Photos from Arlecchino Am Ravenous at Behind the Mask Studio and Theatre

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 tells the story of the five little piggies. Photo by Kevin W. Fitzgerald who happened to be visiting from Brooklyn.

Arlecchino prays. Photo by Anya Malkina

Photo by Anya Malkina

After an interesting Q&A during which Bill Marx asked some good questions comparing my usage of the old lazzo, "La Fame dello Zanni" versus that of Dario Fo's, we broke for a light lunch and I went off to supervise my students' rehearsals at Open Air Circus.

This leads to an important announcement that I will make in the next blog entry.

Monday, March 23: Arlecchino Am Ravenous

Monday, March 23, 2009 at 8pm at the Out of the Blue Art Gallery:

Stone Soup Poetry presents Ian Thal performing his short, one-man play, Arlecchino Am Ravenous, a blend of literary satire and physical comedy. Arlecchino is so driven by hunger, as to eat flies, his own fingers, and even his own stomach, before he ravages both the heavens above and the hells below in search of a meal. The piece developed out of a series of improvisations inspired by a reading of Italian Nobel-Laureate, Dario Fo. The show will also include several shorter performance pieces that combine mime and poetry.

Ian last appeared at Stone Soup Poetry as part of a reunion of Cosmic Spelunker Theater. This will be his first solo performance at the long-lived poetry venue since 2001.

Lynne "The Prize Lady" Sticklor will host the event.

Out of the Blue Art Gallery
106 Prospect Street
Central Square
Cambridge, MA.


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Status Update: Writing Projects

It has been a while since I last updated my blog, so it's best to be brief.

As I have mentioned previously, I have submitted my now 104-page script, currently under the title of Total War, to a number of new play festivals, staged reading series, and development workshops. I've thus far submitted to well over a dozen such venues, and I'm expecting to start hearing back from some of them later this month. It's almost like applying to graduate school as so much is invested in the work so far, and there is such a long wait on finding out if others believe in my vision as much as I do.

I've also been submitting a short solo play, Arlecchino Am Ravenous (which I previously wrote about here when it had another title) to a number of ten-minute play festivals. There seem to be any number of them. It's a very different piece than Total War as it began life as a series of improvisations designed to give me reason to perform the commedia dell'arte lazzo of La Fame dello Zanni which I first read about in Dario Fo's book, The Tricks of the Trade. The improvisations eventually took a life of their own and a story developed. I have been amazed to discover that there are so many ten-minute play festivals in existence.

I started work on a short article for the Chhandika newsletter, which is a good thing for me because while I have continued with my kathak studies, I have written so little about kathak, and now I can begin to remedy that.

In the meantime, now that I have come to think of myself as a playwright, I am considering a couple of different piles of writing fragments as "my next project."

Happy New Year!

Arlecchino Am Making Polenta

After getting the play that I'm currently referring to as "Total War: The Overly Ambitious First Play By Ian Thal" (though I'm toying with the alternate title of "Papers in the Snow") to the point where I am seeking staged readings, I have decided that I enjoy being a playwright, and I am already trying to figure out which of many projects that I could work on, I should work on. Even more importantly: How do I start on any one of them?

Sometimes, when confronted with too many creative options after finishing a project, it is easy to not know what to do next, and it is easy for an artist to feel without purpose. So yesterday, I took the improvisation I had developed with inspiration from Dario Fo's La Fame dello Zanni ("The Starving Zanni") and typed up a one-person one-act play, "Arlecchino Am Eternally Ravenous."

Immediately after, I made polenta with gorgonzola. I feel much better now.

Photo by Shannon O'Connor

Photos from the February 9th Show

Thanks to my friend, Shannon O'Connor, I have photographic documentation of my recent show at Willoughby and Baltic. As well as being a showcase for some of the repertoire I have been developing over the past several years, the show was an opportunity for me to try some new material out on an audience. One new piece was a corporeal mime and mask piece entitled "O, Mister Sun" and the other was a my first attempt at a solo commedia dell'arte piece that was inspired by the Dario Fo's performance of La Fame dello Zanni, a classic lazzo from the traditional repertoire. My version includes a visit to both Paradisio and Inferno in Arlecchino's quest to fill his growling belly. The full photo gallery begins here.

Special thanks to Meredith Garniss of Willoughby and Baltic for inviting me to perform again.

Somerville's newest newspaper, The Powderhouse posted a review of the show to its website

February 9th: An evening of mime, poetry and masks at Willoughby and Baltic

On February 9th at 8pm I'll be performing an evening's worth of original work at Willoughby and Baltic in Davis Square.

The show will include mime, mime and poetry compositions, and a one man commedia dell'arte scenario inspired by Dario Fo's performance of the classic lazzo "the starving zanni."

Willoughby and Baltic
195g Elm Street
Somerville, MA
617-501-0197

$7

Willoughby and Baltic is in the alley between Benjapon's and Subway Sandwich Shop on Elm Street, just follow the dots!



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The Starving Zanni

In preparation for next month's show at Willoughby and Baltic, I've been preparing some new pieces of repertoire. One draws upon the commedia dell'arte traditions that I have explored both with i Sebastiani and in I have taught at Open Air Circus. The scenario I have chosen is that of "The Starving Zanni" (La Fame dello Zanni) which I first encountered while reading Dario Fo's Tricks of the Trade (a translation of Manuale Minimo dell'Attore). Here is a video of the 1997 Nobel Laureate performing his own version (somewhat different than the one in the book):

(Grazie to Brian Foley who first brought my attention to the above video on his blog, Commedia dell'Arte Links. )

The rehearsal process has been to improvise upon this scenario,and like any commedia performer, liberally steal from the masters and then drawing upon my own strengths as an artist in the elaboration. As the piece has developed, I have somehow found myself including visits to both heaven and hell (which echos a chapter of the traditional Punch & Judy scenario) and a bit of satirical theology.

Now the only question is: Which Zanni should I play? I thought Arlecchino at first, but I'm wondering if I should not play it as Pulcinella. If so, I may need to make another mask.

N.B.: I have realized, thanks to Google, that I actually discovered the Dario Fo video, not through Commedia dell'Arte Links but through the also excellent blog Clownlink.com which is maintained by Adam G. Gertsacov. There's even a comment from me attached to this article that proves it! Time is not linear in the blogosphere. Thankfully, Foley and Gertsacov have something of a mutual appreciation society as evidenced here and here.