thaumaturg Main Entry: thau·ma·turg
Pronunciation: \ˈthȯ-mə-ˌtərj\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from New Latin thaumaturgus, from Greek thaumatourgos working miracles, from thaumat-, thauma miracle + ergon work — more at Theater, Work
The official blog of the Dramaturgy Department at Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE. For posts related to our current and upcoming shows, click the links to the right. Alternatively, you could begin at the beginning, and explore our posts in chronological order.
Do we shape stories, or do stories shape us? After going through much of my mammoth collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, I think it’s more often the latter. Fairy Tales, in their original non-Disneyesque glory, are dark and disturbing morality tales that have as much relevance today as they did when the Grimm brothers first started collecting them. Many of our ideas about horror, super heroes, science fiction, and even serial killers come from Fairy Tales. Some of them are so insightful on how people behave, that it’s simply stunning; but Hollywood doesn’t seem to care much about those stories…..
I had the pleasure to see #Gleam at @CENTERSTAGE_MD last evening. My take on this wonderful play….Christiana Clark and Brooks Edward Brantly were magnificent, bringing to life Zora Neale Hurston’s characters with an authenticity full of power, lust, and playfulness that encapsulates the images derived when reading the classic novel. Our narrator Stephanie Barry captivated the audience with her warm and motherly tone setting the scene for the night’s journey back to Florida in the early 1900’s. Axel Avin, Jr. portrayed an honest representation of the “siddity” negro of the time, giving viewers an insight into what has become a longstanding issue in the Black Community - still prevalent today.The supporting cast Gavin Lawrence, Erik LaRay Harvey, and Jaime Lincoln Smith added comical relief and context to enchant and enrich the scenes with the a sense of community. Kudos to Tonia M. Jackson and Celeste Jones for adding tension, familiarity, and satire to the production. Lastly, Thomas Jefferson Byrd had the entire crowd in enthralled with his hilarious undertaken of his unassuming and weathered character.
Thank you director, Marion McClinton, for staging such an inspiring story and to the entire stage crew for transporting us back to a world, not too far in the distant, yet often forgotten past.
If you are looking for a truthful adaptation of Hurston’s classic go see Gleam you will not be disappointed!!
Again congratulations and thank you, thank you, thank you!! Sincerely, Reuel Belt Aspiring Creator
p.s. Another special treat was the pre-discussion with lecturer, Dr. Ruthe Sheffey, renowned Zora Neal Huston authority. Dr. Sheffey’s introduction into the life of Hurston gave great insight to the writings of Hurston. And for those of us lucky enough to attend you felt like you were in the room with Hurston’s bestfriend or sister. Sitting nearby as Dr. Sheffey recounted tales of Hurston’s trials, tribulations, and travels (as well as several marriages). Artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah and Promotions Director Charisse Nichols have set a high-bar for this year’s CenterStage productions. A bar which I am certain they will soar over!!
Mark Fetting and Legg Mason should also receive a round of applause for continuing to support the arts and sponsoring important cultural events that help to invigorate and inspire Baltimore’s citizens.
“ I have been in Sorrow’s kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountains wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and sword in my hands.
~Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road
“ I do not attempt to solve any problems [in my novels]. I know I cannot straighten out with a few pen-strokes what God and men took centuries to mess up. So I tried to deal with life as we actually live it—not as the sociologists imagine it.
~Zora Neale Hurston, from a letter to Fannie Hurst
In just a few days (end of July) a few artistic emissaries from CENTERSTAGE (Gavin and Kwame, actually) will head to Minneapolis for a weeklong workshop and reading of Marion McClinton’s adaptation of Toni Morrison’s Jazz—further developing the piece for its January opening here in Baltimore. Anyone in or around the Twin Cities July 29th should come catch the project; it’s part of the Fresh Ink series at Illusion Theater, supported as well by the gracious folks at the Playwrights Center. Here’s the poop:
July 29th at 8pm Toni Morrison’s Jazz
Adapted by Marion McClinton
A reading of McClinton’s beautiful adaptation of Toni Morrison’s classic, Jazz, a passionate and profound story of love and obsession, set in Harlem where Jazz was being invented and re-invented as African Americans were migrating up away from the injustices of the South and re-inventing themselves in the cities of the North.
Tickets for this production are free. Call 612-339-4944 to place your order.
CENTERSTAGE is currently rehearsing the 3-actor, 90-minute stage adapatation of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment; but perhaps for some this is still not compact enough. If so, try this link. And enjoy.
Short music video about the Japanese American internments during World War II. The backdrop to Snow Falling on Cedars—the theatrical adaptation, just as for the original novel and the film.
“ My only observation, other than it’s a three-actor adaptation of a well-known classic, is that it is about the possibility of redemption in a time when that message is needed, perhaps more than ever. The idea that someone can change, and change profoundly for the good, seems to be extremely resonant with audiences.
Curt Columbus, co-adapter of Crime & Punishment, responding to the question of why the piece has proved so popular at so many theaters all over the country.
…we have not one but TWO theatrical mysteries coming up at CENTERSTAGE. Murder mysteries, no less: bothSNOW FALLING ON CEDARSand CRIME AND PUNISHMENT(adapted from original literary sources) should qualify. Unconventional detectives, perhaps, but that’s as classic a convention as the conventional kind! Agree?
Young people of a certain age might remember the images of Verne and Méliès better in the music video for “Tonight, Tonight” by the Smashing Pumpkins, c. 1997. Heavily influenced, you could say. -DL
Oh, and for those deeply invested, or just curious, you can find an interesting set of observations on the connections and lineage amongst these various strands at this website right here, just by clicking through. Cartoons, animation, art, and more.
