LA Theatre peeps. I know. It has been a minute. I went to NY all the way back in January, I was very inspired and then I continued to take a big ass break. As I mentioned previously, I’ve been trying to cut back on seeing shows a bit so that I could work on and complete some theatre projects I’ve had brewing. Still working on all that, but fingers crossed...I do have something potentially super cool in the works and I don’t want to say too much, but if this works out it will be pretty dope and it would be an awesome piece of theatre for anyone to experience. To be continued.
Jasmine St. Clair & Randolph Thompson
So, this is the show that’s caused me to emerge from under my theatre rock. Last week Arianne (one of my patron saints of LA theatre, LA Stage Alliance take note) and my friend Noah (who I call Noh, like theatre Noh, who has sound designed for me amongst many other theatre makers)...we all went to a show. Sorry. I realized that was a really long sentence. Anyway, I was very intrigued by the synopsis of Ready Steady Yeti Go by David Jacobi, which basically boils down to a group of middle schoolers putting on a play to describe a hate crime that happened in their neighborhood. Also, never saw a Rogue Machine show I didn’t like. And I’m a fan of director Guillermo Cienfuegos. So all those things, combined with two of my favorite trusted theatre buddies, are what helped me to emerge : )
Kenney Selvey, Randolph Thompson, Ryan Brophy and Jasmine St. Clair
When I describe this play to people, they ask me if I have watched the new Hulu show Pen15, which is something I now want to do. They play (as well as the performances and direction) does an incredible job displaying the joys and struggles of this time of life. Props to this team for really nailing some 12 year old vocal nuisances, physicality and the onsets of sexual discovery. For me at least, the play really pulled at my heartstrings of how either we suppress some of these emotional instincts as adults or how, have things even really changed that much at all?
“I wish I could be more like you.” -Gandry
My favorite moment in the whole play was when Goon (another fab performance by Ryan Brophy, keep an eye on this kid), the prantagonist, is confronted with some not great news. Some news he does not like, from someone that he really likes, a lot. It’s hard to put this into words (please go see this play) but he basically has this very violent, physical, guttural, instant reaction to the news, he kind of bursts into this 4 second personal fit of rage before calmly replying to her, “I really don’t like that.” What he did with his body, I feel in my brain, when one of my best friends tells me that they’re moving to New York. Or someone starts ghosting me. Or breaks up with me. Or when my sister borrows my clothes without asking. That physicality was such a natural release of frustration. I really appreciated that. Also there was something about the spirit of competition that rang very true for me, especially as exhibited in a relationship context. In this case I related to Goon’s frustration in the relationship...as a 12 year old lol. The play does an excellent job of breaking down that “being mean to people you actually like” concept. I guess I’m sitting there and it’s weird how all these things we do as kids...it kind of all comes back around.
Morgan Wildly, Kenney Selvey, Jasmine St. Clair, Ryan Brophy, and Rori Flynn
“I want to be around you. I like being around you.” -Goon
I really enjoyed this show. Thank you Rogue Machine, for delivering a refreshing break from the heady scripts that can sometimes overwhelm this town’s theatre programming. You have until Monday July 29th to catch a performance of David Jacobi’s Ready Steady Yeti Go at the Electric Lodge. Check the calendar, there are some $10 ticket nights tucked in there, although the show is worth far more than that. And by all means, GO!