Superfluities Redux

by George Hunka
Artistic director, theatre minima

A Theatre Surrounds a City:
Vienna's Burgtheater

Monday, 24 May 2010

In conversation

Those who were unable to attend the 10 May Howard Barker at the Segal Center event can now listen online to "A Conversation with Howard Barker," conducted by Prof. David Ian Rabey of the University of Aberystwyth, at theatreVOICE. The hour-long discussion is divided into two parts: part one ("about history, abandoning social realism, and creating new definitions of political theatre") is here, and part two ("about tragedy, working with actors, and the ethics of directing") is here. There is also a question-and-answer session that concludes part two.

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Tuesday, 11 May 2010

Something more than rumor

It was a pleasure to see a capacity crowd at the CUNY Graduate Center's Martin E. Segal Theatre Center last night for Howard Barker at the Segal Center. The audience included a number of enthusiasts for Barker's work, and perhaps most remarkable was the heterogeneity of this audience. Some of the most brilliant performers of the Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway communities could be found both on stage and in the audience, along with directors, long-time fans of Howard's work as well as newcomers to the dramatist's project, students, theatre administrators — young and old, from a variety of walks of life. Testimony, if any were needed, to the continuing appeal of Barker's work and especially to its necessity, even in an age which seems to find it irrelevant (though anyone familiar with Howard's work knows that this label is more an indication of that necessity than anything else). As the harried curator of the event I was able to speak to only a few of you, and sadly only briefly. But rest assured that I was delighted to see those of you who sought me out to say hello (especially those who travelled great distances just to be there for the day), and I'm very glad indeed I had the opportunity to share this common enthusiasm for Howard's work with you.

Credit where credit is due: the administration, staff and technical crew of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (Dr. Frank Hentschker, Dr. Daniel Gerould, Jan Stenzel, Ruth Wikler-Luker and our outstanding technical director Boris, of course), without whom none of this would have been possible; performers Wallace Acton, Robert Emmet Lunney, Jan Maxwell and Rocco Sisto; director Jesse Berger; stage manager Cynthia Dillon; director Richard Romagnoli and playwright Ken Urban; Concord Media and Dr. Peter Hulton of the University of Exeter for providing the video portion of the day; and, last but certainly not least, Victoria Wicks, Howard Barker and David Ian Rabey for taking the time out of their extremely busy schedules to join us here in the United States for this unique, once-in-a-lifetime event.

Those who are interested in purchasing Howard's books are advised to visit the Nietzsche Circle's bookstore at Amazon Associates, where you'll find a full selection of his theory, plays and poetry; buying them through this bookstore, you'll also be doing a small part to support the Circle's publication Hyperion, which this month includes a special section on the dramatist's work. David Ian Rabey's Howard Barker: Politics and Desire and Howard Barker: Ecstasy and Death are indispensible to a full understanding of the Barkerian project.

Onward, ever upward. Thanks to all of you, once again.

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Thursday, 29 April 2010

Melanie Jessop on Howard Barker

In today's Guardian, actress Melanie Jessop discusses the idea of "relevance" in Howard Barker's work and the recent funding history of the dramatist's The Wrestling School, of which she is an associate:

Barker is a writer who provokes extreme reactions. His position outside the mainstream of British theatre is often explained, by those who seek to keep him there, in terms that remind one that the establishment operates a sophisticated vetting policy. He is obscure. He is elitist and — most atrocious of all — he won't exercise his artistic responsibility to make theatre "relevant" by using his craft to examine the social and political issues of the day. He won't be useful. ...

Barker's classic play Scenes From an Execution looked at the artist's role in society and the conflicts of interest and ambition that arise when an artist accepts a major public commission. In Hurts Given and Received he goes much further, inviting us to look into the mind of the poet and understand something of the violence and energy of his creative process. The "relevance" of this may be debatable — but surely only by those for whom "relevance" is a forged passport into the theatre of the imagination.

Jessop's essay appears on the day of the opening of his latest play, Hurts Given and Received, at Riverside Studios.

You can hear the playwright himself discuss his work at Howard Barker at the Segal Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue in New York, on Monday, 10 May, beginning at 1.00pm: a day-long event celebrating Barker's four decades as one of the most controversial playwrights, directors and theoreticians in the English-language theatre. A co-presentation with my theatre minima company, the day and evening will feature screenings, discussions and readings, as well as significant contributions from Barker himself, his colleague Victoria Wicks and critic David Ian Rabey. The full schedule for the event is here.

Howard Barker at the Segal Center is free and open to the public. You can RSVP and invite your friends at the Facebook page for the event here. I look forward to welcoming you there.

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Next 3 entries

Superfluities Redux home page

George Hunka home page

theatre minima home page

Theory and polemic
95 Sentences About Theatre (2007)
Organum I (2006-2007)
Organum II (2008-2009)
Critique of Tragedy (2010-continuing)

Notes
Howard Barker 1
Howard Barker 2
Samuel Beckett 1
Samuel Beckett 2
Bertolt Brecht
Richard Foreman 1
Richard Foreman 2
Je Suis Sang
Sarah Kane
Music
Marilyn Nonken
Saint Oedipus

Contact
geh@panix.com