Dancing Not Dead

(the journey of a play Around the World)

                                                                                                    

Early in 2011, The Internationalists launched their first Annual Global Playwriting Contest.  125 plays from 18 countries were submitted.  The selection process was difficult, but John Freedman's 'Dancing, not Dead' was the ultimate winner.  In the past three months, his play has been presented (workshop or staged reading) in Berlin, Moscow and Bucharest. And it will be fully staged in January in The Hague by Karina Bes.  On 30 October it will also be presented in NYC – a live theatre/broadcast hybrid, directed by Doug Howe and Jeremy Lydic. At the end of the journey, we will sit down with John over a virtual coffee and ask him how the journey was for him, but for now, I asked Doug & Jeremy, who are currently in rehearsals, some questions. 


Ana: When you first read the Dancing, not Dead what impressed you the most?
Doug:‘Dancing, not Dead’ poses large questions without attempting to definitively answer them. Though the setting is simple and domestic, the themes and issues that pervade the text reach well beyond the home and across national borders. I was also impressed that John Freedman had written such strong and engaging female characters, especially those advanced in years. Their internal and external conflicts are both compelling and heart wrenching.  

Jeremy: A tragic death has happened, and yet the characters in this play are able to isolate and eliminate their empathetic response to the deceased, in order to pull focus to their own issues. I think that to write a play about someone who has just died, committed suicide rather, or was murdered, even, and make it entirely about the self-absorption of the survivors, is a challenging glimpse into human nature.

Rehearsal for Dancing Not Dead in Moscow with Oksana Mysina & Rimma Solntseva

Ana: What scares you the most about this play?

Doug: Nothing specific scares me about the play, but the constant challenge of honoring the text while putting it up on its feet is ever present. As we are only rehearsing for a limited time, we want to be able to do justice to the writer’s intentions while simultaneously making the performance engaging for the audience. Fortunately, we have some very talented and insightful actors, so my fears are minimal.

Jeremy: This is a play about two women whose game is bicker and banter, and yet a rule between them is to not let the game elevate to a "dramatic" level. And they refuse to really listen to each other. So, you have two strong women, who argue without blowing up, who don't really listen to each other. It defies typical drama in many ways, and the challenge is to keep this dialogue compelling to an audience.

Dancing Not Dead in Berlin, directed by Jake Witlen

Ana: Why have you chosen to co-direct this presentation?

Jeremy: I believe that Doug and I both have different strengths as directors, and I was really interested in seeing how his particular strengths, especially the ones I don't think I possess, combine with my particular process. I think the process will be greatly enhanced by this collaboration. I think Doug is incredible at talking about the play that exists, and I am not. I have a hard time engaging with the play until we start discovering what it can be through experimenting on our feet. So, I'm interested in seeing how our dynamic may or may not shift once we're up on our feet.

Doug: I am thrilled to be working with Jeremy. Every time I’ve seen one of his productions, I’ve always thought about how much fun the actors are having. Jeremy possesses a true sense of play and adventure, and encourages actors to really breathe life into their roles. I hope our individual talents inspire us both to become better directors. From our work together thus far, I am confident about the outcome of our pairing. Having an equal next to you in the room to bounce ideas and experiments off of is a real joy.

John Freedman with actresses Oksana Mysina and Rimma Solntseva after the Moscow reading of Dancing Not Dead

Ana: You also intend this presentation for online audience - why? how do you think the relationship between performance and audience will change depending on where this audience is present?

Doug: In this age of advanced technology, Jeremy and I were interested in experimenting with a live theatre/broadcast hybrid. Though the live performance is our primary focus, we wanted to create a more engaging virtual viewing experience for our online audience. Instead of the typical static wide-shot, we want to produce a more cinematic, interactive experience. We have spoken at length about how the two experiences differ, and we are specifically creating two different perspectives for the people present in the room and those on their computers. Like the three characters in the play, we want to offer both audiences varying points of view.

Jeremy: I believe that the online audience is always secondary when you include them in a live performance event. And, rightfully so. But since I do not believe that viewing performance online is very interesting, I'd like to try to direct this piece for them. I wouldn't say, however, that at this point we are directing more for the online audience. Basically, we're trying to create two different experiences for each audience. Rather than the audience just getting that back of the house camera view, which is super-boring, especially on a 240p window, we want to give them a different experience, an alternative to those in the live audience. In some ways, we're trying to think of it in filmic terms. Viewing theater online will always be more akin to film, so why not take advantage of that?

Dancing Not Dead in Bucharest, with Maria Ploae and Katia Pascariu

Ana : Watching online the previous presentations of DND in Berlin, Moscow and Bucharest had any influence in the way you perceive the play?

Jeremy: I don't want to watch any of those until after our performance is done. I don't like to be influenced in any way by what has been made in recent history.

Doug: One of the objectives of The Internationalists Playwriting Contest was to present the play in multiple locations across the globe. Each culture is going to get something different out of the experience, and to have the capability to witness those performances has been informative and inspirational. Even when it was performed in a language I don’t speak, I felt connected to my fellow company members around the world who were presenting it. It’s also been helpful to discuss successes and failures with the other directors who have already presented the play. Even though the presentation in New York is starting from scratch, I feel uplifted by the presentations done before, and am much better prepared to tackle this complex and challenging play.

Well, I hope you all won’t miss the Dancing Not Dead in NYC (even if you are not in NYC, you can still log online and watch it)! So, prepare yourself for a bit of adventure – this play traveled a lot this year, it would be nice for her to see familiar faces in NY.

Dancing Not Dead

Written by John Freedman
Directed by Doug Howe and Jeremy Lydic
Starring Orietta Crispino, Hank Kim and Sara Oliva

Sunday, October 30th, 2011 at 1:30pm - Live in NY; 2:00 live online
TheatreLab, 137 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011

Limited seating, email to reserve your place to: info@theinternationalists.org

Dancing Not Dead -- Auditions in Berlin

Casting has begun for the Internationalists "Dancing, Not Dead" in Berlin. It has been a fascinating new experience to create work in a new culture (coming from New York, things definitely work a bit differently here). Trying to make a piece in the summer turns out to be a bit more challenging than originally expected -- the whole town, it seems, has gone on vacation. But overall, things are coming together quite nicely.

Initially, I was worried by the lack of responses one receives immediately. In New York, seconds after posting something in Backstage, Playbill etc., your inbox is generally flooded with emails of headshots, resumes, introduction letters, and sometimes promises of a first born baby, should you choose them to cast. Here in Berlin, it's a bit more laid-back, and after that initial worry, I was pleasantly surprised by the applicants. People approached the auditions in a professional and interested matter, and it gives me great hope for what is to come with this project.

The auditions went very well, and I'm pleased to say that the cast is formulating now (a few more meetings and introductions to come) and all should be set!

Please check back in regularly for updates about our Playwright competition, as well as director blogs about the process!

John Freedman Wins Internationalists' First Annual Playwriting Contest

Dancing, Not Dead is a play about the price of truth and the cost to those who seek to own it. Ellen and her mother return from Alexander’s funeral. Ellen is broken, wondering why her father has killed himself. In contrast, her mother is buoyant, recollecting memories of her favorite ballerina. Petty banter reveals a deep conflict between the two, as well as with the world they inhabit. In this family, no one backs down - they consider this "being strong." But when does strength cross the line from constructive to destructive?

Writer John Freedman is a theatrical pioneer who has always sought to further the understanding of people of different cultures, and to explore those territories where understanding is virtually impossible. His particular interest lies in the gray areas where consensus does not happen, and how, as human beings, we respond to that. As a boy who grew up during the Cold War, and an American who has resided in Russia since before the collapse of the Soviet Union, John’s unique experiences have shaped his appreciation for the difficulties that nations and individuals have in overcoming habit, instinct, prejudice and tradition.

His play, Dancing, Not Dead is a direct response to what he’s seen occur in the world political arena in the last decade – the use of lies to further one’s agenda; the refusal of people and nations to pause and reflect; the belief that shouting louder and hitting harder is enough to make a wrong right; the conviction that appearances of youth and beauty are substantive; the danger that fascism will arise almost out of nothing.

Dancing, Not Dead is also a response to what he sees happening to individuals whose fate it is to live in such times – we have become self-defensive, abusive and manipulative; we worship before the god of youth; we are slaves to our dreams, rather than masters of them; we are lacking in trust and bereft of the talent to love or be loved. Might this be another explanation for fascism? Is fascism only a political phenomenon, or is it possible that it grows out of our most intimate, personal relationships?

Whether the answer to these questions is yes, no or maybe, the one constant that affects us all at every moment is the impulse and the need for love. What role do the human emotions of forgiveness, generosity of spirit and love play in the contemporary world we inhabit? Dancing, Not Dead does not answer the questions raised here, but poses them in a series of ways. No doubt, every question raised by this play, as well as every response it might prompt, will be seen in a different light, depending upon the culture in which it is approached, and that is why, whether through the genre of essay, criticism, translation or play script, John Freedman’s work truly exemplifies The Internationalists’ spirit.

Biography

“Theatre should encourage us to make discoveries. It should disturb us. Rouse us. Irritate us. Make us realize what sort of world we live in.”

- John Freedman in ‘Russia Now’; 3 June 2009

John Freedman is an American writer who has lived in Moscow for over 20 years. He was born and raised in the Mojave Desert in Southern California. In 1980, just after graduating with a B.A. degree in Russian language and literature at U.C. Irvine, John attended a production of Nikolai Erdman’s The Suicide at Trinity Rep, which sowed the seed for his future. He completed a master’s degree in 1983 at George Washington University, and in 1988, while conducting research for his doctorate, he travelled to Moscow. What unfolded was a love story to rival all the classics he was studying: the following year he married the Russian actress, Oksana Mysina.

After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard, John moved to Russia where he has been the chief theatre critic at The Moscow Times since 1992, a monthly columnist for Plays International since 1994, and has written or edited and translated nine books about Russian drama. He has translated over three dozen Russian plays that have been performed in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and England, as well as published in numerous anthologies and journals. In 2006 under the general title of “Provoking Theater” he made two documentaries for Russia Today, an English-language, international Russian television company. He has been a partner of Philip Arnoult’s Center for International Theatre Development since 2000. Since 2001, John has also unofficially served as a Jack-of-All-Trades in the founding and running of his wife’s theater, the Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood. In 2010, Double Edge Theater in Ashfield, MA., produced a play, The Firebird, that John co-wrote with Jennifer Johnson and the theatre’s cast.

Playwriting Contest Finalists

The Internationalists are thrilled to announce the 7 finalists in our first annual playwriting contest, selected from over 125 plays from 18 countries.

2023 by Lisa Parry (Cambridge, UK)

Dancing, Not Dead by John Freedman (Moscow, Russia)

The Owl Girl by Monica Raymond (Cambridge, MA, USA)

Into the Water by Ella Greenhill (Liverpool, UK)

Shibboleth by Stacey Gregg (Belfast, Ireland)

Spake by David L. Williams (New York, NY, USA)

Termitary by Diane Lefer (Los Angeles, CA, USA)

Golden Mask 15

Check out John Freedman's article here in 'The Moscow Times' covering the 15th anniversary of Russia's Golden Mask festival.  

Nikolai Roshchin's New ARTO Theater

John Freedman had once again written a great profile for the Moscow Times’ Context. This one is about director Nikolai Roshchin, his new theater ARTO and his new version of Leonid Andreyev’s Savva. Ignis Sanat. Below is an opening excerpt and here is the link to the full article.

“Nikolai Roshchin is a director who is not only willing, but eager, to tell people what they may prefer not to know. His can be an ominous theater, one that relies on the theatrical equivalent of fire and brimstone to get its points across. The examples are myriad, but I'll limit myself to one: Last year in Mystery-Bouffe, Roshchin abruptly dropped a forest of nooses over spectators' heads during a scene touching on the topic of what political leaders may do to achieve their ends.

Roshchin has always been a large canvas artist. His productions are boldly visual and invariably employ grandiose, complex sets, such as the scale-model sea schooner that sailed right up to the front row of spectators in School of Fools. Now comes Savva. Ignis Sanat, Roshchin's first fully independent production since establishing his own ARTO Theater and acquiring his own theatrical home in a small space near Turgenevskaya Ploshchad."

Moscow Season Preview

Thanks again to John Freedman from the 'Moscow Times', here's a preview of the upcoming season in Moscow, which features Vladimir Pankov's Gogol. Evenings. Part II at the Meyerhold Center, Konstantin Raikin's production of Blue Monster by Carlo Gozzi, and Roman Kozak's production of Biljana Srbljanovic's Locusts at the Pushkin Theater. Read the complete text here.

Spotlight: Vladimir Pankov

John Freedman, of The Moscow Times, writes about Russian theatre artist, Vladimir Pankov. Pankov is currently working on the second half of a diptych based on the prose of Nikolai Gogol. His "Gogol. Evenings. Part I," which premiered last September, was hailed as one of the most memorable shows of the season. Read the full text here.

Pankov, 33, began making his mark as the so-called ‘new drama’ movement got under way at the beginning of the decade…But Pankov has no desire to be pigeon-holed by any label, whether it's ‘new drama’ or not. "People are constantly trying to hang slogans and formats on you," he explains. ‘I don't want to live under any label.”

As paradoxical as it may appear on the surface, the freedom-loving Pankov most often tends to seek inspiration in the riches of age-old traditions. Perhaps this is his way of escaping fads and avoiding conformity. Or perhaps it is simply a way of life he has lived all along.

"At some point, I realized what a great thing theater is," Pankov explains. "Everybody comes into a hall and sits silently, but the actor has the opportunity to speak. Someone from above granted him that right. If you're an actor you can speak out. Only you'd better do it sincerely, because it's instantly obvious when you lie."

Russian Round-Up

John Freedman, editor and critic of the ‘Moscow Times’, reviews the highs and the lows of the 2007-2008 season. As he claims, “Whatever the world has to offer, it found its reflection on stage this year.” Some of the heading he covers are: Best Debut, Best Revival, Best Reclamation Project, The Event, Tiger Changing Stripes, Different Drummer, Missing Action, Gloves Off, Town Eccentric, Most Innovative Director and Best Production. Below is a brief example. Read the full article here.

Trend of the Year: The retreat of the contemporary playwright. What happened? New writing and new writers have been one of the biggest engines of theatrical innovation for most of this decade. This year there was not only a noticeable drop in new plays produced but, gulp, not one of those staged stood out in a positive way. Could this be an aberration? Could younger writers be taking the easy way out and merely imitating the innovators of the last decade? Have all but a handful of theaters lost the spirit for gambling on the unknown? Could "new drama" be old hat? It's something to keep an eye on when the new season fires up in the fall.

Golden Mask Awards

Following up on a previous posting regarding John Freedman of The Moscow Times, here is his article about the award results from the 14th Golden Mask Festival in Russia.

Russia's Golden Mask

John Freedman’s coverage of this year’s Golden Mask awards is top notch. John is the editor of 'The Moscow Times'. He is also the paper’s theatre writer and critic. If you want to know what’s going on in the contemporary Russian scene, John is the man to go to.