tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78551648591395299872012-01-28T09:25:03.693-05:00Massachusetts-based playwright, actor, mime and educator, Ian ThalIan Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.comBlogger2121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-11858769226116387092012-01-14T20:03:00.000-05:002012-01-15T12:05:12.678-05:00

Last night, I caught Flat Earth Theatre's production of Michael Frayn's Copenhagen. It was not my first encounter with the play: I had attended the 2008 production at American Repertory Theater and had read the script a few months ago. Copenhagen, like very few contemporary plays, holds up both as a script for performance and as a literary work. Furthermore, after seeing Flat Earth's production

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com5791 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02118, USA42.338751 -71.08165342.337284000000004 -71.0841205 42.340218 -71.07918550000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-31853408152400421512012-01-12T14:55:00.000-05:002012-01-12T14:56:59.554-05:00

In my fifth outing as a reviewer for The Arts Fuse I review SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of John Logan's Red a two-hander about Mark Rothko during the 1950s when he was working on his mural commission for the Four Seasons restaurant at the Seagram Building in Midtown Manhattan. Directed by David R. Gammons, and featuring Thomas Derrah and Karl Baker Olsen. ...[T]ragedy does not sit well

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com3Cyclorama at Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116, USA42.3444466 -71.071290842.3327131 -71.0910318 42.356180099999996 -71.0515498tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-45695618289036331192012-01-03T17:45:00.000-05:002012-01-12T20:23:53.433-05:00

As 2011 was coming to a close, the big news on the Boston theatre scene was that David Dower and Polly Carl of the American Voices New Play Institute would be moving from their base of operations at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage to Emerson College. In the midst of this excitement, The real question was what this means beyond Rob Orchard's aim to make ArtsEmerson a major regional player in the

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2Emerson College, 120 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116-4612, USA42.3520757 -71.065707542.3403412 -71.0854485 42.3638102 -71.0459665tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-12410687407809687982011-12-29T00:51:00.000-05:002011-12-29T00:51:38.161-05:00

Pictured: Ron Pullins as Capitano Spavento, John Geoffrion as Shylock, and Corianna Hunt Swartz of Flat Earth Theatre as Gessica. Not pictured: Diana Durham who read stage directions. Both Diana and Ron also presented work that night. November 21, 2011. The Small Theatre Alliance of Boston's Open Mic Night, this time hosted by Fort Point Theatre Channel presented a scene and talk back for my

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com010 Channel Center St, Boston, MA 02210, USA42.3450531 -71.051881642.3435861 -71.0543491 42.3465201 -71.0494141tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-43859265225519761542011-12-28T23:36:00.000-05:002011-12-29T01:00:37.667-05:00

It was a very strange gig for this unicorn, who was led around the town of Brookline one November evening to appear at one boutique, three banks, and a crêperie. Let me tell you: three hours of wearing a unicorn head is a lot of stress on one's shoulders, but little girls and middle-aged women just love the beast. Mask and costume by Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask. Unicorn wrangling by

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0Brookline, MA, USA42.3317642 -71.121163542.2848107 -71.2001275 42.3787177 -71.0421995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-60548161865067330282011-12-13T17:28:00.000-05:002011-12-13T17:33:49.230-05:00

The Arts Fuse has published my essay on Israeli playwright Savyon Liebrecht's The Banality of Love a play about the romance between German philosopher (and card carrying Nazi) Martin Heidegger and his Jewish student, the political theorist Hannah Arendt. I attended a reading of the play last month at the Goethe Institut as part of Israeli Stage's series of readings of contemporary Israeli plays

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-25078434833590127452011-11-13T20:30:00.001-05:002011-11-13T20:51:22.448-05:00

Monday, November 28 at 8pm at the Out of the Blue Art Gallery: Just as you are recovering from Thanksgiving feasting Stone Soup Poetry will feature my performance of my one-man play, Arlecchino Am Ravenous a tale of slapstick blasphemy and auto-cannibalism.  Arlecchino is so driven by hunger to ravage both the heavens above and the hells below in search of a meal.  The piece developed out of a

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2Out of the Blue Art Gallery, 106 Prospect St, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA42.367734 -71.101911942.3662675 -71.1043794 42.3692005 -71.09944440000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-49091778687367127142011-11-13T20:05:00.001-05:002011-11-13T20:52:39.848-05:00

Monday, November 21st, The Small Theatre Alliance of Boston once again presents Playwright's Open Mic Night, a bimonthly presentation of works-in-progress by Boston-area playwrights. This edition, I will be presenting a scene from my play The Conversos of Venice (a response play to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (another scene had been presented at the inaugural Open Mic Night.) Also

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com010 Channel Center St, Boston, MA 02210, USA42.3450531 -71.051881642.3435861 -71.0543491 42.3465201 -71.0494141tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-4474518846495352452011-09-20T11:49:00.000-04:002011-09-20T11:50:02.388-04:00

My review of London's National Theatre Live's presentation of Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors a modern adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters, is up at the The Arts Fuse. Earlier this summer, I reviewed Shakeapeare and Company's production of Goldoni's The Venetian Twins for The Fuse.

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-78776236836178219622011-09-07T15:18:00.000-04:002011-09-07T15:18:48.952-04:00

This was my seventh summer teaching at OpenAir Circus, a youth circus based in Somerville, MA, working with many of the same students, parents and fellow teachers as in previous years, teaching mime and commedia dell'arte. Masks and bottacio (slapstick). Photo by self. I have been asked not to do this anymore since I am supposed to be a role model for young clowns. Photo by Victoria Wolfson.

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com013-29 Summer St, Somerville, MA 02143, USA42.3827637 -71.098489842.371034699999996 -71.11823079999999 42.3944927 -71.0787488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-47412519182988024482011-08-18T20:51:00.000-04:002011-08-18T21:39:08.688-04:00

One of my gigs this summer has been as a teaching artist at Riverside Theatre Works in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, where I have been teaching and choreographing puppetry for a troupe of young actors and puppeteers who will be performing in Don Fleming's stage adaptation of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Maggie Diller directs. Showtimes are Friday August 19th at 7:30pm, and

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-5889984402802309432011-08-05T14:39:00.000-04:002011-08-05T14:58:44.192-04:00

This is my seventh summer teaching at the Somerville-based youth-circus, Open Air Circus. My mime and commedia dell'arte students will be performing alongside jugglers, unicyclists, stiltwalkers, and other assorted young performers, in Nunziato Field in Somerville, MA.Show times are Friday, August 5th at 7pm, Saturday, August 6th at 2pm and 7pm, and Sunday August 7th at 2pm. Suggested donation is

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-85024446459902533872011-07-17T09:29:00.000-04:002011-07-17T09:52:31.245-04:00

Last week I took a road trip to Lenox, Massachusetts to review Shakespeare & Company's production of Carlo Goldoni's The Venetian Twins for The Arts Fuse. Goldoni, of course, had an interesting relationship to the commedia dell'arte tradition:As a playwright, [Goldoni] saw himself on a mission to replace the commedia with comedy that proffers a more classical form: Instead of actors improvising

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-63412928596907288612011-06-25T15:21:00.000-04:002011-10-14T15:26:31.080-04:00

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011, I attended the eleventh annual staged readingand symposium on Shakespeare and the Law jointly presented by the Boston Chapter of the Federalist Society and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. I did not know what to expect : last year's reading and discussion of Henry V had been little more than alove-fest for John Yoo and his legal arguments on behalf of George W.

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-85302352975641017412011-06-24T12:54:00.000-04:002011-06-24T13:08:59.493-04:00

The CoLab Theatre's Kenny Steven Fuentes responds to a recent discussion on the StageSource blog by citing my gonads and their contribution to the Boston theatre scene:Self produce. Organize. Stir up controversy. Be like Ian Thal or Thomas Garvey, and HAVE SOME BALLS! Nevermind what you think about their opinions, these dudes are heard and people take them seriously.Kenny has realized that I am

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-4570467254964292262011-06-12T10:54:00.000-04:002011-06-12T11:36:17.639-04:00

[N.B.: Yes, I realized after I pressed the publish button that I had missed the opportunity to title this post "Pictures from Pico."]Daniel Bourque, who had directed me in Ron Pullins' Pico for F.U.D.G.E.'s ten minute play festival in May, snapped some photographs during tech rehearsals. Here are a few:Pico (after borrowing his clothes from Arlecchino) presents a relic (a prop Vulgate from a

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-50871624536459652892011-05-22T11:53:00.000-04:002011-05-22T12:55:03.788-04:00

Back in January, I presented my initial thoughts regarding the New Play Institute's New Play Map, a platform for an open-source, user generated, map of the new play sector. The Institute has since continued work on developing the code for the map, while I have noticed that in my greater Boston metropolitan area, more "generative artists" (a term that embraces both playwrights and collaboratives),

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-47273659055546523622011-04-26T10:22:00.000-04:002011-06-12T11:32:45.357-04:00

While I have mentioned that I am rehearsing with Teatro delle Maschere for the Shakespeare Slam on April 30th, I am also in rehearsals for Ron Pullins' play, Pico, which I had the pleasure to read back in February at the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston's Open Mic Night where I was presenting a scene from my own work-in-progress, The Conversos of Venice. I was so taken with Ron's script that I

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-47168639850053920842011-04-25T11:33:00.000-04:002011-04-26T16:19:51.828-04:00

Previously, I wrote an account of, as best as I understood it, the pressure campaign placed on the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) to dismiss Hub Review critic, Thomas Garvey from their membership. IRNE, had refused to dismiss Garvey, but Garvey announced his resignation in order to take the pressure off of his fellow reviewers. More remarkably, after Garvey had announced his

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-6330751144207440112011-04-21T21:22:00.001-04:002011-04-21T21:39:59.114-04:00

TOUCHSTONE: Good even, good Master What-ye-call't;[TOUCHSTONE and JAQUES exchange bows.]How do you, sir?[They bow again]You are very well met.[And again.]Goddild you for your last company.[And again.]I just split my pants. I am very glad to see you.[They bow a final time.]Even a toy in hand here, sir. Nay; pray be cover'd.William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act III, Scene 3

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-78104715885222814492011-04-21T10:02:00.000-04:002011-04-21T10:56:08.518-04:00

On the afternoon of April 30th, Teatro delle Maschere will be performing a commedia dell'arte inspired version of a scene from As You Like It at the Shakespeare Slam, part of a day's worth of festivities presented and curated by Actors' Shakespeare Project and Orfeo Group but featuring contributions by a number of area theatre companies. It all starts with a parade at noon! (a full schedule is

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-75947452269681920562011-04-10T14:10:00.000-04:002011-06-23T20:37:19.190-04:00

Last week I attended the a matinée performance of the touring production of The Merchant of Venice. The production, starring F. Murray Abraham as Shylock, was a revival of director Darko Tresnjak's 2007 mountings with Theatre for a New Audience and the Royal Shakespeare Company. I make no secret of my obsession with this play (in fact, I'm so obsessed that I'm writing "response play") and so

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-73335914826555234702011-03-30T07:31:00.000-04:002011-03-30T18:40:25.936-04:00

So what happens when Director of Press and Public Relations for one of the largest theatre companies in the Boston metropolitan area admits to spearheading an effort to exert pressure on the area's main theatre awards committee to remove a theatre critic from its membership?The answer is: no press coverage.On March 17th, The Hub Review's Thomas Garvey, the self-described "strongest, most

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-2323088871152442572011-03-20T22:26:00.000-04:002011-03-20T22:38:31.786-04:00

I'll be one of five judges for Monday's Story Slam, "Where I Am From" at Kennedy's Midtown at 42 Province Street, Boston, MA near Park Street Station. The Story Slams are presented by MassMouth. The event starts at 6:30.

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-42151574471847611922011-02-27T15:34:00.000-05:002011-02-27T19:41:25.750-05:00

Left to right: Jesse Strachman, Chris Larson, John Greiner-Ferris, Kevin Mullins, and MJ Halberstadt, reading the parts of Il Capitano Spavento, Lorenzo, Antonio, Launcelot Gobbo, and Shylock in a scene from The Conversos of Venice as part of the Small Theatre Alliance's Open Mic Night at the Factory Theatre on the evening of February 21st. Photograph courtesy of the Small Theatre Alliance of

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-51066215190150333032011-02-21T22:00:00.000-05:002011-03-01T09:15:55.396-05:00

If you attended the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston's February 21st Open Mic Night at The Factory Theatre and did not have a chance to share your thoughts regarding the excerpt from The Conversos of Venice during the talk back segment or you found that you had further questions or comments, I invite you to continue the discussion:I am particularly interested in the following questions:1.)

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-58052202314205992372011-02-14T16:42:00.000-05:002011-02-14T17:26:29.372-05:00

The Small Theatre Alliance of Boston just announced the line-up of playwrights for its Open Mic Night to be held on Monday, February 21st at the The Factory Theatre:MJ Halbertstadt: Jick and Dane and LoveIan Thal: The Conversos of Venice (Excerpt)Ron Pullins: PicoLesley Moreau: Lowered ExpectationsKevin Mullins: A Southern Victory (Excerpt)Emily C. A. Snyder: Cupid and Psyche (Excerpt)The

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-67761845173971182472011-02-08T19:06:00.000-05:002011-02-08T19:49:56.250-05:00

February 21st: The Small Theatre Alliance of Boston is hosting its first ever Open Mic Night for playwrights at The Factory Theatre. let us understand that in this case, the "Open Mic" is a metaphor, as there will not be a microphone and playwrights were asked to sign up over a week ago.More simply: it's an evening of staged readings of six short plays or excerpts by six local playwrights. I will

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-76650394357944592902011-01-31T22:24:00.000-05:002011-01-31T23:41:48.790-05:00

I snapped this photo outside the Boston Center of the Arts last week. Bread and Puppet were rehearsing in the Cyclorama and I was catching a show downstairs. After the sidebar piece in The Burlington Free Press, and my response to some of Peter Schumann's statements, I suppose it would have been awkward had we crossed paths. The last time we saw one another was right before I broke off relations

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-64182501746967212362011-01-30T18:16:00.000-05:002012-01-12T20:30:09.453-05:00

A few weeks ago, The New Play Institute at Arena Stage launched the New Play Map an open-source, user-generated, collaborative project to map the American new play sector. The purpose is to ...to make visible – for the first time ever – all the organizations, activity, and generative artists that comprise our yet unknown infrastructure for new work. Essentially, as the map becomes better known,

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-60233612802250717452011-01-21T12:42:00.000-05:002011-01-21T18:11:25.198-05:00

New York Times writer Erik Piepenburg enthuses on the topic of staged readings of plays and while not exactly missing the point that staged readings are primarily for play development, seems to regard play development as an afterthought:NEW Yorkers love nothing more than to boast, “I was there first,” whether it’s getting a reservation at a buzzworthy restaurant, snatching up the latest handbag

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-61478047880032399792011-01-16T17:30:00.000-05:002011-01-16T19:16:18.283-05:00

Recently in her Huffington Post column, Lauren Gunderson asks the question "Why Are US Literary Laureates Only Poets? Why Not a Dramatist?":The position of Poet Laureate started officially when in 1616 King James I of England gave the title to Ben [Jonson] -- a noted poet and playwright. In 1937, the United States established a similar position that, while at first a title-only kinda gig, is now

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-42643312248503387632011-01-09T20:25:00.000-05:002011-01-10T17:07:04.500-05:00

On Friday, Burlington Free Press staff writer, Tim Johnson interviewed me for a piece that ran in Sunday's edition, entitled Peter Schumann's Palestine Controversy. There's a brief quote from me that sums up the argument that I have been making since my 2007 essay, Breaking with Bread and Puppet:Ian Thal, a playwright and Schumann admirer who broke with Bread and Puppet over the spring 2007

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-36113804341407447212011-01-09T19:23:00.000-05:002011-06-25T15:50:17.459-04:00

As mentioned previously I had been interviewed by Burlington Free Press reporter Tim Johnson as part of a sidebar article regarding the controversial 2007 exhibitions of a series of murals by Bread and Puppet founder Peter Schumann in which he juxtaposed his stylized images of the West Bank with text from John Hersey's 1950 novel The Wall which is set in the Warsaw Ghetto. At the time I saw the

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-49261497345429051172011-01-06T16:38:00.000-05:002011-01-21T11:44:05.249-05:00

As many are already aware NewSouth, a Montgomery, Alabama based publisher, is releasing a new edition of Mark Tawin's Huckleberry Finn in which the "n-word" has been replaced with the less racially charged term, "slave." The NewSouth edition features an introduction by Auburn University professor, Alan Gribben:Gribben became determined to offer an alternative for grade school classrooms and "

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-52941788561804316032011-01-04T12:34:00.000-05:002011-01-04T12:59:10.125-05:00

Three of my photographs appear in Signs of Our Times, an online gallery curated by composer and multi-media artist Jane Wang and presented by Mobius Artists Group.

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-15386124725829745362010-11-14T20:58:00.000-05:002012-01-13T13:01:40.855-05:00

Teatro delle Maschere at Puppet Showplace Theatre: Stacey Polishook as Columbina, Eric Bornstein as Il Dottore, Ian Thal as Arlecchino. All photography by Cherie Konyha Greene This is the photo of the troupe, and I stress troupe, while they are not the only ones involved (Jonathan Samson made a notable contribution over a period of only three days), Stacey and Eric have been my primary

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-23596316804414571772010-11-14T10:51:00.000-05:002011-03-01T09:16:52.926-05:00

We're trying a new experiment. Did you see Teatro delle Maschere perform last night at the PuppetSLAM? Would you like to give us feedback on what you saw?[N.B.: The Talkbackr page for this event has expired 3/1/2011]

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-36405800637902284072010-11-07T15:05:00.000-05:002010-11-07T15:24:59.502-05:00

Teatro delle Maschere will be appearing at Puppet Showplace Theatre's PuppetSLAM this coming Saturday, November 13th at 8pm.We shall be reviving The Esteemed Dottore of Bologna Offers His Authoritative, Erudite, and Thoroughly Supercilious Meditation on the Mask for those who missed it last time and for those of you who have seen it before: expect it to be just a little different! Different cast

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-13026940850404814022010-10-23T18:26:00.000-04:002011-02-03T02:54:44.181-05:00

It's been quite a while since I wrote a post about Peter Schumann or Bread and Puppet Theatre, but I just came upon the following quotation about Bread and Puppet's touring production of a truncated adaptation of Claudio Monteverdi's opera, The Return of Ulysses:In order to commit genocide on their competitors, the Trojans, the tricky Greeks employ their multitalented sky, full of custom tailored

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-5995577620126884122010-10-21T18:17:00.000-04:002010-10-21T19:35:41.332-04:00

Today, YouTube reported the 100th viewing of the video of Teatro Delle Maschere's October 2 performance at Fort Point Theatre Channel's Exclamation Point Event. Not too shabby for a new theatre troupe, I say.In the meantime, Kenny Steven Fuentes, whom I met after the show (he was there, in part, to see some of his compatriots from the CoLab Theatre Company perform Mark Harvey Levine's "Superhero"

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-81374196424837587422010-10-15T17:58:00.000-04:002010-10-15T21:19:02.594-04:00

Jack Powers reading D.H. Lawrence, October 26, 1987.On Thursday, October 14, 2010, the Boston poetry scene one of its elder statesmen, albeit a troubled and sometimes difficult elder statesmen. This hasn't been the first time I've devoted space to the passing of an artist who has influenced me (and probably won't be the last) but this is not the most pleasant of remembrances. I'm only glad that

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-23836598041322564402010-10-07T07:46:00.000-04:002010-10-09T08:14:32.394-04:00

Web Chronicles, which appears to be some sort of automated news websearch aggregator has a page devoted a page to photographs and gossip about far more famous fellow actor, Eric Thal. A man of a thousand faces, but none of them are Eric Thal.As near as I can tell, despite the shared surname, we are not even related: The Thals from whom I am descended are Lativian Jews from the region of Courland,

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-19533991828235325362010-10-04T23:33:00.000-04:002010-10-05T00:16:19.956-04:00

After viewing the video I posted yesterday of Teatro delle Maschere's October 2nd performance. Anya Malkina, a friend, graphic designer and web designer who has done work for Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre and had shot photos ofa recent performance of Arlecchino Am Ravenous, sent in this video she took of the second half of our performance, but from stage left.What I find fascinating about

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-57991696812353660442010-10-03T12:43:00.000-04:002010-10-03T16:08:38.396-04:00

In case you missed last night's show.The Esteemed Dottore of Bologna Offers His Authoritative, Erudite, and Thoroughly Supercilious Meditation on the MaskStacey Polishook as Columbina, Jonathan Samson as Il Dottore, and Eric Bornstein on sound effects. Yours truly as Arlecchino.Notes:Stacey, who is both an apple fiend and puppeteer, came up with the Appelina lazzo, which I feel makes for a

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-82590263275782499622010-09-09T22:16:00.000-04:002010-09-09T23:24:44.477-04:00

Teatro delle Maschere, my new commedia dell'arte troupe with Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre, will be presenting a short scenario. The Esteemed Dottore of Bologna Offers His Authoritative, Erudite, and Thoroughly Supercilious Meditation on the Mask as part of Fort Point Theatre Channel's Exclaimation Point! 8: Masks on Saturday, October 2 at 7pm at Art at 12 Gallery, 12 Farnsworth Street in

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-61561288576767975412010-09-05T21:34:00.001-04:002011-11-07T17:40:44.720-05:00

I do not typically address politics or social etiquette in this blog, yet at the same time, I rarely refrain from doing so. This weekend I attended a party. At one point I was accosted by an acquaintance, perhaps the last stalwart of Boston's loony-left who still engages me in a friendly manner. Note: I am using "loony" in reference to a tenuous grasp on reality, logical coherence, and facts

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-4381659308070435972010-09-01T18:31:00.000-04:002010-09-09T22:56:38.309-04:00

A few weeks after I performed Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Behind the Mask, Eric Bornstein made a proposal. He had been wanting to work on masks depicting the characters of the commedia dell'arte but had not found an avenue to do so. His proposal was to form an in-house commedia troupe with me as artistic director and dubbed it Teatro Delle Maschere.Eric, Stacey Polishook and I have been

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-86009469030374263812010-09-01T17:49:00.000-04:002010-10-14T17:55:54.814-04:00

Another belated post.A few photographs from my performance of Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre. Eric Bornstein had invited me to perform the inaugural show on the outdoor stage that was built earlier this summer. It was a sunny and the middle of the day, the show had been announced only two days before but we still managed to fill a good many seats.Here, Arlecchino

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-60489246708574769562010-07-27T08:48:00.000-04:002010-07-27T09:08:39.758-04:00

That's just the theme of the show. OpenAir Circus is performing at Nunziatio Field in Somerville as always.My mime and commedia students will be performing as part of the annual Somerville-based youth circus. I've even made new masks!Come see over 170 children of all ages (and a few adults) perform what they have learned this summer! The show is approximately 2 hours long with one intermission.

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-46680179206011042202010-07-27T08:18:00.000-04:002010-07-27T11:26:34.196-04:00

I'll be performing Arlecchino Am Ravenous as a free outdoor performance at Behind the Mask Studio and Theatre on Wednesday, July 28 at 1pm.Master maskmaker Eric Bornstein had originally asked me to perform as a demonstration to his assistants (and to inaugurate the small outdoor stage they built this summer) and then decided to open the event to a larger audience.Behind the Mask Studio & Theatre6

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-66595624629809840632010-07-25T23:22:00.000-04:002010-07-25T23:28:39.544-04:00

Everytime I make polenta, this character appears in my kitchen.Perhaps I should use this or a similar image next time I perform Arlecchino Am Ravenous? Now if only I knew how to make costumes or could afford a more traditional Arlecchino costume.

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-821217655563689612010-07-24T10:08:00.000-04:002010-07-24T12:38:24.343-04:00

Ian with Karen Montanaro. All photographs by Justin Moore, check his Flickr page for additional photos from the July 10, 2010 Improv Org EventI met Karen Montanaro this past spring at the Arlington Center for the Arts where she was performing a set of improvisations to the music of Ginger Ibex a chamber music/progressive rock ensemble featuring pianist/composer, Sharon Crumrine and violist Betty

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-62655290955514316152010-07-19T20:50:00.000-04:002010-07-19T21:36:12.962-04:00

This summer I had a week-long gig co-teaching a puppetry class at Wheelock Family Theatre. It was my first time teaching puppetry. For two hours and forty-five minutes a day over the course of five days, my co-teacher, two assistants, and I, met with a group of roughly two-dozen nine-to-eleven year olds. Our objective was to teach them both puppet making and puppet performance. For me one

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-17104240651855769672010-07-03T13:28:00.000-04:002010-07-03T14:06:52.902-04:00

For Independence Day Weekend, a repost from my old authorsden blog from 2004 about the first performance of a piece that would later be incorporated into Cosmic Spelunker Theater's Waltzing to War:Our National Anthem/Back in the USA1/30/2004 4:24:55 PMTuesday, January 20th:Once again, I am at my monthly regular gig at Whimsy, a free form performance art cabaret at the Zeitgeist Gallery in

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-28270798244725859792010-06-23T18:58:00.000-04:002010-06-23T19:13:58.808-04:00

Photo by Erik Jacobs for The Boston Globe click here for full size.Starting another summer teaching mime and commedia dell'art at the Somerville-based, Open Air Circus. This will be my sixth summer with the community-based youth circus and in addition to teaching, I am learning stilt-walking (and finding it surprisingly easy.)There's still time to register for classes! Contact Peter Jehlen at

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-39073010434197984012010-06-12T21:41:00.000-04:002012-01-13T14:22:19.480-05:00

[N.B.Thomas Garvey's account of the same event is at The Hub Review.] "What," you might ask me, "would bring you of all people to a Federalist Society function?" What if I told you that the function was co-sponsored by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company that it was a staged-reading of Henry V followed by a panel discussion entitled "Shakespeare's Henry V And The Law And War" featuring former

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com5219 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116-471742.3584308 -71.059773242.2645643 -71.21770169999999 42.4522973 -70.9018447tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-23536475795946923172010-06-12T19:53:00.000-04:002012-01-24T15:52:32.983-05:00

After discovering that Jacques Callot had illustrated a series of sketches of a troupe of dwarf actors and musicians known as Les Gobbi I naturally wondered "what connection might exist between this troupe and the characters of Old Gobbo and Launcelot Gobbo from The Merchant of Venice?" Though the possible connection certainly supports directors and dramaturgs to making some unconventional

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-30344364931311393562010-05-29T18:01:00.000-04:002012-01-24T15:53:23.651-05:00

In a recent conversation with my friend Cherie Konyha Greene about her trip through Italy to research a historical novel, we found ourselves asking "where did Shakespeare get the name for Launcelot Gobbo?" Cherie had found references to "Il Gobbo di Rialto" a statue of a hunched figure in front of the Church of San Giacomo di Rialto: The statue served as a podium for official proclamations and

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-43008201369258743822010-05-10T21:42:00.000-04:002010-05-10T22:37:24.234-04:00

Or: I haven't the time to design a new poster because the show must go on!Back in 2004, I met Jonathan Samson, who had the mad idea to create a commedia dell'arte inspired television series. This led to a rather intense period of working and playing together over a period of several weeks. Then Jonathan left for Thailand, planning to stay but for a few months, instead, he stayed and founded

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-16506309765515701522010-04-20T13:22:00.000-04:002010-04-20T14:30:43.989-04:00

[Yes, it was nearly two months ago, but I as mentioned before, blogging takes a back seat to the passing of a beloved cat.]On February 25th, I gave a presentation for World Commedia dell'Arte Day after Orfeo Group Theatre's production of Pierre Marivaux' The Island of Slaves. I packed my masks, along with three that were loaned to me by Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask. Eric had been invited to

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-85328945791765030382010-04-03T06:25:00.000-04:002010-04-03T12:30:03.332-04:00

The March 28th reading was as rewarding as was stressful. As with the previous reading in October, I had had a few roles to recast, but I was also still dealing with the loss of my cat, Omi, who had been my companion for some 16 years. Grief has a way of putting one off schedule.Then, as my plans finally came together with roles being cast only days before the reading, more chaos ensued. Stage

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-45377312621128309792010-03-26T11:10:00.000-04:002010-03-26T11:14:07.813-04:00

Sunday, March 28th at 8pm at Outpost 186186 1/2 Hampshire Street, Inman Square, Cambridge MAA staged reading of Total War, a play by Ian ThalCast:Jonah Gringer: Dan SchneiderAndrea Kunst: Savanah ShaughnessyEdith Havilland: Kate HeffernanErica Weiss: Kendall StewartFather Aldobrandini:Martin ComackFather John Bullock: Tom SpragueRichard Doncaster: James BocockDuane McCormack: Matthew

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-19537550360515544302010-03-18T08:18:00.000-04:002010-03-18T20:31:15.645-04:00

Total War, a semi-finalist in the 2009 Dorothy Silver Playwriting Competition, is a five-act play set at a Catholic university where the student newspaper has published a Holocaust denial advertisement. Before faculty, students, and staff can begin the expected dialogue on free speech and religious pluralism, an anarchist-cell using the nom de guerre of “Total War” begins a campaign of guerrilla

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-82609618556021318962010-03-06T10:32:00.000-05:002010-03-21T09:01:11.996-04:00

Having taken a harsher view than much of the audience of the draft presented at the last staged reading of Total War, I did yet another rewrite. The new draft runs three pages shorter: Much of the craft of playwriting seems to be learning out to strip away the unessential. Most of the cast has elected to reprise their roles but three roles will be recast.As this is simply a reading of a work in

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-29235635931245224432010-02-24T12:53:00.001-05:002010-02-24T16:21:50.924-05:00

The Italian cultural agency, Associazione SAT, has declared February 25th World Commedia dell'Arte Day so to lobby UNESCO to recognize the Commedia as a World Cultural Heritage. The Washington D.C.-based Faction of Fools has in turn joined in in organizing a day of activities outside Italy: encouraging artists, audiences, scholars, and students to celebrate the legacy of Commedia dell'Arte!I will

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-31408486865007763212010-02-20T18:06:00.000-05:002010-02-20T19:05:43.491-05:00

I was invited to co-host massmouth's "Errors of Eros" story slam as part of a new initiative to build connections between practitioners of different performing arts. The idea is that each event would be co-hosted by a seasoned storyteller (in this case, Laura Packer) and a guest, which this particular evening was yours truly, representing physical theatre and playwriting.For me, the evening was

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-72166179561904813232010-02-07T18:03:00.000-05:002010-02-07T19:08:13.767-05:00

Join me as I co-host the massmouth Story Slam with storyteller, Laura Packer at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. The theme will be "The Errors of Eros."What's a story slam? It's a competitive storytelling event in which ten storytellers are given five minutes a piece to tell a story based on a suggested theme. In between stories, Laura Packer and I will tell our own stories and lead

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-76082330412252426312010-01-31T17:13:00.000-05:002010-01-31T17:29:46.136-05:00

A few days ago, through the comments section of another blog entry, I had an exchange with the playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis. He took issue with my interpretation of his play, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot which I had written as a letter to the editor some three years ago in response to the Boston's Weekly Dig having picked the Company One production as one of their Best of 2006.Where we

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-68504109861566580292010-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:002010-12-20T23:03:32.080-05:00

G. Tod Slone, publisher and editor of the small press literary journal, American Dissident, now has a blog and has decided to repost some of his older cartoons which mostly aimed at poets whom he thinks are complicit in whatever it is he's against.I once criticized a cartoon of his that had been forwarded to me by Doug Holder, so as a consequence, Slone felt the need to lampoon me in this

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-84005509990789794912010-01-19T17:07:00.000-05:002010-05-31T19:03:25.274-04:00

About two years ago, right about the time that I was improvising on the lazzo of la Fame dello Zanni ("The Starving Zanni"), a process that eventually resulted in Arlecchino Am Ravenous, I was also reading Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. As a consequence of this chance juxtaposition, the two have become bound up in my imagination.The Merchant of Venice's reputation as an anti-Semitic text

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-21210941574176277142010-01-18T16:20:00.000-05:002010-01-18T23:31:23.248-05:00

After the late night drive back to Boston from Providence with Little's Creatures' Jon and Hakim, a shower, some sleep (I had been up just over 20 hours straight), breakfast and lunch, I had to get to work on cutting Arlecchino Am Ravenous into Arlecchino Am Abridged since the 32 minute one man play I performed at Blood From a Turnip on Friday night was not going to fit into the alloted ten

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-30848980890262982962010-01-17T18:32:00.000-05:002010-01-19T18:03:53.229-05:00

January 15, 2010::Friday evening, I caught the train from Boston's South Station to Providence to perform at Blood From a Turnip, a fifteen-year-old late-night puppet Salon at the Perishable Theatre. Having forgotten my map, I had to navigate my way to Providence's Downcity Arts District from my memory of landmarks from when Cosmic Spelunker Theater performed at AS220 back in 2004 (you can read

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-35992702075142366002010-01-08T21:16:00.000-05:002010-01-11T16:57:08.729-05:00

As last minute addition to my performance schedule, I will be performing Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Perishable Theatre's late night puppetry Salon, Blood from a Turnip, in Providence, Rhode Island on Friday, January 15th.Show time starts at 10pm. Facebook users can RSVP here. Tickets are $5.Perishable Theatre95 Empire StreetProvidence, RIIf you can't make it to Providence, I'm performing

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-72322081077617639942010-01-04T08:23:00.000-05:002010-01-11T16:51:19.000-05:00

Photography by Shannon O'Connor; Montage by Ian ThalSaturday, January 16th @ 8pm: I will be performing Arlecchino Am Ravenous as part of the PuppetSLAM at Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline.Also performing:Wonderspark PuppetsLittle's CreaturesKyle MackeseyPaul SedgwickJim Sedgwickand Diane KordasTickets are $15 and you can order them online or reserve them by calling the box office at 617-731-

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-63133525816426969002009-12-31T14:52:00.000-05:002009-12-31T17:29:31.287-05:00

I issued a challenge (admittedly, somewhat inspired by Thomas Garvey's provocations) to those critics talking about the lack of diversity in the theatre (especially with regards to the playwrights) to find under-appreciated, and relatively unknown plays and playwrights they deem worthy of production and advocating for them whether their advocacy appears in print, on the blogosphere, or even on

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-58558884994765633452009-12-30T18:56:00.000-05:002009-12-30T19:49:23.639-05:00

It took a few days before there was much of a response, probably owing to the fact that I posted my "Modest Proposal" on the Jewish-American Festival of Chinese Food and Movie Night (food was excellent, but the restaurant was understaffed, the service was ridiculously slow, and one of my fellow celebrants did not receive her entrée!) But not only was there an active discussion (in which I

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-47769726560310089682009-12-24T11:02:00.000-05:002009-12-26T10:32:35.980-05:00

More often than not, this blog has focussed on my own activities as an artist, only on occasion discussing larger issues or participating in a larger conversation. This is one of those occasions.There has been an on-going conversation in the theatrical blogosphere about diversity in theatre. I don't intend to do a full survey, but I'll list off a few items of interest:There was, of course,

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-32521010709083694082009-12-18T13:45:00.000-05:002010-09-01T19:42:41.038-04:00

Despite what I now consider to have been an over-reaction to the suggestion that my plays might be made available online, the much deserved ribbing for said over-reaction by fellow blogger 99seats, I still had concerns as to how playwrights could be expected to make their work available online in such a manner that benefits them as well as the potential audience.Though it may have appeared as if

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-54489298946203808462009-12-13T09:42:00.000-05:002009-12-13T10:15:41.783-05:00

This is an excerpt from Spaces/Places: Voiced Reflections a program presented by Somerville Community Access Television in 2003 to coincide with The Windows Art Project. Lisa Smith produced and Doug Holder was the host.My piece, Copley Square Farmers' Market, which was originally published in Poesy Magazine, comes in at about 1:30. Because there was a long line of presenters who were mostly

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-11744575780341553322009-11-07T19:08:00.001-05:002011-07-17T09:43:22.667-04:00

Bill Marx, Editor of The Art Fuse, is conducting a new experiment, the "judicial arts review." To quote Marx:As coverage of the arts in the conventional, mainstream media wanes, critical discussion of the arts online has settled into two extremes: there’s the corporate dream of an omnipotent “Google” reviewer for all and the chaos of opinions fired off in individual blogs of varying quality and

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-30662736120136276142009-11-07T10:16:00.000-05:002010-10-15T20:36:14.490-04:00

On November Third, Brother Blue (Dr, Hugh Morgan Hill) left the land of the living. He took the title of "storyteller" but could be, and often was, described as a shaman, griot, or performance artist avant la lettre. He was a powerful presence in the Boston area as well as internationally for decades, telling stories to children, teenagers, and adults, as well as serving as a friend and mentor

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-37904139056295631462009-11-07T08:21:00.000-05:002009-11-07T09:58:35.679-05:00

I've been following Professor Matthew Isaac Cohen's blog about his course on Bread and Puppet Theatre at Royal Halloway, University of London, with interest in part because my essay "Breaking with Bread and Puppet" which is both a narrative of my decision to stop working with the troupe as well as a critique of the imagery that prompted my decision (for which I've gained a small amount of

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-53108780627860121112009-11-03T10:00:00.000-05:002010-10-25T11:35:17.383-04:00

Last week, Don Hall, Chicago-based actor, director, theatre-observer, and activist (and well-known enough in the theatrical blogosphere that I trust someone will correct me if I left anything out) has been posting a series on the audition process on his blog An Angry White Guy in Chicago. Having recently been in the position of casting actors for Total War, and like Hall, not being "

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-65273391509132630372009-10-29T22:33:00.000-04:002009-10-29T23:06:41.410-04:00

Not only do I use Facebook, but I am in the Facebook movie.Earlier this week I was in a scene in the upcoming film about the creation of Facebook, The Social Network directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. I was hired to play a mime performing in Harvard Square in 2003. Interestingly enough, I did perform mime in Harvard Square in 2003 and since I was using my own costume, it

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-84882581869519474612009-10-29T21:55:00.000-04:002009-10-29T22:26:41.839-04:00

In a recent thread on the Plays and Playwrights Yahoogroup a number of participants asked what it meant when it is written in the body of the play that it takes place in "the present" (presumingly when it was written) but that "present-day" references are often dated by the time of a given production.Of course to my mind, even "the present" is a specific milieu; stories set in "the present"

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-54025529485467816792009-10-25T14:01:00.000-04:002009-10-25T21:41:28.143-04:00

Have you heard the story about the event promoter who advertises a reluctant artist with the full expectation that it will force the artist to perform at an event, even after the artist says, "no?" No? With the internet and just a little bit of insanity, anything is possible! Read on, gentle readers and learn why "to defriend" is such a useful neologism...I have never hidden that my entrance

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-11152468529465954932009-10-19T12:38:00.000-04:002009-10-19T20:59:44.849-04:00

Like many artists, I have a day-job that is not in the arts. One Thursday, I find myself in front of a high school advanced placement economics class, filling in for an absent teacher, and attempting to fill in the missing historical context from the handout that the absent teacher had left behind.One of the students asks, "Mister Thal, are you still a mime?""Yes, I am," I respond, "but I am

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-43101174361182733522009-10-18T12:20:00.000-04:002010-01-19T18:04:39.605-05:00

Cast from left to right: Lou Fuoco, Trudi Goodman, Tom Sprague, Anika Colvin-Hannibal, Savanah Shaughnessy, Daniel Schneider, Kendall Stewart, Mikey DiLoreto), Matthew Zahnzinger (sadly barely visible), and Kate Heffernan. Once again, I forget to take a lot of photographs.And now for the post-reading analysis.The event received blurbs from Art Hennessey's Mirror up to Nature as well as from

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-51830021242487716492009-10-08T08:05:00.000-04:002009-10-08T08:56:44.146-04:00

While roughly half of the actors participating in this weekend's staged reading Total War are happy to print up their own copy of the script if I simply send them the .pdf, others have busier lives-- and so I have been spending evenings binding scripts.My laser printer, which I acquired last year at a yard sale for $10 has proved invaluable for my career as a playwright, and despite the

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-32121886282580424522009-10-03T10:09:00.000-04:002009-10-03T11:33:45.863-04:00

My last post, "Free Play Free-For-All", resulted in more than the usual amount of discussion, not just in this blog's comment section, but on the 99Seats blog and on the Dramatists Yahoogroup. And while it is always a joy to spark debate, it became very clear to me that despite the legitimacy of some of the concerns I expressed, was none-the-less over-the-top; that my reaction was out of

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-30990000495079693562009-09-29T10:12:00.000-04:002009-10-04T09:20:05.690-04:00

N.B.: 10/3/2009: Since writing this piece, I have decided that it is a bit of an over-reaction, but I keep it here for your entertainment.As an artist who cannot consistently rely on large institutions to promote his events, I make use of on social media, so without hesitation, I did what I and many other artists and presenters of my acquaintance do: I posted an event listing for the staged

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-79173764587781078952009-09-26T14:07:00.000-04:002009-09-30T18:02:13.555-04:00

Total War, a semi-finalist in the 2009 Dorothy Silver Playwriting Competition, is a five-act play set at a Catholic university where the student newspaper has published a Holocaust denial advertisement. Before faculty, students, and staff can begin the expected dialogue on free speech and religious pluralism, an anarchist-cell using the nom de guerre of “Total War” begins a campaign of guerrilla

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-64648378194323474142009-09-23T17:50:00.000-04:002009-09-30T18:05:14.144-04:00

Sunday, October 11th at 8pm at Outpost 186186 1/2 Hampshire Street, Inman Square, Cambridge MAA staged reading of Total War, a play by Ian ThalCast:Jonah Gringer: Dan SchneiderAndrea Kunst: Savanah ShaughnessyEdith Havilland: Kate HeffernanErica Weiss: Kendall StewartFather Aldobrandini: Lou FuocoFather John Bullock: Tom SpragueRichard Doncaster: John M. CostaDuane McCormack: Matthew

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-46489935034483698772009-08-31T20:25:00.000-04:002009-09-30T18:06:36.310-04:00

N.B.: As of September 1st, Trudi Goodman will be playing the Officer.N.B.: As of September 20th, Kendall Stewart will be playing the role of Erica Weiss. The roles of Jonah and Duane are still open.N.B.: As of September 22nd, Dan Schneider will be playing the role of Jonah Gringer. The role of Duane is still open.N.B.: As of September 30th, Matthew Zahnzinger will be playing the role of

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-2854423291684723742009-08-30T14:49:00.000-04:002009-08-30T15:13:23.640-04:00

Once again, Matthew Isaac Cohen, of the Department of Drama and Theatre at Royal Halloway, University of London, is offering his class on Bread and Puppet Theater. I note this in part because my Breaking with Bread and Puppet is on the reading list. The class focusses on using the techniques Peter Schumann developed in the students' own theatre making, something that, despite my own political

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-28520887973136040812009-08-03T21:05:00.000-04:002009-08-03T22:39:06.414-04:00

The Boston Globe sent photographer Erik Jacobs to cover this past weekend's performances of the Open Air Circus, the Somerville, MA based youth circus where I have been teaching mime and commedia dell'arte for the last four-and-a-half years. Somehow, the The Globe chose to feature two photographs of me in the gallery:Photo by Erik Jacobs for The Boston Globe click here for full size.Jacobs

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-10303650258619760632009-07-20T10:40:00.000-04:002009-07-20T11:32:54.958-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I completed the latest set of rewrites to Total War. It was an intense bit of work that began with a trimming of both the longer passages and more philosophically dense passages and an extension of the more character driven drama, trying to expand upon some of the ironies that Thomas Garvey noted during the talk-back session at the end of the April 26th staged

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-63735467732413162032009-04-30T09:22:00.000-04:002009-05-14T10:08:22.125-04:00

Cast of the April 26th reading of Total War at Outpost 186. Note that Anthony DiBartolomeo has been replaced by Stuart G. Levy. The author regrets not taking more photographs.Despite whatever the lone protester outside of Outpost 186 during the staged reading of Total War was attempting to do, the main event was inside.Over the previous few days of read-throughs with some of the actors, and

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7855164859139529987.post-21991276892021134132009-04-27T13:46:00.000-04:002009-07-20T11:49:52.915-04:00

Before I recap the staged reading of Total War, a process that has helped me immensely as a playwright attempting to develop his first full-length play, I have have to share with you the performance that was going on outside of the venue.The reading had attracted a protestor. Total War is primarily about Jewish-Catholic relations, and secondarily about Holocaust denial, it doesn't portray

Ian Thalhttps://profiles.google.com/103877853079847663961noreply@blogger.com3