Thursday, November 3, 2011

Shows for Fall semester 2011

The actor-inmates at Bowling Green have finished The Government Inspector and moved on to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Government Inspector convulsed both the prison audience and the outside guests. I describe it as the funniest play you've never heard of.

The guys in the company are committed to making their fellow prisoners laugh. They toyed with Macbeth, Brecht's Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui, A Few Good Men and Inherit the Wind. The men all got one vote, even if they were new to the company, and the vote was fairly close. All of the plays rejected this semester will appear in Fall 2012 as options.

I could have been happy with any of the shows. Arturo Ui, however, intrigues me greatly, and I'll probably not have an opportunity to direct it if I don't do it in prison. I directed Caucasian Chalk Circle at the women's prison at Vandalia, Missouri -- and years ago at NYU -- and am eager to dive into more Brecht.