(Part 3) Best products from r/Theatre

That's a fantastic book and if she's a Tina Fey fan, [Bossypants] (http://www.amazon.com/Bossypants-Tina-Fey/dp/0316056898) is a fantastic book and she has 'bits' in Live From New York, a collection of cast member's experiences on SNL and a history of the show. Glad she liked it!

I'm not going to argue with anyone who finds Shrew distasteful. The play is absolutely misogynist, or at least written for a misogynist audience, and that isn't something that has any place in our world anymore.

I do wonder if Shakespeare didn't intend a bit of countercultural narrative though. Obviously it's no feminist screed, but Katherine is a force to be reckoned with, imbued with all the same qualities that make Beatrice a positive role model in the less problematic All's Well That End's Well. Probably not. But maybe?

In any case, I would highly recommend the ACT production which you can get on DVD on Amazon. It changed my whole outlook on the play. Without any rewrites, they spin the conflict as a kink. Both Katherine and Petruchio are turned on by violence and insults, and so are perfect for each other. The final monologue, in which Kat reminds wives to be dutiful, is a lie, motivated by the desire to see her husband win a bet. It all works remarkably well, and can be a blueprint for how to handle the material if you so choose.

Not the person you asked, but I always have stuff like this saved on an Amazon list lol. Here is one that's pretty cheap, but if your space is large enough it could work just fine.

Blood draw tubes are vacuum sealed. If you have any bag of fluid with a hypodermic needle attached and insert it into a blood draw tubes it will automatically suck up the fluid.

The set up.

Luer Lok Syringe filled with blood colored liquid. Attached to a Luer Lok vacutainer access device hidden on the actor. If you need to you can have a larger bag of fluid attached to Luer Lok IV tubing attached to the access device. Either way hide that part of the set up on the actor near the blood draw access point, probably arm. The you will need a few vacutainers to draw the blood in. If you want to have a needle for effect use blunted or filtered needles as they are much safer. Even one of those turkey injection needles would work as they are blunt, easy to purchase, and more easily seen from a distance. To draw the blood simply attach the vacutainers to the access device until it fills, remove it and repeat as necessary.

Links to supplies.

Luer Lok Syringe

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DARHDV8/ref=mp_s_a_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1518202445&sr=8-4&keywords=luer+lock+syringe&dpPl=1&dpID=51lZ4jilSrL&ref=plSrch

Luer Lok vacutainer access device

https://www.mooremedical.com/index.cfm?/Vacutainer%AE-Luer-Lok%20-Access-Device/&PG=CTL&CS=HOM&FN=ProductDetail&PID=8985&spx=1

Vacutainers

https://www.thomassci.com/scientific-supplies/Vacutainer-Blood-Collection-Tubes


The links are to demonstrate, most medical supply companies only sale wholesale. Your best bet is to know someone with access to a small amount of these devices (MD, RN, Paramedic, Phlebotomist) or call around to pharmacies, hospitals, and labs to ask for it to be donated or sold third party in small quantities. Unless your budget allows for 500 bucks for a single effect.

Process video, skip to 5:00 for relevant part. Notice the syringe plunger automatically goes down with the vacuum.

https://youtu.be/7NSEFVbzTAU


Hope this helps.

Let the Part Play You:

http://www.amazon.com/Let-Part-Play-You-Practical/dp/0963965522

Respect for Acting:

http://www.amazon.com/Respect-Acting-Uta-Hagen/dp/0025473905

Both really great reads for actors that are looking to start with their best foot forward.

Here's my two cents:

If I had one book, it would be
A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology: The Secret Art of the Performer

This book is a great jumping off point for whatever you want to study. It codifies and connects different types of styles, e.g. it takes a topic like "balance" and says this is an example from mime, from balinese dance, from noh, etc.

In addition to Brecht, I'd recommend picking up Towards a Poor Theater (Grotowski). Grotowski's work is deeply, deeply physical.

Another book, a good primer on the major movements of the last 120 years or so is Twentieth Century Theatre: A Sourcebook, which has a little bit of everyone, in their own words, from Stanislavski and Meyerhold through To Barba. It's not as actor-centric perhaps, but it will give you a good overview, that you can get more specific with.

Lastly, The Practical Handbook for the Actor and The Invisible Actor, two books that help me immensely with how i approach a role.

Rather than /r/askhistory I would try /r/askhistorians. The responses tend to be much better.

Btw, this would be a fantastic topic for a research paper.

edit: Just did a cursory search on Google Scholar. The book Out on Stage by Alan Sinfield seems like a great starting point.

For Chekhov I always start with these photos:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/08/russia_in_color_a_century_ago.html
And this book (I gave mine to a friend, so now I ask BN to order it and then don't buy it so I can look at it in the store.)
http://www.amazon.com/Anton-Chekhov-Moscow-Theatre-ebook/dp/B000Q36EMO
Wikipedia's entry on Cherry Orchard gives a great place to start for general character analysis.
It's been a long time now, but in Chicago I used to go to the Russian / Slavic neighborhoods and eat at a cafe observing people about the same age of the character I was playing. I did that for Kulygin and Astrov. I believe there are similar neighborhoods in Queens.
Hope this helps! Any other questions, throw them my way :-)

There's too much to cover in a simple Reddit comment. Lawrence Stern's book, "Stage Management", will be your best friend. Highly recommend this as reading for anyone interested in stage management.

These books are outstanding (for any voice type) - comprehensive, with music from a great range of sub-genres & styles as well as time periods (including Gilbert and Sullivan), matched by volume to voice type. I have four of the Tenor volumes. My one criticism is that the first book came out in the late 70s, so the 2nd and 3rd have some slightly more modern repertoire, such as Les Mis etc.

There's a slightly more expensive version that comes with a recording and a backing track, and a version with these disks alone (no sheet music). They're good quality, just be careful which you're buying.

Dissassembly by Steve Yockey. Read it twice before making any judgment.

Dollhouse by Rebecca Gilman. You need at least a cursory knowledge of A Doll's House to appreciate this, but it's solid either way.

Pool (No Water) by Mark Ravenhill. Experimentally written; really cool performance opportunities.

Homesteaders by Nina Shengold.

The Diviners by Jim Leonards, Jr.

Radium Girls by D. W. Gregory.

You are right that it is parody and shouldn't need the Coen's permission, but according to the lawyer's email the Coens now hold the rights to the parody too, even though they didn't write it. If they hold the rights to the parody, then you can't perform it without the Coen's permission.

I'm curious to know how it went from free download to being published by Simon & Schuster to (apparently) being owned by the Coens. It's still for sale on Amazon and ironic you can buy the play but not perform it. I wonder where the money goes?

No personal experience, sorry, but you might find the Minnesota-based Ten Thousand Things Theater Company's work useful (there's a great book that explores the company's work, "All the Lights On").

My wife is a ballet dancer/instructor, going strong in her 40s. Her pain routine:

• Keep ice packs in your freezer. Your local drugstore should have something like this. Wherever it hurts, and joints in particular, ice for 20 minutes, BUT NOT LONGER. After about 20 minutes, your body has some kind of reaction that kicks in and lessens/counteracts the effectiveness of the ice. (I don't really understand it, but it seems to work for her.) Do this a couple times a day.
  
• Alternate ibuprofen and acetaminophen.
  
• Epsom salt baths, as u/GypsyWitch05 said.
  
• Stretch thoroughly before AND AFTER dance.
  
• At night, lie on the floor with your butt against the wall and your legs sticking up the wall. You may want to put a belt loosely around your legs at the knees so you can fully relax your legs. Do this for 10-20 minutes, or longer if you want. She says it helps with inflammation.
  
  Break a leg!

I think for the ordinary schmoe (like me, for instance) "contact the SM and ask for access" for a video recording of a play isn't really a practical option.

But there are some excellent productions recorded on DVDs, available commercially. I have a few :

The American Film Theatre Collection

Company

Sunday in the Park with George

FWIW I heartily recommend them all.

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