GMU Players Newsletter- March 2, 2003 CONTENTS: I. "The Lady's Not For Burning" Closes on Sunday. Strike to Follow! II. Arts Improv Jam Sunday Night III. Lysistrata Project Staged Reading March 3 IV. Spring Shorts Auditions Wednesday V. Players Meeting Monday Night VI. SETC Conference in Arlington March 6-8 VII. Misc. Announcements VIII. Events Calendar ---------------------------------------------------------- I. LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING CLOSES SUNDAY, MARCH 2 STIKE HELP NEEDED! The current Players mainstage production, "The Lady's Not For Burning, directed by Ed Gero, closes Sunday (today!) The last performance starts at 2:00. Strike will start immediately following the end of the play (about 5:00) and will go until late Sunday evening. "Lady" has a big set and an extensive light hang, and all hands are needed for strike! If you need tech hours for class, or want to learn more about sets and lights, or just feel generous, tonight is a great opportunity! All skill levels are needed. Here's a capsule description of the play: Set in a small English town in the 1400's, a young, attractive daughter of an alchemist is sought for being a witch. She comes to the Mayor's house for refuge full of hope and reason, only to find the forces of hypocrisy, superstition, greed, lust, bureaucracy and religion in the form of the family members inside. She is also met by another outsider, a young world weary soldier, who in his existential despair, pleads for the gallows by confessing to two murders. Written by Christopher Fry at the close of World War II, this language rich romantic comedy pits the individual heart against the world's ignorance and cruelty, where the alchemy of human transformation may find that life is worth living after all. The Cast: Mark Carter, Ariela Graham, Billy Chace, Sky Adams, Jeff Hindman, Dan Guy, Zack Myers, Erica Musyt, Anne Steucker, Sarah Bever ---------------------------------------------------------- II. RE-SCHEDULED ARTS IMPROV JAM SUNDAY NIGHT IN BLACK BOX The first-ever Arts Improv Jam at Mason will take place from 8-10 om on Sunday, March 2 (tonight!) in Black Box. That is, unless it snows AGAIN. **Come and join the Arts Improv Jam. Bring whatever you need to Improvise in your given artistic field. For many of us that's just ourselves. For others it's a pen and paper, or a drum, or whatever. Bring an open mind and a willingness to experiment. Bring friends! This event will be all about collective participation. It's not a performance, everyone is taking part in their own way. Even if you never take "the stage" your creative energy, or supportive energy is part of the process. You don't need to prepare anything, but if you want to bring things that you've created - you can share that as a way to inspire creative improvisations for others. ---------------------------------------------------------- III. LYSISTRATA PROJECT READING AT MASON MARCH 3 On March 3 (3/3/03), more than 900 theater groups in 50 countries will stage readings of the ancient Greek play "Lysistrata" to raise awareness and provoke debate about moral and ethical issues of war and protest faced by the Greeks in the Peloponnesian war and Americans in the Middle East today. The George Mason theater community will join the Lysistrata Project, presenting our reading at 3:00 pm in the JC Atrium (ground floor of the Johnson Center, outside Dewberry Hall, aka the multipurpose room). For more information on the Lysistrata Project, see: http://www.pecosdesign.com/lys/ More information about the Lysistrata Project: Our society is about to go to war. The imminent new war in Iraq is controversial; It divides Americans at home and NATO and the United Nations abroad. We are forced to ask questions like: "When should a country go to war?" "Is this a "just" war, or unwarranted aggression by the United States?" "CAN there be a 'just' war?" "When (if ever) does an abstract threat become great enough to justify pre-emptive violence?" "What can I, as an individual, do to make my voice heard?" This is not the first time our society has wrestled with such questions. Many of the same issues were debated during the Vietnam era. But these questions are even older than that. 2,400 years ago, a Greek man named Aristophanes wrote a play called "Lysistrata" "Lysistrata" tells the story of women from opposing states who unite to end a war by refusing to sleep with their husbands until the men agree to lay down their swords. Powerless in their society and distraught over too many of their children being slaughtered in battle, the women take the only tactic available to them: they withhold sex. Fast-forward 2,400 years: swords are now weapons of mass destruction. Faced with the prospect of massive loss of human life -- both Iraqi and American -- Lysistrata Project participants world-wide take a new tactic and add their voices to the mounting clamor of global anti-war protests. NOTE: The George Mason "Lysistrata" reading is an independent project, not sponsored by the Theater Department ---------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPRING SHORTS AUDITIONS WEDNESDAY Barring MORE snow, Auditions for the Spring Shorts one-act festival will be Wednesday, March 5, in Black Box. Audition format will be cold readings and improv work, no memorization required, The Spring Shorts Festival will be the weekend of MARCH 28-29 in Black Box. Pieces range in length from 3 minutes up to about half an hour and cover a wide range of emotional tones and theatrical styles. There truly will be something for everyone, and this is an excellent chance to "get your feet wet" in acting at George Mason without committing to a full, feature-length production. Auditions are open to all George Mason students in good academic standing. You do NOT have to be a theater major, or have any previous acting experience, at GMU or elsewhere. Audition sign-up sheet and review scripts are be available in the Players Lounge (PAB A109), on the first floor of the Performing Arts Building. Directors and pieces for the Shorts Festival are: Sky Adams: "Mechia" by Sky Adams Jessica Basmadjian: 4 shorts by David Ulrich Marisa Davison: "Silences Speak" by Elizabeth W. McKinley Michael Fernandez: "Sign of the Times" by Michael Fernandez Steve Fillmore: "Pillow Talk" by Peter Tolan Ryan Mulkay: "Bell's Used Books" by Ryan Mulkay Jeff Scanlon: "The Philadelphia" by David Ives The Players are also looking for a technical director and a lighting designer/master electrician (could be 1 or 2 people) to create a basic rep plot in Black Box for the festival. Contact Jim Maiwurm at jmaiwurm@xxxxxxx if interested. -------------------------------------------------------- V. PLAYERS MEETING MONDAY NIGHT The regular first-Monday-of-the-month general GMU Players meeting will be Monday, March 3, at 8 pm in Black Box. Come by if you have questions about studio proposals or other players activities for the rest of spring semester. Specific meetings to discuss proposals in-depth and officer elections for next year are coming up, exact times/dates to be announced ASAP. ----------------------------------------------------------- VI. SETC CONFERENCE IN MARCH Clayton Austin passes along this announcement: Great Opportunity! This year the Southeast Theater Conference, (SETC) will be hosted in Arlington, Virginia March 6 thru March 8. This is an opportunity to meet and network with theater folk (and employers) from the region. They are looking for volunteers to man desks, help run auditions, set up exhibits, etc for time slots of 2 to 4 hours. Students who volunteer may attend the conference for the same number of hours, for free. Nine hours gets you the rest of the convention. (30 hours, and you can earn a practicum credit!) This is a great chance to meet people working in the profession, and attend workshops, for free. For more information, contact Clayton Austin. (993-1879) The SETC convention web site is: <http://www.setc.org/conventions/> ----------------------------------------------------- VIII. MISC. ANNOUNCEMENTS: -Lanford Wilson's newest play, "Book of Days," (directed by Wendy Goldberg) opened in the Fichandler at Arena Stage on Friday. Running in the Krieger at Arena through March 2 is "Theosophilus North," adapted by Matthew Burnett from the Thornton Wilder novel, directed by Mark Cuddy. There are several ways for students and under-25s to get cheap tickets at Arena, see http://www.arena-stage.org/tickets/savingsprograms/ for details. --The American Cancer Society is seeking actors, carpenters, stagehands, and a set designer to participate in the annual Capital Baron's Ball. The ball is a Western-themed fundraiser for cancer research and treatment programs. The ball will be held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on Saturday, March 22 from 6:30 PM until 2:00 AM. For more information, please contact Mary Gordon, Special Projects Chair, at gordon@xxxxxxxx or 301-755-2752 or visit capitalbaronsball.com --PREMIERING PEN READINGS IN APRIL: The GMU Players "Premiering Pen" staged readings of student-written works will return this year, April 4-6. Contact Rachel Sarrano at rsarrano@xxxxxxx with questions, more information TBA. --SUMMER INTERNSHIPS: Information on summer internships has begun to come in and is posted around the theater lounge (PAB 109). Contact Clayton Austin (caustin@xxxxxxx) with questions. --------------------------------------------------- VIII. EVENTS CALENDAR: March 2: "The Lady's Not For Burning" closes in Theaterspace Thurs.-Sat at 8 PM, Sat.-Sun. at 2 PM. Strike will start at about 5:00 and go until late. March 2: Improv Jam 8-10 PM in Black Box Theater March 3: "The Lysistrata Project" reading at GMU in the afternoon, other readings that evening at Wooly Mammoth and other D.C. area theaters. See http://www.pecosdesign.com/lys/ for more info. March 3, 8 pm: Players Meeting in Black Box March 6-8: SETC Conference in Arlington March 9-16: Spring Break March 27-30: Spring Shorts One Act Festival In Black Box. Lineup and dates/times TBA. -------- April 17-27, "Look Homeward Angel" runs in Theaterspace Thurs.-Sat at 8 PM, Sat.-Sun. at 2 PM -------- May 5: Last Day of classes ------------------------------------------ If you have questions or comments about anything in this newsletter (or items that you'd like included in the next newsletter), please call/email the person listed for each item or contact Secretary Jim Maiwurm at jmaiwurm@xxxxxxxx Do NOT reply directly back to the listserv, your email won't get anywhere. ===== ===== __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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