Get Seized by La Belle Dame Sans Merci with Playwright Johnna Adams

"The lady without mercy was the force that made him write. And I generally write that way. When the muse is forcing me to."

- Playwright Johnna Adams

This is your fourth play produced with Flux Theatre Ensemble. How is it working with the group and with the co-founder of Flux and director of Sans Merci Heather Cohn?

I love Flux. You couldn't find a nicer bunch of theater folk in the city. And even though I'd worked with a lot of Fluxers when the Angel Eates Trilogy was produced in 2008-- this is the first time I've gotten to work with Heather Cohn, or Flux friends Alisha, Rachael and Susan-- all of whom I have loved from afar and been very excited to one day work with. So it was something of a dream project to get all of these talented women together on the same play. I really enjoyed it.

John Keats poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” was a reoccurring element in the play as referenced in the title. Did your concept for the play start with the poem or did that come in later?

The poem came later. I wrote this script very quickly-- in about five days. All of the research came in at the point it was needed. In the first scene, Elizabeth asks about how Tracy and Kelly met. And Kelly introduces the poem into the story. While writing it, I literally stopped writing at the point where Elizabeth asks how they met, decided it would be in a women's studies literature course and did a google search for syllabi from that sort of class-- and I found a syllabus where the professor had included La Belle in a similar feminist literature class. I knew from the title without reading it that this was Tracy's oral project, and it then became an integral part of the play.

What were some of your other inspirations for Sans Merci and how did this intense and heartbreaking story develop for you?

My freshman and sophomore college roommate died of a heart condition the summer between my sophomore and junior year and this play is dedicated to her. Jane. I wrote it after a weekend Pataphysics playwriting workshop that Paula Vogel led at the Flea theatre-- the week after. Those were the two guiding forces in writing the play.

One of the central themes of the show was feminism. Would you consider Sans Merci to be a feminist play? And does this come up in your writing often?

Feminism comes up quite a lot in my plays. My latest play Skinless actually features a grad student getting a degree in women's studies in literature and her graduate advisor. They have a long conversation about feminism that defines that play in a lot of ways. I don't actually consider Sans Merci to be a "feminist play." I am interpreting "feminist play" to mean a play that takes a perspective on the idea of feminism as an academic and political movement and promotes or explores it. Skinless may be that. But Sans is a personal story that happens to have some lines about feminism. The girls meet in a class on feminism in art because they are on a journey to define themselves-- and feminism is the political science of defining women. So it is sort of a symbolic starting place for their journey. But not really the point of the play.

The moment in the show referencing Gaston Bachelard’s definition of love (“Love is the intersection of two poetries”) was really compelling. Can you speak to this moment?

This was a definition of love that I found incredibly compelling myself. Mac Wellman recommended this book in yet another Pataphysics class at the Flea (really should have put the Flea Theatre and Gary Winter who organizes those workshops in my special thanks section in the program I am realizing).

 I was struggling with Elizabeth's reaction to Kelly's love for Tracy-- how she found it alien, unwelcome, frightening, and threatening-- and I realized that at some level, Elizabeth considers all love alien, unwelcome, frightening, and threatening, not just this lesbian relationship her daughter enjoyed. At the moment she discusses it in the play, she has just devastated Kelly by telling her she hoped Tracy didn't love her.

My feeling was that she was using the Bachelard quote as almost an apology to Kelly. She tells her, essentially, she doesn't believe Tracy really loved her, but then confesses that she doesn't believe in love as anything but a base urge that ultimately disappoints and corrupts. An older woman's advice to a younger more idealistic woman. Don't romanticize love, it is a devastating and unfair emotion that is generally based on shared pathology. It gives the best incite into Elizabeth's private world than any other moment in the play I think.

How has it been running in rep with Honey Fist? Do you feel like the two stories speak to one another?

I do feel like the stories speak together quite eloquently. Stu, in Honey Fist, is stuck on the cliff side that Justin jumped off of-- physically, he can't remove himself for most of the play. None of the friends can, but in particular the way starts his journey in the chair on the cliff and stays there until the final moments of the play is eerily similar to Kelly's journey. She starts the play on the couch, but mentally she is listening to Tracy's final words and is still on the cliff side where she lost Tracy, and it the end of the play she is still there. Both characters are trapped in their grief like flies in amber. And you watch them deal with disruptive people who intrude on this grief and make them confront it in a way they wish they didn't have to (Joey's return in Honey Fist and Elizabeth's appearance in Honey Fist).

The idealized lost friend and love is a huge theme in both plays. You could re-imagine Honey Fist with flashbacks including Justin and you can re-imagine Sans Merci as a play without Tracy-- you see how similar they really are when you reimagine each to resemble the other structurally. I like imagining Sans-like flashbacks for Justin in Honey Fist. He is such a gorgeous tragic character. Tracy has the problem of not having a voice like other people. She can't express herself fully. When she meets Kelly, Kelly becomes her voice. My friend Fengar Gail, who saw Honey Fist with me, pointed out that Justin's problem is that he is an anhedonic-- someone who can't experience pleasure. These are the things that drive both characters to their death. Tracy's voice suddenly erupts and Justin's inability to feel pleasure suddenly overwhelms him in similar ways (although Justin goes more quietly!).

What’s your process when developing a new play?

My process changes each time and from play to play. Usually I will carry an idea around for a while and it will be developing in my head for a long time before I write it. I write when I am seized by la belle dame sans merci, which was actually one of the ways Keats' referred to his muse. The lady without mercy was the force that made him write. And I generally write that way. When the muse is forcing me to.

What’s inspiring you right now?

Right now I am fascinated with inserting prose sections into plays and with all-woman casts. I have a two-woman show (Gidion's Knot), a three-woman show (Sans Merci) and a six-woman show (Skinless) and I am going to try to write plays for 4,5,7,8,9,10,11 women. A decalogue. Sort of a challenge to myself. Picasso had his blue period, I will have my all women show period. My plays Gidion's Knot and Skinless both feature writers who are characters (in Gidion the writer is never seen) and we hear long passages from their writing. I like what happens when an audience is forced to listen like that. So I am inspired by that right now.

Are you currently working on a new project?

I have several things going on at once. I am outlining some pilots. I am working on my rhyming iambic verse play Lickspittles, Buttonholers and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens in advance of its premiere this fall in Boomerang Theatre's next season. I will workshop Skinless in Atlanta in June at Actor's Express. I am also workshopping the play I am currently writing (the four-woman play) Lingua Ignota at the Kennedy Center in July. That is about a writer, a visual artist, and the artist's two daughters: a manga writer and a realtor on a weekend artists's retreat. Plus 12 productions of Gidion's Knot  in the 2013-14 season around the country. I will probably go to 5 or 6 of those.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for letting me go on like that. :-)

Sans Merci and Honey Fist will be playing in rep at the 4th Street Theatre in NYC through May 18. For more information visit the Flux Theatre's Website. 

The Myths We Live: Lynn Rosen's Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero is Born

 "We're all trying to rewrite our stories so we can make people believe we're a version of ourselves that we're really not (or maybe we really are?)"

- Playwright Lynn Rosen

Goldor $ Mythyka is based on a true story about two seemingly innocent kids involved in fantasy role play that end up stealing $7.4 million from an armored car. How did you go about turning this news story into a play?

I happened upon this story one day on the internet. It captured my attention because it involved crime, a young couple very deeply in love, fantasy, and a desperation that so many people were and are feeling economically. (Hello, Bonnie and Clyde.) This one small story seemed to be a very American story. It spoke to the myth of the typical American outlaw, and the myth that in America "if you dream it you can be it", and that the streets should be "paved with gold."

It also spoke to the truths of America - the 99% vs the 1%. And I knew the fantasy role-playing element would lend it a theatricality that I always employ and enjoy. I read a few more articles about it, and even checked out the real guy's MySpace page before it was expunged. It was very Goth and poetic and, to my mind, represented the musings of his fantasy self, rather than his every day self. I took the basic facts of the story  - lovers in economic crisis, armored car, D&D fanatics - and then jettisoned the real story and made it my own.

Bobby Moreno, Garrett Neergaard and Jenny Seastone Stern

The story of these two kids and their heist is set against the backdrop of the Bernie Madoff scandal - what was interesting to you about these two highly publicized events?

I think one was connected to the other. The economic crisis, the housing crisis, the greed, the Wall Street shenanigans, the double standards for the Haves and the Have Nots - it trickles down to all of us, as we know. In my play, it definitely trickles down to my protagonists in a literal way, ie, the crisis causes their boss to fire them, thus adding to their fiscal and personal woes. But it also feeds into their pre-existing feelings of being left out, abandoned, unnecessary. They already feel this way in their personal life, but the larger economic crises intensifies those feelings.

One of the really compelling themes of the play is the idea of personal myth - that on some level we are all dealing with one (or a few) mythical versions of ourselves and our place in the world - can you expand on that?

In the play, the young couple is described as "meek, sweet, wouldn't hurt a fly", and this is true. But in their games of D&D - their escape from the world - they are powerful, sexy warriors. And when things get really bad for them, donning these alternate personas is what gives them the courage to rob the armored car and alter their reality. To some degree we all do this. We're all constantly shifting our identities in order to get through the day, the marriage, the job. We're all trying to rewrite our stories so we can make people believe we're a version of ourselves that we're really not (or maybe we really are?), so we can have the happy ending we all yearn for. Though, as my characters discover, it's very hard to fight the tide of reality.

What was the development process for the play? How did you and director Shana Gold collaborate?

New Georges thought we'd be a good match and they were right! As Shana and I like to say, "Best J Date ever."

We were paired up for the development of the first incarnation of GOLDOR $ MYTHYKA: A HERO IS BORN when we did a much shorter version of the play in The Germ Project, which New Georges produced in 2011.

After that we continued to collaborate on the play as I built it into a full length. I'd write a new draft, send it to Shana, get her notes, make changes, etc. Over the next couple years we were fortunate enough to have at least six readings and four short workshops of this play, thanks to New Georges. There's no way I could

Bubba Weiler

have developed it otherwise because it's very muscular and physical  - well, it's an adventure! - so we had to see it up on its feet to know what we really had. I was also lucky to have Jenny Seastone Stern and Garrett Neergaard as my heroes almost every step of the way. Getting their thoughts during this ongoing process was invaluable since they know the play so well.

Through all this Shana always had insightful and honest feedback for me, as did Susan Bernfield. She was willing to try anything I brought in and give my crazy ideas I had a chance. We were truly partners, depending on each other for insight, advice, and courage.

Most of all we make each other laugh, which I think is quite pivotal to a collaboration and to the rehearsal process. A fun rehearsal room means everyone is going to feel at ease, happy to be there, and willing to take chance.

You are doing a variety of projects including a web series called Darwin directed by Carrie Preston, and a new play being developed in the TerraNOVA Collective called In The Blue. How do you juggle multiple projects?

I also have two young kids! And other plays I'm developing and I've been commissioned by Women's Project to write the book of a musical. It's not easy, man. I definitely develop plays at a slower pace than most writers I know. This may be a function of the kind of plays I write and my process of writing as much

Rob Leo Roy and Kristin Griffith

as a result of my lifestyle. I kind of throw it all in there in a first draft and then rewrite and rewrite, relying on feedback and dramaturgy from collaborators, and cut and hone, until it feels right. But when I work, I am extremely focused, and I have to be very protective of my writing time. And I never go anywhere or see anyone or go shopping or anything. I don't think I've bought any new clothes in, like, a year and a half. I look great!

What is inspiring you right now?

I'm always intrigued by true stories and real people - usually working class people - who do extraordinary things to change their lives, for better or worse. I'm continuously inspired by "regular Joes" who struggle to live their lives with some sense of empowerment, dignity, and perhaps even with some magic or beauty.
 
What is your guilty pleasure? (or one of them?)

I am known to watch some reality shows on Bravo. They help me put my brain to sleep at night. I'm not proud of this.

Anything you'd like to add?

Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero Is Born runs through Saturday, April 27th at The New Ohio! We have a stellar cast and amazing design. Check it out before it disappears into the ether.

Goldor $ Mythyka: A Hero is Born is produced by New Georges, to get tickets click here. The New Ohio is located at 154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington in NYC.

Photo Credits: Jim Baldassare

Greencard Wedding is a Creative Match Made in Heaven

"I get bored with things that are predictable. Mischief is where the magic happens!"

- Jody Christopherson

What is Greencard Wedding?

JODY: A band but also an experience. We play a set, tell stories about each other, there’s Frisian Wedding cake, there’s bubbles. We give the audience set list T-shirts and underwear to wear (that we actually play from during the show). There’s a wedding video camera we pass around. It’s a story about two people trying to do what they love together against impossible odds. We make everything ourselves because we have to and it’s fun. We have basically no budget- like most artists who get married. We knew Michael might have to leave America when his student Visa was up so we wanted to create something to keep us connected. So the name Greencard Wedding seemed to be a good band name for us.

MICHAEL: Greencard Wedding is an awesome Indie-Folk Rock band that uses English/Dutch and Beatboxing to make a set sound and look special. We are a 2 person band but there is a lot you can do with 2 people!

We try to invent ways to make a song more then just another song by another band, but we strive to make every one of our songs into small experiences so people remember. That also gives the show that we perform the chance to have an arc. Like a theatre piece. I think that's where our theatrical aspect comes in. I think Greencard Wedding more then a band is the fact that people are leaving the show feeling things are possible!

That’s a great feeling…And Boom!!!! A New York -> Amsterdam Skype Show is Born.

 How did you guys meet?

MICHAEL: We met in a church.. hehe.. right around the time that I found God… Nope that’s not true… it was in a church though. She was performing a show where she had to sing in a choir. 

JODY: I was singing in Alec Duffy/ Dave Malloy’s Murder in the Cathedral, in a Cathedral in Crown Heights, and Michael came to see it.

MICHAEL: It was beautiful. I didn’t understand the show much because I just arrived in the U.S. and my English wasn’t really spectacular. 

JODY: We met after the show and he laid down some beats for me.

Photo Credit Eaglepress (at Intar)

MICHAEL: And we went to have burgers with a group of friends at a place called Dutch Boy Burger which I thought was very funny. And after that a weird loft party (at least weird for a dude from the country side of Holland, little did I know heheh.) Where we started talking about theatre and plans and visions... 

JODY: We stayed out till 4am dancing. Yeah, we ended up at that epic loft party with fires in trash cans! It was really Bacchanalian. Some poor kid split his head open head-banging next to a speaker and sprayed blood, like everywhere...I think we went home after that.

MICHAEL: The next morning she called me to do a play/musical and the rest is history!

Are you in love?

MICHAEL: Hmmm…. Yes . . . with fried chicken.. but I’m on a diet now… so I guess that makes it a forbidden love!!!! Ooooooh how exciting!

JODY: People ask us that a lot. We write a lot of love songs and have a lot of fun together. To me, that’s the best type of feeling to give people, being loved. It’s exciting. I’m interested in making things that leave the audience with a feeling good, that anything is possible. So I always hope we can create something with high enough stakes that it makes people wonder that.

Photo Credit Eaglepress (at Intar)

What are your backgrounds?

JODY: I grew up in Nebraska around classic country and folk music. I played the cello for 4 years and the string bass for two. I’ve been singing in choirs and musicals and just on people's front porches since I was little.

MICHAEL: I’m from a small town called Sneek in the North of Holland. I have never been into musical instruments- really more into sports and beatboxing; we used to battle on the skate course. There were a lot of beatboxers in the town I was from, even the Dutch championship was held there. I did a big gig with an 80 piece orchestra and beatboxed on their CD. Beatboxing also got me through the auditions of the local theatre school in my town. When I was 19 I moved to Amsterdam to study acting, then to Den Bosch to study comedy, then to New York City to study Acting and Dance. And most important of all WORK! Now I’m back in Amsterdam again. BOOM!

Who is more of the troublemaker? 

JODY: I think we both love mischief and taking big risks. That’s probably why we work well together. It’s fun to put something unexpected and honest up. To say something in the moment that might not always be rehearsed but is true. I get bored with things that are predictable. Mischief is where the magic happens!

MICHAEL: I mean, I like to think that I am. Because that means you can be nicely irresponsible. But if I make a promise I’ll keep it…I mean hey, your laundry might turn out all pink or green but at least I’ve done the laundry right!!!

JODY: Just to clarify, Michael has never done my laundry. I had no idea he did his own . . .

Photo Credit Stephanie Ching (at Dixon Place)

How do you collaborate?

JODY: Right now we work over Skype, Whatsapp, Facetime and email. We rehearse at 6am NYC time or 12 midnight due to our day jobs. We kick around ideas, we transcribe our calls. We can’t really play music over Skype unless we just play from memory and stand really far away from our computers. Skype has this problem with two people talking at once; the sound cuts out. 

When we are together we improvise music. Sometimes Michael writes music and then we improvise words and harmonies or I write lyrics and melody and we improvise chords.

MICHAEL: I’m loving Jody’s answer so I totally agree.

What's going on in May?

MICHAEL: We play some amazing gigs at Dixon Place, Ella Lounge, Bar Matchless, and more. AND we workshop our new play, THE SKYPE SHOW that’s going to be done over Skype!!!!! Shit's so exciting! Can’t wait to be back in NYC!!

David Anzuelo
Photo Credit Eaglepress

JODY: We have a 60 minute theater piece with video, music and Skyping onstage, THE SKYPE SHOW, that’s going to be workshopped with director Pirronne Yousefzadeh and producer Aaron Simms. It’s the story of  us sitting down on Skype to make a show that will help Michael get his artist visa and discovering that we can’t make music over Skype, so we have to find a way to make a show we can perform. There’s a rock guru role for the amazing David Anzuelo in it that’s shot on video- “UNKA DAVE’S: Guitar for absolute fucking beginners." (I don’t really play an instrument anymore and so Michael got me a “learn to play guitar” DVD series when he left so it’s based, in part, on that).  It includes David’s awesome music.

We just built this sexy new website that speaks Dutch and English to tell people more about upcoming gigs and there are cake recipes, music and pictures: www.greencardwedding.com

What is your vision for the next year?

MICHAEL: We envision touring with the shows we make. We want to expand are audience and reach out to different countries. Love is a Universal thing right; we want the audience to leave feeling like love is possible- boundaries included. It would be awesome to tour in one of those old Volkswagen vans and just play venues and festivals along the road. We started building this in New York, and then throw it upon the World- sort of like that.

JODY: Yeah! Like that! I really hope that a venue in America or abroad will give us a shot to put up the show. We’ve sent out a load of applications. It costs next to nothing to mount. It would help us make a case to continue working together and to build our next two shows in this trilogy. I’d also like to go to Amsterdam. We were just offered a gig there in a coffee shop and our music has been played in a bar that was streaming us from Spotify. Also, I’m learning Dutch! Michael has only taught me naughty Dutch words so I have to expand my education.

Salty or sweet?

JODY: I like both together. 

MICHAEL: Salty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But this stupid diet I’m on prevents me from having it!!!!! Michael! Michael, it’s a choice! You can drop it whenever. Yeah but come on! Can’t I whine for a little bit? NO! Okay well then sweet (it’s easier to not eat!)

Anything else?

MICHAEL: Yeah! This is our brand new website: www.greencardwedding.com you can buy tickets to our shows and come enjoy us in person!!

JODY: Also there’s some fun footage on our indiegogo page that’s been shot by the audience.

Get Your Funny on with Parallel Exits' Comedy Academy HAPPENING NOW.

“The test of a real comedian is whether you laugh at him before he opens his mouth.”

George Jean Nathan

If you’re like me, you have no idea who George Jean Nathan is. But what he asserts above fits right in line with the assertions made by Joel Jeske and Mark Lonergan, the two skillful fools currently running Parallel Exit’s Comedy Academy. Divided into eight total workshops of three hours each, these men have broken down physical comedy into bite-size morsels, digestible for even the beginner idiot (as opposed to a more seasoned one). Regardless of where you may fall on the idiot scale, it is never too late or too soon for a touch up of the comedy variety.

Photo Credit: Jim Moore

The evening I attended the Comedy Academy, our particular area of focus was status. Other areas include emotional state as a source of character or making strong physical choices. Status is extremely useful as a tool. All comedy duos and trios contain individuals who are either smarter or more stupid than their compatriots. Think about the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges. One is clearly in charge, one is clearly not in charge, and one could go either way...  

In the exercises we were given, we explored how status can be fluid and change within a scene and when status might be fixed. How does this sense of being smarter or stupider inform our choices in posture, movement, facial expression, reactivity, and relationship to the audience? Jeske and Lonergan work with each student to point out moments of comic clarity. 

Most often, the biggest laughs were given for moments of physical nuance, expression or surprise. This is not a workshop for the very clever who would like to become more clever. This is a workshop for those who like to listen, to observe, and who are interested in creating worlds around them with their own physical imagination.  When done with integrity and with Parallel Exit’s influence, these worlds are most likely going to be pretty funny.

The evening concludes with a concise summary of the workshop’s talking points, which are also emailed to participants the following day. This lets the students really focus on what is unfolding before them rather than worrying about taking notes or remembering everything later. A nice touch.

Photo Credit: Peter Dressel

 If you are still wondering, George Jean Nathan was a literary critic in the first half of the 1900s. Another of his more memorable quotes is “I drink to make other people interesting.”

Lucky for me, the folks teaching and taking the Comedy Academy workshop I attended were plenty interesting without a necessary cocktail. If getting your comedy on is something you have always secretly wanted to try, or if you simply seek to refine an aspect of your technique underneath some kind, watchful eyes, it is a good bet you will get your money’s worth with the fine folks of Parallel Exit.

 

Remaining sessions, April 8-11, 7-10 pm

520 Eighth Avenue

$75 per class / $250 for 4 classes

Parallel Exit

Contributed by Guest Blogger Catherine Mueller.

Catherine Mueller is a Co-Artistic Director/performer with The Glass Contraption, a not-for-profit physical theater company whose original works have been developed and/or presented in partnership with The Orchard Project, Ars Nova, The Field, The Kitchen, The Public Theater, Jalopy Theater and The Grahamstown National Arts Festival (South Africa). Facedancing, TGC’s short film, was an official selection of the 2011 Maryland International Film Festival. She has written, developed and performed in multiple solo works, which have been presented at

Dixon Place, IRT, and many others. Past roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (dir. Gregory Wolfe); Emilia in Othello (dir. Alex Correia); Platypus in 13 Ways of Looking as a Blackbird (dir. Dan Rigazzi).  Her work can also be seen in numerous national network commercials, voiceovers, and short films directed by Juan Reinoso. She has studied physical comedy, clown and its related forms since 1999 with many, many teachers, most notably Christopher Bayes, currently Head of Physical Acting at Yale School of Drama, with whom she apprenticed.

She currently leads residencies in physical theater/clown at universities, actor training programs, and community-based arts organizations throughout the land. She has been associated with the 52nd Street Project since 1999 as a performer, director, and mentor, as well as clown teacher for the past four Teen Ensembles preparing to perform Shakespeare. She was a participant in the 2011 Director’s Lab Chicago and is adjunct faculty in the Theater Department at Drew University in Madison, NJ.  Education: BA in Theater, Hofstra University; MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts candidate, Goddard College.

 

NYC Through the Eyes of LAByrinth Theatre Company

  " I was part of the first generation of my family to be born here in New York, and the theatre seemed like this far away foreign land where only certain types of people were allowed to live..."

-Mel Nieves

Actor, playwright, teaching artist and LAB member

On a Stormy white and wet Monday night last week, I got cozy at LAB's NYNY Festival along with a packed house of people excited to see a reading of Israel Horowitz' play "The Indian Wants the Bronx". Afterwards, Mel and I were talking about the festival and why New York Theater (and LAB) reins supreme. I'll let him take it from here (and if you have a New York Theater Story you'd like to share, let me know!)
-Micheline Auger
Theaterspeaker@gmail.com

In the spring of 2010 I had the honor of working on a LAByrinth project titled “TENN99” which was a celebration of the life and work of Tennessee Williams. It was a series of stage readings of his plays, not just of his most famous works such as “The Rose Tattoo”, “A Streetcar named Desire”, “The Glass Menagerie” , but also long forgotten works like “Talk to me Like The rain”, “The long Goodbye”, “Auto De Fe” and “Spring Storm”, along with many essays and poetry,  which culminated in a 72 plus hour around-the-clock marathon reading of his canon.

I believe for me it was during the wee small hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning, sitting behind the curtain, my eyes closed and my ears wide open that I realized I was not only listening to one of the great voices of the theatre, but truly our American Shakespeare.

Flash forward to the current spring of 2013 and once again I find myself involved in another such project simply titled “NYNY”, a reading series (produced by LAB) celebrating plays about New York City by some of our finest writers such as John Patrick Shanley, Maria Irene Fornes, Amiri Baraka, Arthur Miller, Clifford Odets, Miguel Pinero, Lanford Wilson, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Elmer Rice and many, many more,

The Indian Wants the Bronx 1967

again culminating in a blow-out weekend of forty-eight hours of round the clock theatre. The series kicked off with a play that is very, very dear to my heart, Israel Horovitz’s “The Indian Wants the Bronx”.

I grew up on the upper Westside housing projects of New York; mine was called The Frederick Douglas Projects. My family came to this city via Puerto Rico. I was part of the first generation of my family to be born here in New York, and the theatre seemed like this far away foreign land where only certain types of people were allowed to live. I was not well read or a very good student but I got a job as a teen during my freshman year of college as an assistant stage manager, aka “Gofer", on a production of “The Indian Wants The Bronx”. This experience would forever change the course of my life.

I knew the two street thugs, Joey and Murphy. I knew their walk. I knew their talk. I knew where their anger came from - heck they were me, so much so, that the director, who would be become my mentor,
Gus Fleming, asked me to take the actors along for a walk around my neighborhood to let them experience the world of the play through my eyes.

“The Indian Wants The Bronx”, tells the story of two lost boys, Joey and Murphy, who confront a stranger in a strange land - a middle eastern Indian named Gupta - and through a series of harassing street games that resemble two ally cats playing with a frightened and innocent mouse, ends in violence. The play, like many of the plays in the series, is a reflection of this great city in all its glory and yes, ugliness, as seen through the eyes of the theatre.

To quote the legendary acting teacher Stella Adler, “The word theatre comes from the Greeks – it means the seeing place”. Through the eyes of these many playwrights with the landscape of New York as their canvas, we see the history of this great metropolis from “Waiting for Lefty” and the working class cry of “Strike! Strike! Strike!", all the way up to the Giuliani era and the Guirgus' play “In Arabia We’d be Kings”. This is what “NYNY” presented by the LAByrinth theatre company from their home on Bank street is all about.

Mel Nieves participating in Theaterspeak's Write Out Front 2012

Mel Nieves is a actor/playwright/teaching-artist and long time member of the award winning LAByrinth Theatre Company. 

Taxes - What You Need to Know and Other Sexy Stuff

"...a qualified performing artist is engaged in a business for profit if he or she

 constantly promotes and seeks employment within the industry."

-Raymond Nieves

Nieves Tax LLC

 What are three things every theater artist should know about doing their taxes?

1.  Record keeping can’t be stressed enough.  Keep every receipt no matter how small.

2. Professional viewing is a deductible expense.  That means every time you pay to see a play or go see a movie that expense is deductible.

3. When in doubt, ask a tax professional.  The U.S. Tax Code is 4 times longer than Shakespeare’s complete works.  It’s impossible for a lay person to cover every deduction.  Relying on someone who studied that tax code and does this for a living just makes sense.

What are some common mistakes artists make in approaching their taxes?

They don’t consider making their quarterly estimated tax payments until it’s too late and they owe a ton of money on April 15.  If you get 1099’s instead of W-2’s where your taxes are withheld, you must pay your taxes on a quarterly basis.  The IRS expects taxpayer’s to have all their taxes paid by December 31 of the current tax year.  If you wait till April to pay your balance you may be subject to substantial interest & penalties.

I recommend doing a quarterly tax projection so that an artist pays their taxes as they go instead of in one lump sum.  I would also recommend that whenever they can they opt to be paid net of taxes.  I know it’s not always possible but it is the optimal way to pay your taxes, thru withholding. 

What are some common misconceptions about tax prep for artists (write-offs, independent contractors, home-office etc.)?

I had a couple come in a few weeks ago and they were professional artists, earning a living at a professional art studio.  At home, they had a studio and practiced their art with the intention of selling it, spending all kinds of money on supplies and rent for the studio.  Someone had told them that if they showed losses for their personal business expenses, the IRS would consider their art a HOBBY and not let them take it on their tax returns. WRONG WRONG WRONG!

The IRS states that you can deduct losses as long as you are engaged in a business to make a profit.  The Hobby Loss Rule states that if a profit is not made in at least 3 out of 5 years then the IRS can challenge the deduction of the losses.   The IRS has 9 factors they use to determine if a person’s losses should be subject to the hobby loss rules. They are stated in IRC Section 183, as follows:       

1. The manner in which taxpayer carries on the activity.

                             2. The expertise of taxpayer or advisers.

                             3. Time and effort spent by taxpayer in carrying on the activity.

                             4. The expectation that assets used may appreciate in value.

                             5. Taxpayer’s success in other similar or dissimilar activities.

                             6. Amount of occasional profits, if any.

                             7. Taxpayer’s history of income/loss with respect to activity.

                             8. Financial status of taxpayer.

                             9. Elements of personal pleasure or recreation.

An argument can be made that a qualified performing artist is engaged in a business for profit if he or she constantly promotes and seeks employment within the industry.  So please, keep care in recording your expenses because in lean years a loss can come in handy in saving needed tax money.

What should you look for when looking for a tax accountant? What questions should you ask? Why not turbo tax or H&R block?

I’m of the opinion if you don’t know even a little about taxes you shouldn’t prepare your own.  Turbo Tax is wonderful as long as you know something about your tax situation.  In regards to H&R Block, they are known for hiring lay people and training them to work with a Turbo-Tax like program.  Most of them don’t know the difference between a deduction and a credit.  A tax deduction reduces your taxable income, their value depends on the taxpayer’s marginal tax rate and they cannot reduce taxable income to below zero.

In contrast, tax credits directly reduce a person’s tax liability and some can even be refunded directly to the taxpayer.  These nuances are important in order to correctly access a taxpayers tax situation.  Most employees of H&R Block would fail an in-depth exam on the tax code. On the other hand if you hire a CPA or Enrolled IRS Agent, you know right away that person has a tested expertise in the subject of taxes.  It’s one of the main questions you should ask a tax person, is he or she licensed. Other questions are what kind of clients do they work with? Are they available year round?  How do you bill for services?  I’ve heard so many horror stories about people going back to a tax preparer’s office and finding it empty.  Trust no one until you find out what their credentials are. 

Anything new and exciting in the tax code this year?

The payroll holiday ended this year.  For the past 2 years, the Social Security tax withholding rate on a person’s salary was reduced to 4.2% from 6.2%.  Due to the Republican’s little fiscal cliff drama at the end of the year, that ended.  Also, rates on ordinary income for higher income taxpayers rose to 39.6% from 35%.  This is actually a rollback to President Clinton’s highest tax rate.

Furthermore, personal & dependent exemption deductions were again set to phase out as your income increases. The last time we saw a phase-out rule for personal and dependent exemption deductions was 2009. As a result, your personal and dependent exemption write-offs can be reduced or even completely eliminated. Phase-out starts at the following adjusted gross income (AGI) thresholds: $250,000 for single filers, $300,000 for married joint-filing couples, $275,000 for heads of households, and $150,000 for married individuals who file separate returns. 

What should you do if you get audited?

Contact a tax professional to help you.  Dealing with the IRS can be tricky and if you’re not sure what you are doing you can really step in it.  As an Enrolled Agent, I can represent a taxpayer in tax court.  Dealing with a tax professional assures a person that their situation will be treated in an intelligent and professional manner.  Plus, a tax professional may be able to mitigate a penalty if it’s found that you owe back taxes.

How did you get into this line of business?

It’s a funny story, I was studying to be an actor when I got a job in an accounting firm mail room.  After about a year, one of the tax managers found herself in a bind to amend a client’s tax return and the office was empty of professionals.  She had become friendly with me and asked me if I wanted to take a shot at doing the return.  I said yes, since I had always been good at math.  I did ok.  She asked me a few more times, each time the return was a little more complex.  Finally, one day she called me into her office and told me in all seriousness that acting is a wonderful but very hard profession.  As a back-up, she said, you should take some accounting classes maybe even get a degree.  I went home and thought about it and saw the logic to her suggestion.  I changed my major and before I knew it, my back-up became my profession.  I still love acting and the cinema so I keep up with both as a side hobby.

Nieves Tax LLC provides a wide range of services to individuals and businesses in a variety of industries.  Mr. Nieves is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents. THEATERSPEAKERS get 10% off of tax services when they mention Theaterspeak. Yowza!

Location:

5624 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11220

Tel#: (347) 844-9297

Fax#: (718) 504-5492

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Lindsay Joy Murphy on her new play Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyber Queen

"...we put an image out there of how we want to be perceived, but how close is that persona to who we really are?"

Playwright Lindsay Joy Murphy

  
 How did you come to  playwriting?

I was an acting major at my University and I had a terrific teacher that encouraged me to take a playwriting class. He said it would make me a well-rounded actor. Our first assignment was to construct a ten-minute play. I wrote a short piece called "Life, Love and a 7-11" and it went on to win an award at the Kennedy Center that year. From the first assignment on- I've been hooked. Acting is wonderful, immediate. Writing, for me, has turned out to be so much more rewarding and satisfying.

What was the inspiration for Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyber Queen?

I read this article in Rolling Stone:

The article revolves around a "scene queen" named Kiki Kannibal. At 14, she created short videos that went viral. I started wondering what that would do to a family unit- to have fast fame centering around a young girl. A girl that is just coming to understand her own sexuality. It also got me thinking about these personas that we put out into the world. Meaning- we put an image out there of how we want to be perceived, but how close is that persona to who we really are?

What has the development been?

Development has been a long and quite enjoyable road. I had two amazing sources to help me along the way. I had Padraic's Play Development group- a group of smart, astute writers that give great and supportive feedback to help guide me. And my company, The LabRats, has been there every step of the way. I was able to bring this piece up for our retreat at NACL and then workshop it until it was a part of our yearly reading series, RAW. The play has had many different openings/endings but I'm so very pleased that we have landed with this script.

What do you like about working with director Padraic Lillis?

Everything. Seriously. Dude is crazy smart. He has been a guiding hand through the development of the play- he knows it as well as I do, probably better. He's like a laser in the rehearsal room- so specific with his notes. But what I really love is that it still feels like a collaboration. The process was so fun to watch and- over the weeks of rehearsals- it helped me see the little things that needed tweaking. Once you see a great director shake down a scene to need and action, and there is still a line sticking out? Well, that's a line problem!

What is inspiring you right now?

The new play that I'm writing cuts pretty close to home. It revolves around a couple trying to have a baby- a situation my hubby and myself are in right now. I had no idea that trying to conceive would take...trying. So, fertility is fascinating to me at this very moment.

You can see the Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyber Queen at the Access Theater (380 Broadway at White Street) now thru March 17th. Purchase tix here or call 800-838-3006. Rise and Fall is produced by LabRats Theater company. Tickets are $18 but you can get them for $15 bucks by entering or mentioning SceneQueen! Do it. 

Read more about LabRats Theater Company Presents 'Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen,' Opening 2/28 by broadwayworld.com