Emma Rice peels back the layers of Noel Coward

Posted at 3:22 PM on February 9, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: People, Poetry, Storytelling, Theater

Emma Rice says she's regularly asked whether Noel Coward is relevant today. She's patient in her reply in a room at the Guthrie Theater where her company Kneehigh Theater, from Cornwall in England, is about to mount its critically acclaimed production of "Brief Encounter."

She admits that for a long time she had a cliched view of Coward as just the witty performer who stood around in a white jacket smoking a cigarette in a long holder. Then she began to delve into his works as she prepared to adapt and direct "Brief Encounter." She says, yes, the jacket and the cigarette were definitely Coward.

"But he is also the man who wrote amazing poetry about the barrenness of love and loneliness," she says, before noting he also wrote bawdy songs like "Alice is at it Again," and popular songs like "Mad about the Boy."

"As I began to read more and more of him he becomes this amazing everyman." she says.

It all comes together in "Brief Encounter," which began life as a one act play, and then Coward rewrote as a film which was made just at the end of World war II. It's the story of a chance meeting at a railway station between a man and a woman. They are both married to other people, but they fall in love. Rice says she believes the story speaks deeply to most people.

"I feel it's sort of basic to the human condition," Rice says. "There can't be many of us who haven't fallen in love with someone we shouldn't, had a partner who's fallen in love with someone they shouldn't. It's really what being human, and passionate, and alive is about."

Rice and her company arrived over the weekend and are now rehearsing the show in preparation for opening this weekend. The play is not a simple recreation of the movie. Rice adapted the original script and has blended in not only some of Coward's songs, but her company wrote original music for some of his poetry and blended that into the show.

Rice says she's been struck by how well the adaptation of what many people see as a quintessential British story has done in the US, with each city reacting in a slightly different way.

She admits that after working with the material for two and a half years her own understanding of the play has changed, in part because she has changed. She's looking forward to that continuing.

"I think this will speak to me for the rest of my life," she says.

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Hedda Gabler marks Southern's 100th

Posted at 8:32 AM on February 9, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Theater

Annie Enneking in the title role in Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" at the Southern Theater.

The Southern Theater in Minneapolis will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its opening on March 2. And in part to honor that anniversary, this weekend it's bringing Henrik Ibsen's classic "Hedda Gabler" to the stage.

The Southern was built in 1910 as a cultural center and theater for the burgeoning Scandinavian community, featuring vaudeville shows, silent movies for kids and plays by Strindberg in the original Swedish. Director Genevieve Bennett likes to think Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler might have also been one of the productions produced in the Southern's early days.

There's something exciting about the idea that the ghosts of those performers get to mix with the cast that's doing it now. That space is just so filled with history, and I love that we're taking something from the past and bringing it into the present.

Bennett recognizes that Hedda Gabler might not seem like a logical choice for a centennial celebration (For those of you who haven't seen the play, Hedda Gabler is a an unhappy woman whose situation goes from bad to worse over the course of the play). But Bennett says it's a drama that fits our time.

I'm kind of on a crusade to stage these modern plays by Ibsen and Chekhov because I think they have a relevance. Too often they're done as museum pieces and the life that's churning underneath them gets ignored.

Bennett says Hedda Gabler is regularly labeled a "feminist play." While women's liberation certainly has a role to play in the story, she thinks the question it raises is far more universal. Namely "what happens to a person's soul when the life they imagine for themselves and the life that they end up in are two radically different things?"

Bennett says it's not hard to see the connection between Hedda and the modern day American worker who is suddenly finding him- or herself out of work, or having to foreclose on a home. Because of the economic crisis, Bennett says there's a growing gap between our dreams and our realities.

Hopefully what happens to Hedda's soul is not what happens to the rest of us. She doesn't have the ability or the will to overcome her circumstances, so as a result she unleashes her wrath on the people around her that are able to live the lives they want. And she does that from a position of self-loathing and desperation.

Hedda Gabler has been at times called a "female Hamlet," a prototype feminist, a victim, and a villain. Bennet says for her, Gabler is a mesmerizing character. And she's excited at the thought of seeing this play staged at the Southern Theater.

I can't think of when a classical play has been done at the Southern, and I'm really excited about bringing that work to that space. It will bring new people to the Southern, and will introduce Southern regulars to a different kind of show.

And maybe a few ghosts of days past will pay a visit to see the show as well.

Hedda Gabler runs February 11 - 14 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

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Huge response to call for entries for 'Foot in the Door'

Posted at 2:46 PM on February 8, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Events, Galleries, Museums, People

The folks at the MIA anticipated they'd attract more entries for the 2010 Foot in the Door show than the 1,700 they received for the last Foot in the Door in 2000. However their guestimate of 3,000 was way low.

By the time the submission period ended at 4.30 on Sunday afternoon in excess of 4,500 artworks had survived the curatorial process (that is they had fit into the one foot cube 'Curator' box shown above,) and been accepted for the show. The on-line video submissions are not included in that number, so clearly the final number could be significantly higher.

The MIA's Ann-Marie Wagner tells me there was a huge press of people on Sunday afternoon, hoping to make the deadline. There were so many people in fact that the line went twice around the second floor rotunda in the MIA's Target wing, down the stairs, twice round the ground floor rotunda, then out the door, across the park, though the atrium of the Third Avenue, and out onto the sidewalk beyond.

The line was so long that at 3pm staff realized they wouldn't be able to fit in any more people by the 4.30 deadline, so they cut off the line.

Chris Atkins of the MAEP program which organizes "Foot in the Door" says by Sunday they were getting about 100 submissions every 45 minutes or so. He says most people had to wait about an hour or 90 minutes in line, and there were some cases of a two hour wait, but he says once people actually got to the head of the line they were usually processed in just a few moments.

When asked how many people were unable to get in, he says he doesn't really know.

Atkins says the job of hanging and displaying the work has already begun as they prepare for the opening of the show on Thursday February 18th.

"We've got them stacked 11 or 12 high on the wall," he says. It sounds as though visitors might want to take a leaf out of the Walker's "Benches and Binoculars" show and bring some opera glasses with them.

There are two galleries set aside for Foot in the Door 2010, but it looks as though it's going to have to spill out into the atrium, even with the plan to assign each piece just one square foot of space.

"I've got some geometry to do with the registration crew to actually see, gridding things out," he says. The pieces will be hung roughly in the order they came in. There will be a system which will allow people to quickly find specific pieces.

While the majority of the submissions came from the Twin Cities, Atkins saw work coming in from all over the state. He mentions pieces from Willmar, Albert Lea, and Grand Marais. "A lot of zip codes from all over the state," he laughs.

Several teachers from schools and colleges around the area brought in multiple works, sometimes 40 or 50 for students in their classes.

All of the entrants were also invited to the opening night party along with family and friends, so it's likely to be packed, and probably one of the biggest ever openings in MIA history.

"Yeah, it'll definitely be up there," says Atkins. "It's hard for us to anticipate exactly how many, but we'll do everything we can to make sure people can come in, they get into the galleries, and have a good time that night."

The show is scheduled to run through June 13th, a total of about 15 weeks. Atkins says he's excited about how it's all coming together.

"It's going to be a lot more work over the next 10 days," he says, "But it's going to be a great show on the 18th."

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Minnesota Poetry: Joanna Rawson's "Wind Camp"

Posted at 8:32 AM on February 8, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Minnesota Poets, Poetry

Joanna Rawson's collection of poems unrest is one of four books of poetry nominated for this year's Minnesota Book Awards. unrest is billed as a series of "restless meditations on American life, political borders, lawlessness, parenthood, and the spaces where the natural world and human turmoil come into conflict." You may have read Rawson's work, either as a poet or a journalist, in City Pages or Utne Reader. Rawson also works as a Master Gardener in Northfield, Minnesota.

Wind Camp

I can't seduce these raucous birds.

Or sneak up on a willow while they riot there.

Look--even my shadow's a suspect in this dark.

I can't approach without startling from them
an insurgent cursing that gusts and stutters down the trunk.

The weeping limbs ripple in alert as if they've been started by wind
that steals through thistle toward their camp.

I can't manage to net them in my grip.
I can't seem to accomplish any sort of government,

any hold over these unruly crows who nest in rags
and scream at the blowback their quarrelsome cries.

Still, they allow me to stay in the vicinity--

many nights, right here among them, as they activate the dust
and carry on disturbing the perilous air.

Even in their mercy, I believe they understand

my wanting to end their song.

-- "Wind Camp" by Joanna Rawson, as published in her collection of poems unrest. Reprinted here with permission from the publisher, Graywolf Press.

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Lifting the veils from our own eyes

Posted at 4:52 PM on February 5, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Religion

Meriam Bouderbala. (Tunisia, 1960). Untitled. (Undated). Mixed media. (28 x 20 cm)

In the weeks following September 11, 2001, Americans as a whole suddenly had a much greater awareness of the Middle East and Islam, and a deep interest in learning more about both. While there was a lot of fear in the air, it was also a time that seemed heavy with potential for cultural exchange and understanding - an opportunity to break down stereotypes and reveal more complex truths.

In the now close to nine years since, what have we learned?

An exhibition at St. Catherine University provides us with the opportunity to find out. Titled "Breaking the Veils," the show is not - as you might well assume - aimed at raising awareness of the oppression of muslim women. Rather it's concerned with helping us to lift the veils that filter our own perceptions.

Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir. (Malaysia, 1948). Evening Glow. (1991). Acrylic on canvas. (120 x 130 cm)

Jordanian Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi conceived of the exhibition in the wake of 9/11 as she saw news reports and witnessed some of the deep misunderstanding that persisted in the following months. "Breaking the Veils" first opened to the public in Rhodes, Greece in 2002 before embarking on an international tour. Her Majesty Queen Rania-Al Abdullah of Jordan attended the launch and spoke about the exhibit this way:

"Breaking the Veils" features work from 51 women artists from the Islamic world. They work in different media and styles. They have had different life experiences, and they come from more than 20 different countries. But they have something in common that is more important than any dissimilarity. That "something" is the essence of Islamic art, of all art. It is the spirit of creativity and humanity. Real art connects. It connects us with ourselves and one another. It leads us to discover new truths and helps to illuminate the humanity we share. The work of these artists light up not only the Islamic world, but the human world as well. Through this exhibit they are helping to break the veils of misunderstanding and ignorance.

The artists featured in the exhibition are not just muslim, but buddhist, christian and hindu, as well; but they all were raised in Islamic countries. Their work varies dramatically in theme and image, but they all show a high level of talent and skill. As a whole, the exhibition reveals a candor and diversity that defies many commonly held stereotypes about the Islamic world.

Fahda Bint Saud. (Saudi Arabia, 1953). Three Women. (1992). Watercolor on paper. (65 X 84 cm)

Dr. Khalid Khreis is the Director General of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, and is overseeing the exhibition's international tour. He says the goal of the exhibition is to help stimulate a cross cultural dialogue, and to underscore the difference between religion and culture.

People think that all muslim women in the world are like those found in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. We wanted to show that Islamic women are like all women all over the world. We have artists, teachers in universities... Of course we all have our problems; we just wanted to show the reality.

One of the more startling works is "Three Women" by Fahda Bint Saud (pictured above). In it she depicts what appears to be a reluctance on the part of Saudi women to recognize the reality of their restricted lives. Khreis says it's a piece that might not have been allowed if it weren't for the fact that Fahda Bint Saud is in fact a daughter of Saud bin Abdul Aziz, king of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to 1964.

Laila Shaw. (Palestine, 1940). The Deal. (1994). Silkscreen on paper. (48 x 68 cm)

There is also work critical of the United States and its involvement in Middle Eastern politics, particularly Palestine. But on the whole the art is much more personal, displaying deep introspection, a passion for women's issues, and spirituality.

What is most surprising about this exhibition is that it did not reach the United States until 2008, after having toured most of Europe and Australia. It finally reached the Clinton Presidential Library, thanks in large part to Susan Anderson of the ArtReach Foundation. The foundation uses art programs to help people heal from traumatic experiences, including the conflicts in Bosnia and Lebanon, and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Anderson attended the opening of the exhibition in Greece, and immediately saw a connection between the artwork, and her own work using art to heal wounds and start conversations.

Karima Bin Othman. (Jordan, 1972). Unity. (2002). Acrylic on canvas. (60 X 72 cm)

St. Catherine University plans to launch a dialogue of its own in conjunction with the exhibition. On Tuesday, March 2, I'll be hosting a panel of muslim women from around the Islamic world. They'll share stories about misconceptions surrounding their religion and culture, and give a sense of just what their lives are like. The talk runs from 7-9pm at the Rauenhorst Ballroom.

"Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamic World" runs Feb. 6 thru April 1 at the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery Visual Arts Building on the campus of St. Catherine University.

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The Southern Gothic storytelling of 'That Evening Sun'

Posted at 10:40 AM on February 5, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Film, Storytelling

Hal Holbrook in "That Evening Sun" (Image courtesy of Dogwood Entertainment)

Making independent movies is hard work, then distributing them is even harder. Just ask Larsen Jay.

But he believes his current project is worth the effort.

"We call it the little movie that could," laughs Larsen Jay, executive producer of "That Evening Sun." "It keeps sort of a slow burn. Everybody, once they see it they start talking about it and we keep building and building and building."

The movie stars Hal Holbrook as an old Southern farmer who decides he can't stand living in an old folks home any more. He sneaks out and heads back to what he thought was his home.

"And when he gets there he realizes the farm is being rented out by the son of his arch rival," Jay says. "and instead of leaving he sort of squats on his own land, and thus ensues this great mental battle between this old salt of the earth character and this young buck both claiming the land for their own. It's a really powerful drama with great characters and a really true depiction of the South."

The film has been winning awards on the festival circuit, including a couple from SXSW. Now Larsen and others involved in the film are doing a 30 city roll-out of the film, playing in arthouses around the country. They are also going to cities where Holbrook performs his Mark Twain show, which he has been doing for 55 years.

As part of that effort Jay will introduce the movie at Minnesota Film Arts in its new home at St Anthony Main tonight at 7.30

He says he believes this is a different kind of a movie, and that was clear on the set.

"This is a storytelling film, and so it's a little different from being on a movie set where there is a whole lot of glitz and glamor. I mean, Hal Holbrook is a craftsman, and he is prepared and he is the character," Jay says."Everyone was very serious about making sure the story was told right, not just making a movie."

Jay is please with the finished film, but now there is a lot more work to be done.

"The response we get after people see the film is wonderful and it continues to build, but it does require a lot of travel, it requires a lot of dedication, time, money, effort. People are not going to find your film just because you made it. You have to go present it to them. You have to go talk to them. You have to explain why this is a story worthy of being seen."

The trick he says is to get people in the door.

"It's hard to market and introduce people to a Southern story about an 80 year old man who is fighting for land. It's not cool and sexy like "Avatar." But it is real life and it is a really powerful story. And when people leave the theater the best reactions we've received are "That made me think," he says. "And that's a really powerful tool if they are going to recommend it to someone else."

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A look at "Yellow Face" in American entertainment

Posted at 11:26 AM on February 4, 2010 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Theater

Randy Reyes (DHH) and Matt Rein (Marcus G. Dahlman) in Mu Performing Arts' production of Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang, directed by Rick Shiomi. Photo by Stephen Geffre.

Do you remember the show "Kung Fu" starring David Carradine? You know the one where he has to walk on rice paper and pass all sorts of tests to be a true shaolin monk? And then he goes on a quest in the West to find his half-brother?

Did you know Bruce Lee was passed over for the part?

I didn't. Of course it doesn't really surprise me. "Sign of the times... that was the early 70s... wouldn't happen today." Or at least, so I thought, until I read David Henry Hwang's play "Yellow Face."

The play, which opens this weekend at the Guthrie theater (in a production staged by Theater Mu) is based in part on true tales from Hwang's own career. And it reveals just how much race continues to play a very frustrating role in casting in American media... especially for Asian-Americans.

A quick survey of American media reveals the truth to this. Both Asian-American males and females tend to be relegated to the role of "side-kick." Typically they are cast as the computer expert, or the doctor. They are quiet, good-looking, and have excellent skills in the martial arts.

So what's wrong with that, you ask? Heck, I'd love to be good-looking, have a high paying job and a black belt to boot!

The problem is that our portrayal of Asian-Americans is extremely narrow. There is no "average Asian-American family" on TV. What Bill Cosby did for African-Americans (which, regardless of what you think of the show, was to put their lives center stage) has yet to be accomplished for Asian-Americans.

Margaret Cho gave it a shot with her 1994 TV program "All American Girl." Complaints from network executives that her face was "too round" led her to practically starve herself in the weeks leading up to production (resulting in kidney failure), and at various stages she was told she was being either "too asian" or "not asian enough." The show lasted barely a year.

Today we're faced with a new version of type-casting. Japanese-Americans and Korean-Americans are being roped in to play the roles of "exotic" Japanese or Korean characters, as network television attempts to appear more worldly.

Daniel Dae Kim was raised in both South Korea and Pennsylvania, and trained in acting at New York University, but his character on "Lost" spent most of the first two seasons speaking only Korean.

Actor Masi Oka has lived in Los Angeles since he was six, but you'll only hear him speaking Japanese or English with a strong Japanese accent on the show "Heroes"(except for a couple of rare exceptions involving "alternate realities").

So while Warner Bros executives justified passing over Bruce Lee for the lead in "Kung Fu" because his accent was too thick, we now demand fluent english speakers to mix up their "L"s with their "R"s. What gives?

This Saturday at 4pm, in conjunction with the opening of "Yellow Face," I'll be moderating a panel discussion on just this topic at the Guthrie Theater. On the panel will be playwright David Henry Hwang, actor Randy Reyes, journalist Tom Lee, Josephine Lee from the Asian American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, and Star Tribune theater critic Graydon Royce.

I'm sure it's going to be a fascinating conversation.

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Art Hounds: Opera Auditions, Marguerite Duras, Keys Please

Posted at 8:33 AM on February 4, 2010 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds

Still from Nathalie Granger, directed by Marguerite Duras, 1972

This week's hounds flush out an opera audition with 'Big Apple' written all over it, a French filmmaker who gets her due at the Walker and the annual get-together of some top-notch Twin Cities keyboard improvisers.

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Alison Young is a host and producer for Classical Minnesota Public Radio. Alison says you can glimpse the next generation of opera singers at the Metropolitan Opera's National Council auditions at St. Paul's Ordway Center on Saturday, February 6. The Upper Midwest Region Finals begin at noon and are free and open to the public. Singers between the ages of 20 and 30 compete for prizes of up to $4000 and advancement to the semi-finals in New York.

Sofia Nordenstam is an editor and contributor for the local music blog "Borangutan." She's also a fan of French writer and filmmaker Marguerite Duras, a figure in French New Wave Cinema who's gettting a closer look as part of the Walker Art Center's "Of Language and Longing: The Films of Marguerite Duras." Most of the films in the showcase, which runs from February 4th through the 7th, were directed by Duras herself.

Heather Barringer is a percussionist with the internationally-known and St. Paul-based new music group, Zeitgeist. One of Heather's favorite events of the year is the annual "Keys Please" concert, where notable local improvisers Carei Thomas, Todd Harper and Paul Cantrell make mischievous and mesmerizing music on their keyboards. "Keys Please #9" happens Saturday, February 6th at Macalester College's Jane Wallace Concert Hall at 8pm. This year, the three musicians will be joined by guitarist Bob Ockenden.

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Another way of moving in space

Posted at 8:30 AM on February 4, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Animation, Film

For those of you who are waiting with baited breath for the release of the Luc Besson-scripted parkour thriller "District 13 Ultimatum," which opens in Minneapolis next week, here is a little video to ease your anticipatory pain. Parkour is sometimes defined as moving through space in interesting ways, and this seems to fit the bill.

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The Art of the Steal

Posted at 2:28 PM on February 3, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Film, Museums

While I'm not a huge fan of documentaries, I am looking forward to the release of "The Art of the Steal" at the end of this month. It tells the story of the Barnes Foundation, the amazing art collection of Dr. Albert C. Barnes (now valued at more than $25 billion), and how many people are dying to get their hands on it. The documentary promises an insightful look at the business of art, and how greed and corruption have a seat at the table whenever profit is on the menu.

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