer someone to have them who would go nuts over them.

Some of you covet these. I’ve decided to gift them to whoever writes the best request. Your request must include at least one pun. Tag with #coasters.

My god! They’re simply divinyl! You’re right; I love the coasters. Are you sure you didn’t get them Down In Mexico? That’s enough Yakity Yak, or this post will have a record number of terrible jokes. Happy new beer!

xoxo

retrogasm: Organize!

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:00:04 -0500

retrogasm:

Organize!

beethovenspianolegs: Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:08:55 -0500

beethovenspianolegs:

Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

“I need the darkness

Someone please cut the lights.”

Mandatory queueing

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:16:12 -0500

Forty-five minutes later, and the tumblr post I sent from my phone still hasn’t surfaced. I CAN’T WAIT to see how long it takes for that to work. No, really. I can’t wait. I’m too tired. I’m going to bed.

yodelmachine replied to your photo: What I REALLY look like every day. NICE FASCINATOR Thanks!...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:28:47 -0500

yodelmachine replied to your photo: What I REALLY look like every day.

NICE FASCINATOR

Thanks! It’s actually a totally KICKASS HAT that I inherited from a costume designer who was retiring and giving away her costume kit.

kirstensdesk replied to your photo: What I REALLY look like every day. Awesome! (Are you still...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:50:18 -0500

kirstensdesk replied to your photo: What I REALLY look like every day.

Awesome! (Are you still tanned from Hawaii?)

Not really; I barely changed colour. I tend to stay pale and tragic. But there ARE still some extra freckles — as if there were room for any more.

What I REALLY look like every day.

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:17:00 -0500

What I REALLY look like every day.

theniftyfifties: A working single mother welding circa 1950s....

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:08:33 -0500

theniftyfifties:

A working single mother welding circa 1950s. Photo by Allan Grant.

theatlantic: The Opera House Effect Urban and regional...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:21:07 -0500

theatlantic:

The Opera House Effect

Urban and regional economic development, which focused on attracting factories and companies not too long ago, has taken a bit of artistic turn in recent years, with mayors, chambers of commerce and economic developers lauding the arts as a key factor in attracting skilled workers.

Art and culture’s role in urban development is well-documented. University of Minnesota economist Ann Markusen and her colleagues argue that the arts make substantial, if occasionally hidden, contributions to regional development. Markusen dubs this the “artistic dividend.”

Cultural amenities in general play a role in city growth, according to research by Harvard economist Edward Glaeser and his collaborators. Sociologists Terry Nichols Clark, Dan Silver and Lawrence Rothfield have been documenting the importance of artistic and cultural scenes in attracting talent and spurring urban growth. Read more

Mayors… in other cities. Cities that didn’t vote in Bluto from Animal House.