(no subject)
Things are on the up and up!
Like gas prices. HAHAHLOLOLZ. Syke.
Attention livejournal world! I graduated college! Not quite sure how, actually doing the math it doesn’t seem possible, but there you have it. I got out in four year with a bullshit acting degree. Scratch that awesome acting degree.
Double scratch, it is kind of bullshit.
I’m moving to NYC in October with Mr. Hendricks and Tim, before that however, I think I am doing a show with the Rogue called Six Characters in Search of an Author. Excited about that, they are hands down, the best company I have ever worked for.
In bigger news, I am starting my own company. It’s called The Now Theatre. I totally Jerry Maguired a mission statement. I have a meeting on Friday with LTW to do our first show with their etcetera series. We are planning to do Anthony Minghella’s Cigarettes and Chocolate. I got a great group of people working on it, I’ll be playing one of the guys and directing, and Brian, my lovely Associate Artistic Director is doing all the publicity and music and such seeing as he lives so far away now. This is pretty legit so far; I got a board or directors started and a little bit of credibility, which is all that counts.
I got an audition for ATC’s season tonight. Sam asked me to come in, so I am hoping for the best.
Life after college is so far radical.
----I'm posting the mission statment and introduction, read it if you want. It's a pretty rough draft, but I'm working on it.
Introduction to the Now Theatre or Theatre of the Now
The challenges of being an actor, designer, writer, painter, musician, or any member of an artistic community seem, to me, to come in two fold. One, simply getting work and introducing your self into the world making it possible for you to do your work, and second is the disappointment at not being able to do what you want to do. With these thoughts in mind I have been doing a lot of thinking, about my future and the future of other young budding artists I know, and realized that there is to much new and fresh talent coming into the world, with out the place to show it. We, as the next generation of artists need to be seen, to be heard, it is imperative that the world of our given artistic professions continue to grow and thrive and the only way that is to happen is with an influx of new people.
What I am proposing is a place for that influx to be incubated. Not a theatre, not a museum, or a gallery, but just a space, an open space that would be created by the people hoping to change the world. A place to put on plays or concerts, a place to show art work, movies, or speeches, and hopefully a place to combine all of these elements. What I think is needed is for people in all areas of art to come together and to create. These people must work together on the business end as well as the artistic end, keeping the space up and running, what it needs is a group of people who want to nurture it and take care of this space, and I think those people will be easy to find.
What is the purpose of this space? Well, selfishly it is to show off what we can do. A way for members of the community trying to get into the bigger world to show off their abilities in a way that is different than sending portfolios or auditioning. Most importantly it is a means for people to create what they want. I think there is no doubt that people perform best when they are making something they care about, and not just doing what they have to so they can survive. To me, this all seems like a great way to find work for the people involved, because I wont pretend that this would be a way to make money, I doubt that it is even possible to use it to make money, but it is more of a way to learn your craft outside of a school setting, learning through trial and error, and really pushing yourself to find out what you re capable of.
The most important thing to me that this ensemble focuses on is the material. The plays chosen will be chosen for what the literature says, we as a group of artists and storytellers have a duty to push the limit, to educate, and force discussion out of people. With these ideas in mind its imperative that the group picks material that doesn’t influence thought or impose ideas, but material that opens minds and sparks conversations about what is happening in out world. The same will be expected of painters, writers, and musicians. That need to discuss and educate is the single thread that connects all disciplines in art, and that thread is something that this group is going to focus on most.
Lastly, what to do about a name? Names are in fact a dime a dozen much like, I am told, ideas. However, this name is important, it needs to inform people of what we are planning to create. The question now is how to do that with out sounding pretentious, or worse than pretension not to be taken seriously? My friends at the Rogue Theatre seem to have perfected this. A name like The Rogue is a wonderful combination of playfulness and a defining purpose. With much thought I have come to the conclusion of a working name of The Now Theatre. I feel that the name Now Theatre exemplifies the characteristics that I am trying to put forth. The Now, to me says Immediate Theater as defined by Peter Brooks. Raw, new, and strong current theatre is what we as a group want to create.
The Mission:
The Now Theatre has many challenges to over come in its formation. A vast majority of these challenges are out side of the grasp of one or two individuals, but as a collaboration of artists in all disciplines we plan to bring to the public three major goals.
The first and most important goal is the production of strong literature. Unpacking this term ‘strong literature,’ we find a focus on relevancy to the people producing as well as the community viewing. We want to find works that emphasis and foster an environment of discussion and education. This work will come from plays with deep contextual and sub textual meaning, with a prominence of finding new works from young playwrights.
The second goal is to find pieces we can spread over many areas of artistic expression. Finding plays that incorporate areas of visual, performance, and studio arts. Creating this bridge between these art forms will make a more cohesive production that can relate to larger audiences in appeal and concept.
Lastly, we promise to bring the highest quality performances by spreading rehearsals out for longer periods of time and using our time to focus on the language and content in the play with a delicate and honest approach to the craft.
The Now Theatre
Matthew Bowdren
Artistic Director
Like gas prices. HAHAHLOLOLZ. Syke.
Attention livejournal world! I graduated college! Not quite sure how, actually doing the math it doesn’t seem possible, but there you have it. I got out in four year with a bullshit acting degree. Scratch that awesome acting degree.
Double scratch, it is kind of bullshit.
I’m moving to NYC in October with Mr. Hendricks and Tim, before that however, I think I am doing a show with the Rogue called Six Characters in Search of an Author. Excited about that, they are hands down, the best company I have ever worked for.
In bigger news, I am starting my own company. It’s called The Now Theatre. I totally Jerry Maguired a mission statement. I have a meeting on Friday with LTW to do our first show with their etcetera series. We are planning to do Anthony Minghella’s Cigarettes and Chocolate. I got a great group of people working on it, I’ll be playing one of the guys and directing, and Brian, my lovely Associate Artistic Director is doing all the publicity and music and such seeing as he lives so far away now. This is pretty legit so far; I got a board or directors started and a little bit of credibility, which is all that counts.
I got an audition for ATC’s season tonight. Sam asked me to come in, so I am hoping for the best.
Life after college is so far radical.
----I'm posting the mission statment and introduction, read it if you want. It's a pretty rough draft, but I'm working on it.
Introduction to the Now Theatre or Theatre of the Now
The challenges of being an actor, designer, writer, painter, musician, or any member of an artistic community seem, to me, to come in two fold. One, simply getting work and introducing your self into the world making it possible for you to do your work, and second is the disappointment at not being able to do what you want to do. With these thoughts in mind I have been doing a lot of thinking, about my future and the future of other young budding artists I know, and realized that there is to much new and fresh talent coming into the world, with out the place to show it. We, as the next generation of artists need to be seen, to be heard, it is imperative that the world of our given artistic professions continue to grow and thrive and the only way that is to happen is with an influx of new people.
What I am proposing is a place for that influx to be incubated. Not a theatre, not a museum, or a gallery, but just a space, an open space that would be created by the people hoping to change the world. A place to put on plays or concerts, a place to show art work, movies, or speeches, and hopefully a place to combine all of these elements. What I think is needed is for people in all areas of art to come together and to create. These people must work together on the business end as well as the artistic end, keeping the space up and running, what it needs is a group of people who want to nurture it and take care of this space, and I think those people will be easy to find.
What is the purpose of this space? Well, selfishly it is to show off what we can do. A way for members of the community trying to get into the bigger world to show off their abilities in a way that is different than sending portfolios or auditioning. Most importantly it is a means for people to create what they want. I think there is no doubt that people perform best when they are making something they care about, and not just doing what they have to so they can survive. To me, this all seems like a great way to find work for the people involved, because I wont pretend that this would be a way to make money, I doubt that it is even possible to use it to make money, but it is more of a way to learn your craft outside of a school setting, learning through trial and error, and really pushing yourself to find out what you re capable of.
The most important thing to me that this ensemble focuses on is the material. The plays chosen will be chosen for what the literature says, we as a group of artists and storytellers have a duty to push the limit, to educate, and force discussion out of people. With these ideas in mind its imperative that the group picks material that doesn’t influence thought or impose ideas, but material that opens minds and sparks conversations about what is happening in out world. The same will be expected of painters, writers, and musicians. That need to discuss and educate is the single thread that connects all disciplines in art, and that thread is something that this group is going to focus on most.
Lastly, what to do about a name? Names are in fact a dime a dozen much like, I am told, ideas. However, this name is important, it needs to inform people of what we are planning to create. The question now is how to do that with out sounding pretentious, or worse than pretension not to be taken seriously? My friends at the Rogue Theatre seem to have perfected this. A name like The Rogue is a wonderful combination of playfulness and a defining purpose. With much thought I have come to the conclusion of a working name of The Now Theatre. I feel that the name Now Theatre exemplifies the characteristics that I am trying to put forth. The Now, to me says Immediate Theater as defined by Peter Brooks. Raw, new, and strong current theatre is what we as a group want to create.
The Mission:
The Now Theatre has many challenges to over come in its formation. A vast majority of these challenges are out side of the grasp of one or two individuals, but as a collaboration of artists in all disciplines we plan to bring to the public three major goals.
The first and most important goal is the production of strong literature. Unpacking this term ‘strong literature,’ we find a focus on relevancy to the people producing as well as the community viewing. We want to find works that emphasis and foster an environment of discussion and education. This work will come from plays with deep contextual and sub textual meaning, with a prominence of finding new works from young playwrights.
The second goal is to find pieces we can spread over many areas of artistic expression. Finding plays that incorporate areas of visual, performance, and studio arts. Creating this bridge between these art forms will make a more cohesive production that can relate to larger audiences in appeal and concept.
Lastly, we promise to bring the highest quality performances by spreading rehearsals out for longer periods of time and using our time to focus on the language and content in the play with a delicate and honest approach to the craft.
The Now Theatre
Matthew Bowdren
Artistic Director