Due to the inclement weather, we’ve postponed Community Voices. Our next workshop will be Jan. 9th 2-6 PM. More details to follow.
-Maggie
The Hub to host Urban Storytelling workshop in Vienna VA.
December 1, 2009Do you love This American Life? or The Moth? what about DC’s own Speakeasy? If you do than you must know all about Urban Storytelling. As an art form it doesn’t get more fundamental than this. Urban Storytelling is the art of sharing stories from one’s life with others. We’ve been doing it since the beginning of time, around the fire, around the kitchen table, over a pint… and it is a blast.
The Hub staff will be leading a workshop on the in’s and out’s of discovering and shaping a story of your own this Saturday at The Soundry in Vienna, VA. Dec 5th. 2PM-6PM, with live storytelling at 6:30PM. We still have slots available and are offering the workshop at a basement bargain price of $20! Register here !
In the mean time check out the fore mentioned story treasure-troves, or check out these books that give awesome insight into the structure and value of storytelling in communities.
Hope to see you there!
Maggie Ulmer – Artistic Director, Outreach and Development
Congratulations to the cast and crew of WE WON’T PAY! WE WON’T PAY!
November 23, 2009We closed last night with an extremely friendly audience. When the pickle juice with olives burst, it was hard to even hear the dialogue because they were all laughing so hard. It was a privilege, and so much fun to work with this group of artists. Thank you to everyone that made this show possible. Coming up The Hub has Community Voices on December 5th and then our next Staged Reading on the December 17th. But first we are going to take a breather and enjoy a short, but much needed break. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
A Blog Post from Kristen Egermeier
November 10, 2009
I asked the lovely Kristen Egermeier to share some of her thoughts and experiences since working on The Hub’s production of We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! Here’s what she has to say:
One could argue that entertainment can heal the soul, a community, a world. But what if we added a message and challenge on top of the laughter? That has the potential to be a medicine like none other. I believe that Dario Fo brings this school of thought to life with his many works, including We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! (I will try to keep the rest of my “artist speak,” as one might call my inane ramblings about being alive, in my body, freely moving, taking action, etc, to a minimum.) The following is an account of some of my experiences and thoughts while working on this intriguing play.
From the first minute that I found out that I would be participating in WWP, the action began. The researching, reading, and dreaming commenced. This play not only inspired me, but made me work…hard. At our first read- through, I knew I was surrounded by immense talent. Time to step it up! There is no greater feeling than being in a room with people who want to be there to create a new world with you.
Set up against all odds, we managed to create piece that makes our audiences laugh, and hopefully encourages them to act within their own communities. Every night after our show and I leave our little theatre, I am reminded that I live in a world that is bigger than me. There are so many people to help, to sympathize with, to bring joy to.
I have always been drawn to a heightened physicality on stage, and this production really gave me the opportunity to play with that. From this playing, I discovered that I must be as alive and in control of my body as I aim for when performing this play. What a blast it is to move to freely even when under the extreme tension and stress of the world our show lives in.
I have never laughed as hard as I have while working on this production. I was definitely outside of my normal playing zone, so it was a tremendous comfort to share such light moments during our zany piece.
I am excited for our next two weeks of humor, joy, action, community, and will take my doses of these elements accordingly.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
November 4, 2009
|
Preview tix only $10 for The Hub’s: We Won’t Pay!
October 29, 2009Check out the new promo video for We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! opening tomorrow
at ArtSpace Falls Church
410 South Maple Ave. ( In the Pearson Square building)
We’re going to have a great time! Don’t forget to bring a canned food or pantry item donation for our food sculpture and Reston Interfaith food drive!
See you there!
TICKETS ARE ON SALE!
October 9, 2009TICKETS ON SALE HERE!
So we’re about three weeks out from opening We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!. I’m happy to report everything is on track for a smashing opening night. This was one of the first plays Helen and I read and we knew, as so many people have already said, there just couldn’t be a better time for this story. Along with the economic relevance is a theme I’m particularly intrigued by: rules, laws, structures that in theory are supposed to help us but sometimes end up trapping us in unworkable situations. The thing I find most inspiring about Fo’s characters isn’t their throwing off of the rules and structures ( although it is mighty entertaining) but the manner in which they continue to offer support to one another. They abandon a broken system, but never each other. And it’s hilarious.
I encourage you all to come out and laugh ’till your sides hurt. Tickets on sale here!
PS- Anyone who can accurately guess the number of things Helen has stuffed under her coat gets a special prize!
-Maggie Ulmer, Artistic Director-Development and Outreach
And now a word from our director, Patrick Torres…
October 4, 2009I cannot express how exciting it has been to start rehearsals for We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! The play’s characters and themes have been swimming around in my head from the first time I read it over six years ago. It is the kind of play that I am most drawn to…a play that uses humor and satire to challenge us to take a stand together to fight injustice in the world and recognize our own strength. But until our first rehearsal on Tuesday night, the power and potential of the play was only a hunch because before then, I had never heard the play read aloud. Since Helen and Maggie asked me to direct last year, I have done mountains of research…about Dario Fo, Italy in the 1970s, Commedia dell’Arte, the reforms set in place by Vatican II ( I wanted to make sure I understood all the Pope Jokes)…and that research certainly supported my notion that this play is important. Then, we had our first read through on Tuesday. The power of the play was no longer a theory, but a truth. The script came to life when the cast read through it…it existed in the space around us and the characters spoke loudly. The play is funny. The play is biting. The play asks to take a stand. Those were all things the years of reading the play and the research told me. What the research couldn’t touch was the feeling in the room that the play is a truly a story about us at this time. There were so many moments in the play that seemed so familiar because of the stories we are reading in the newspaper, the friends and family we know that have been laid off, and the feeling that some have so much while many have so little. It is the right time for this play. It is certainly the right company of actors and the right theatre to bring it to life.
I am so excited about this process and look forward to more weeks of standing in admiration of Dario Fo!
-Patrick Torres
The Hub is staging a REVOLUTION!
September 21, 2009Dear Hub friends,
We know that you get a lot of requests for donations, so we wanted to take a moment to tell you a little about some of the artists you are helping us put on stage. Let’s begin with actress Kristen Egermeier, who is playing Margerite in our upcoming production of We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! by Dario Fo. It opens October 30th at ArtSpace Falls Church.
We asked Kristen to tell us a little bit about herself!
Read below for the scoop, and we hope you will also help The Hub with a
tax deductible donation.
FROM KRISTEN
Lightning Round
Do you like long walks on the beach?
Barefoot
Which would you prefer cake or pie?
Pumpkin Pie
If there was a fight between She-Ra and He-Man, who do you think would win?
She-Ra boo-ya!
Star Trek or Star Wars?
Lightphasers…
Favorite decade after 1910?
1940
A wrestling match between Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks – who would take it?
Pregnant Heidi
What is art?
A blink of the eye
Do you like pirates?
Ninjas
Let’s Be Serious
The women in this play break the rules big time. Have you ever broken the rules? Do tell.
Rules? What rules? While I believe laws of safety are important, more often than not, I feel that most laws are imposed because they can be. This is highly frustrating to me, so one of my favorite rules to break is to sneak “outside food” into a movie theater. I always clean up after myself though– you could say that I like to live on the edge…
What are you looking forward to most about We Won’t Pay!
I love physical comedy and strong women who make bold choices, so I can’t wait to fill those shoes and see what comes out of that!
The workers in this play revolt – have you ever started a revolution?
I tried to start a recycling revolution, but alas I just became “that girl who picks up trash as she walks”- It was agood try…and I will continue until it catches on!
Many thanks to Kristen for giving us a peek into what makes her tick. Be sure to come and see her in We Won’t Pay We Won’t Pay! and help us get this next show on its feet. Join the revolution!
Donate HERE!
Season 2 Announcement!
September 9, 2009Join us beginning this fall! In Season 2 The Hub is excited to bring Dario Fo’s brilliant commentary on the rising cost of living WE WON’T PAY! WE WON’T PAY! to life. This hysterical political farce will be directed by Patrick Torres. Then in the spring The Hub will stage it’s first musical, THE BOY IN THE BATHROOM by Michael Lluberes. This Area Premier will bring back director Jeremy Skidmore, who directed The Hub’s critically acclaimed inaugural production of The Pavilion.
The Hub will continue its partnership with the Greater Reston Arts Center with our STAGED READING SERIES and collaborate on multiple offerings for Virginia Commission for the Arts’ MIND’S WIDE OPEN. Along with our main stages we are enhancing our outreach arm with master classes, a children’s theatre camp that culminates in a performance of Katherine Schultz Miller’s A THOUSAND CRANES, and COMMUNITY VOICES – an urban storytelling workshop and performance which will see The Hub partnering with The Soundry for the first time.
HUB SEASON 2
For updated information through out the year, visit our website at www.thehubtheatre.org.
We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!by Dario Fo
October 30th – November 22nd, 2009
Fridays at 8 PM, Saturday’s at 2 PM & 8 PM, Sunday’s at 2PM & 7 PM
At ArtSpace in Falls Church, Virginia
Boy In The Bathroom Book and Lyrics by Michael Lluberes, Music and Additional Lyrics by Joe Maloney
May-June, 2010
Exact Dates & Location TBA
Staged Reading Series
At The Greater Reston Arts Center
*Birds of A Feather by Marc Acito
November 5, 2009 at 7:30 PM
*410[Gone] by Frances Chu-Cowhig
January 14, 2010 at 7:30 PM
*TBA
December 17 at 7:30 PM
Community Voices
December 5-6, 2009
At The Soundry
A Thousand Cranes
Location TBD
Day Camp – March 29 – April 2, 2010
Performances: April 2 & 3 at 8 PM and April 4 at 2 PM
Minds Wide Open
At The Greater Reston Arts Center
Benched by Allyson Currin
Superwoman and her Daughters by Kristen DeWulf
Who Does She Think She Is? Screening
April, 2009 Exact Dates and Times TBA
