Delaware Shakespeare Festival

Delaware Shakespeare (formerly known as "Delaware Shakespeare Festival") is an outdoor Shakespeare festival that takes place during the summer months at Rockwood Park located in the city of Wilmington, Delaware. The mission of the Delaware Shakespeare is to create professional theatre and educational programs in order to further the understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s works for the residents and friends of the State of Delaware.
Production History.
Summer Festival at Archmere Academy
Summer Festival at Rockwood Park:
Community Tour
Education and outreach.
Shakespeare, Then, Now and Always.
Originally piloted in 2004, the Shakespeare, Then, Now and Always program is an interactive seminar for local high school students. One of the Festival's Shakespearean scholars visits local high school classrooms to work with students on reading, speaking and understanding the works of the Bard.
The Bridge to Shakespeare’s Masterpiece.
Following the performance, a panel of DSF scholars and actors meet with the participants to review the themes of the play, discuss the world of Shakespeare and find connections to the modern world and to their own lives.
History.
The Delaware Shakespeare Festival was founded in 2003 by Molly Cahill and Greg Robleto and performed for three years on the grounds of or in the auditorium at Archmere Academy in Claymont. In 2006, the Festival moving to its current outdoor only location in Rockwood Park in Wilmington. In 2011, the Festival began taking productions on tour to other destinations in Delaware, starting with a free showing of the play at The Freeman Stage at Bayside in Fenwick Island.


Bard on the Beach

Bard on the Beach is Western Canada's largest professional Shakespeare festival. The theatre Festival runs annually from early June through September in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Festival is produced by Bard on the Beach Theatre Society whose mission is to perform, explore and celebrate the works of William Shakespeare. In addition to the annual summer festival, the Society runs a number of year-round theatre education and outreach programs under the umbrella of Bard Education. Bard on the Beach celebrated its 30th anniversary season in 2019.
History.
Bard on the Beach began as an Equity Co-op in the summer of 1990, funded primarily by an Explorations Grant awarded to Artistic Director Christopher Gaze by the Canada Council for the Arts. Following his graduation from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Gaze had moved to Canada on the advice of his friend, mentor and theatre legend Douglas Campbell. After performing with a variety of theatre companies and festivals across Canada, including three seasons with the Shaw Festival, Gaze moved to Vancouver in 1983 where he performed as Richard III in the 1984 season of the now defunct Vancouver Shakespeare Festival.
While in Vancouver, Gaze became acquainted with a group of actors and fellow Shakespeare lovers when he was asked to direct a production of "Under Milk Wood" for the 1989 Vancouver Fringe Festival. The following summer, this same group staged "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in a rented theatre tent in Vanier Park as the inaugural Bard on the Beach production. The company's initial four-week run drew a total of 6,000 people and signaled the need for a more formal company structure. Bard on the Beach officially registered as a not-for-profit under the Society Act of BC in December, 1990.
Site.
Bard is located in Vanier Park at the south end of the Burrard Street Bridge. It consists of two performance stages: the BMO Mainstage and the Howard Family Stage. There is also a group of tents known as the Bard Village which contains the box office, Bard Boutique gift shop, and concession stands. The festival grounds also contain dressing rooms, administrative offices for seasonal staff and an event Marquee along with two large picnic lawns and portable washrooms for patrons.
BMO Mainstage.
Bard purchased its first 500-seat saddlespan tent in 1992. By the end of the 2010 season, the Mainstage theatre tent was in need of replacement and, following the "Staging our Future" capital campaign, the Festival built a custom-designed Mainstage theatre tent. The new tent expanded the seating capacity to 742 seats and included a redesigned stage. The theatre tent also came with more comfortable seating for patrons including cup holders for drinks purchased from the concession stands. The new tent maintains an open-backed design and Bard's signature backdrop: False Creek; the Coast Mountains; and city skyline. The physical playing space within the theatre was named after the Bank of Montreal in recognition of their lead contribution to the Festival's capital campaign.
Bard on the Beach typically stages two productions in repertory on the BMO Mainstage in each season, alongside a selection of choral, symphony and opera presentations. The set presents a unique challenge and opportunity for set designers from year to year as it must incorporate elements which can be shared by both productions during season.
Howard Family Stage and the Douglas Campbell Theatre tent.
The Douglas Campbell Theatre tent was added in 1999 as part of Bard's 10th anniversary season as an intimate space for the staging of Shakespeare's lesser-known works or for more modern, innovative stagings of the established canon. Beginning in 2005 with a production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, the theatre tent has also served as a space for productions of plays which, while not by Shakespeare, serve to examine the context of his work.
The theatre is named for the Canadian stage actor Douglas Campbell. Campbell was a good friend and mentor to Christopher Gaze and had either performed in, or directed, plays in Bard's earlier seasons. Campbell and his son Torquil Campbell also performed together in productions of Henry IV, Part I and Macbeth at Bard on the Beach.
This smaller theatre tent seats 240 people and its adaptable layout and seating configuration are similar to that of a black box theatre. The tent structure was replaced at the beginning of the 2013 season as part of the "Staging our Future" capital campaign.
In 2014 the playing space was named the "Howard Family Stage" in honour of Vancouver philanthropists Darlene and Paul Howard.
Bard Education.
In addition to operating the Festival, the Bard on the Beach Theatre Society operates a host of youth-oriented outreach programs under the umbrella of Bard Education. Collectively, the programs endeavour to inspire the community through dynamic, engaging experiences with the language, characters and plays of William Shakespeare.
Bard in the Classroom.
Bard in the Classroom workshops are delivered by Teaching Artists - actors, directors and other theatre practitioners trained by Bard to facilitate workshops for young people. The in-class workshops can be adapted for all age groups have been delivered for students between the ages of 4 and 18. Teachers can request 90-minute sessions focusing on introductions to Shakespeare's work as a whole or focus on a specific play, scene or set of characters. Participants mix voice and language work with active theatre exercises to explore Shakespeare's work in a performance context.
Professional Development.
Unlike Bard Education's other programs, Bard's Professional Development workshops are open to educators of all grades, subjects, and levels of experience from across British Columbia. Like Bard in the Classroom, Bard's Professional Development workshops focus on introducing participants to Shakespeare through active theatre exercises however, the program is more focused on teacher training than those programs oriented for students and youth.
Young Shakespeareans Workshops.
The Young Shakespeareans Workshop program has been offered each season on the grounds of Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival for youth aged 8 through 18 since 1993. The program runs between 15 and 17 two-week sessions for "Juniors" aged 8 to 13 and "Seniors" aged 13 to 18. There is also a one-week intensive theatre training program offered for youth aged 15 through 18.
As of the 2014 season, Young Shakespeareans Workshops Teaching Artists are also assisted by participants in the Riotous Youth apprenticeship program.
Riotous Youth.
Conceived as a kind of "graduate" counterpart to the Young Shakespeareans Workshops, the Riotous Youth theatre apprenticeship program was launched in 2014 to provide an opportunity to bridge the learning of young theatre enthusiasts whom had aged out of the workshop program. Participants aged 19 through 24 take an active role in assisting Young Shakespeareans Workshops Teaching Artists, deliver pre-show introductory talks to the audience and work with a veteran Bard company actor to prepare a final presentation at the end of the season. The Riotous Youth also participate in a variety of other programs throughout the Bard season including the Bard-B-Q & Fireworks and off-site presentations.
Other events.
In addition to the four plays, there are a number of events throughout the summer:
Productions.
1990 – 1999.
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Bard Peak Performances (1995–1998).
From 1995 to 1998, bard added a short series of Peak Performances to the Festival's season. A selection of weekend matinee performances were presented at the peak of Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver.
2000 – 2009.
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010 – 2019.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019 (30th Season)
2020 – present.
2020
2021


Play a Simple Melody

"Play a Simple Melody" is a song from the 1914 musical, "Watch Your Step", words and music by Irving Berlin. The show was the first stage musical that Berlin wrote. It ran for 175 performances at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York City. The one song from it that is well-remembered today is "Play a Simple Melody," one of the few true examples of counterpoint in American popular music — a melody running against a second melody, each with independent lyrics. Two other of Berlin's so-called "double" songs are "You're Just in Love," and "An Old-Fashioned Wedding".
In the printed music, first the "simple melody" plays alone. Then comes the contrasting melody. Finally, the two play together.
The lyrics of "Play a Simple Melody" also track the counterpoint duet in that one singer yearns for the music which mother sang (the style of a bygone generation), but the other singer disdains such classic fare as lacking interest and rhythm. When "Play a Simple Melody" was published, ragtime was in its heyday, led by its most consummate composer, Scott Joplin. In a famous 1916 recording of the song, while Elsie Baker (using her stage name "Edna Brown") wants what she considers simplicity, Billy Murray explicitly asks for "rag". Also recorded by Walter Van Brunt & Mary Carson in 1915.
A duet by Bing and Gary Crosby with Matty Matlock's All Stars (listed on the label as "Gary Crosby and Friend with Matty Matlock's All Stars") was recorded on June 23, 1950 and became a hit recording in 1950 reaching the No. 2 position in the Billboard charts. It was released by Decca Records as catalog number 27112 with the flip side "Sam's Song." Other charted versions in 1950 were by Jo Stafford (#18), Georgia Gibbs with Bob Crosby (#25) and Phil Harris (#30).
"Play a Simple Melody" was then featured in the 1954 movie "There's No Business Like Show Business," a movie starring Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O'Connor, Johnnie Ray, Mitzi Gaynor, and Marilyn Monroe showcasing Irving Berlin songs from the whole of his career. In the movie, Merman and Dailey sang the song in a vaudeville sequence.
Horst Jankowski revived the song for a 1966 run on Billboard's "Easy Listening" chart.
In the 1960s, the song was the basis of a sketch on the Morecambe & Wise show featuring their writers Dick Hills and Sid Green; it was later reprised on their 1976 Christmas Show with Elton John.
Jean Stapleton performed the song with the puppet character "Fozzie" on episode 306 of "The Muppet Show", premiered on October 5, 1978.
External links.
For links to a 1916 (public domain) recording of Billy Murray and Elsie Baker dueting on "Play a Simple Melody" go to the Internet Archive of Murray & Baker's "Simple Melody" duet.


Clemence of Barking

Clemence of Barking (fl. 1163–1200) was a 12th-century Benedictine nun and Anglo-Norman poet-translator of Barking Abbey. She is noted for writing a translation of the biography, the "Life of Saint Catherine". Clemence's hagiography of Saint Catherine of Alexandria is widely regarded as, what would be considered today, a feminist text.
Life in Barking Abbey.
Clemence was a nun of Barking Abbey during the 12th century. Barking Abbey was a royal monastery located in the Essex Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Essex, England. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the abbey was established in the seventh century around 666 AD and followed the Rule of Saint Benedict. It is very likely that Barking Abbey was one of the first monasteries founded in Britain, and it retained close ties to the British monarchy throughout its existence. Mary, the sister of Thomas Becket, was appointed as abbess by Henry II during Clemence's time at the abbey of Barking. Many of the abbesses at Barking Abbey were familially related to the British royal house, and likely often selected by the monarch until the early thirteenth century. The nuns of Barking Abbey were granted with a level of social, political, and economic independence that was generally only seen in religious houses that were directly associated with social and political elites, such as the British monarchy. Because Barking Abbey was one of the most wealthy monasteries in Britain at the time, the nuns at Barking were allowed more freedom to pursue cultural and literary interests. The nuns of Barking Abbey were also granted a great deal of theological independence. The nuns often set their own liturgy, and contributed to the ecclesiastical and liturgical expansion of their religious community through letters to other monasteries. As a nun of Barking Abbey, Clemence was part of an elite religious community under the protection of British monarchy.
In addition to her work, many other texts have been associated with the abbey of Barking, including Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's "Life of Thomas Becket", and Adgar's "Gracial." Under the Rule of St. Benedict, daily reading in both private and communal settings was both required and necessary to properly celebrate the Bible. The presence of Barking Abbey's library suggests that reading and literature were significant components of daily life. The nuns contributed texts at the monasteries; however, very few medieval monastery manuscripts remain, making it difficult to discern how much writing nuns were contributing at the time. It is likely that Barking's nuns were creating texts to be shared with each other, with royalty, and other outside visitors. Following the Cluniac Reforms of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the production of books was encouraged, and women were contributing more writing as a result.
There is very limited information about Clemence outside of her writings and association with Barking Abbey, as she lived a relatively anonymous life. Her monastery and its historical and political connections may reveal the most about Clemence. The only identifiable traces of Clemence's life are in her translation of the "Life of Saint Catherine", in which she leaves the signature, "I who have translated [St. Catherine's] life, by name am called Clemence. I am a nun of Barking. For the love of her I undertook this work." It is believed that Clemence also translated an anonymous Anglo-Norman version of Aelred of Rievaulx's Latin "Life of St. Edward the Confessor," which was composed at Barking Abbey between 1163 and 1170. Nonetheless, there is not enough evidence to determine who translated the "Life of St. Edward", as anonymous writing was common in Middle English literature, and even more common among women writers.
Life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria.
Clemence of Barking Abbey is primarily known for her translation of the "Life of Saint Catherine". Her translation of the text from Latin to vernacular French has been the subject of extensive analysis by literary scholars, with particular regard to the politics of the translation. Although there is little evidence indicating whether Clemence's translation had any influence and impact on her successors, current interest in her translation has significantly increased, and the text is widely revisited today as a source for feminist analysis.
Clemence's account of Saint Catherine is based on an eleventh-century rendition of the Latin Vulgate, which was written during the monastic revival in Normandy. Despite the lack of remaining copies of Clemence's translation, it is believed to have been relatively popular at the time of its release. Clemence's version of the account is regarded as being one of the earliest vernacular lives of the saints, and one of the only accounts written by a woman, which reveals Clemence's significance as a translator situated in the middle of England's early medieval literary development.
A prominent point of scholarly analysis is the differences of attitude towards gender between Clemence's translation and the Vulgate rendition. Many scholars suggest that Clemence's translation is a gender positive re-interpretation of the Vulgate rendition, and is perhaps meant to partially act as social commentary on women's role in society at the time. In the opening lines of Clemence's text, Clemence declares her intention to "translator la vie./De Latin respundre en rumanz/Pur ço que plus plaise as oianz" (to translate the life, expounding it from Latin into the vernacular, in order to please more those who hear it). Scholars argue that in this portion of the translation, Clemence employed self-authorization. Because the act of writing was already quite subversive for twelfth-century women in Europe, Clemence's strategy of self-authorization is regarded as a bold move. Scholars also suggest that Clemence's reclamation of authority was a strategy for taking hold of patriarchal depictions of women in literature in order to reinterpret them as a woman for women. Scholar, Gina J. Froese writes that Clemence's work "hints at an authorial anxiety that suggests a send of unease with the process of subverting and reclaiming. Though she follows and sometimes mimics the structure, form, and style her male predecessors also apply, we clearly find indications of protest against misogynistic views and corrections of such interpretations that place her at odds with the authority of her predecessors."


Love Medicine

Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich's debut novel, first published in 1984. Erdrich revised and expanded the novel in subsequent 1993 and 2009 editions. The book follows the lives of five interconnected Ojibwe families living on fictional reservations in Minnesota and North Dakota. The collection of stories in the book spans six decades from the 1930s to the 1980s. "Love Medicine" garnered critical praise and won numerous awards, including the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award.
Plot summary.
"Love Medicine" follows the intertwining lives of three central families, the Kashpaws, Lamartines, and Morrisseys, and two peripheral families, the Pillagers and the Lazarres. Members of the families variously reside on the fictional Ojibwe reservations of Little No Horse and Hoopdance, and in Minneapolis-St.Paul and Fargo. Erdrich employs a non-linear format in "Love Medicine", and each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, using first-person and third-person limited narration.
"Love Medicine" begins with June Morrissey freezing to death on her way home on Easter Sunday, 1981, and ends in 1985, with the reunification of June's former husband, Gerry Nanapush, with June and Gerry's son, Lipsha. Encapsulated between those two chapters are interrelated stories that proceed in loosely chronological order from 1934 onwards. A pair of stories at the midpoint of the novel converge on a single day in the lives of Lulu Lamartine, Marie Lazarre, and Nector Kashpaw, who are involved in a love triangle.
Characters.
Family Tree
 Rushes Bear (Margaret)====Kashpaw
 ________|_________
 Marie Lazarre=.=.= Nector Kashpaw Eli Kashpaw
 ____________________|_________________ !
 Patsy Eugene Aurelia | Gordie =.=.=June...Gerry
 Kashpaw Kashpaw Kashpaw | Kashpaw | Morrissey | Nanapush
 Zelda | Lipsha Morrissey
 Kashpaw |
 | King Kashpaw =.=.=Lynette
 Albertine Johnson |
 King Jr.
Legend
Major Themes.
The diversity of critical and theoretical approaches to "Love Medicine" reflects the book’s complexity as a meeting site for multiple forms and conventions. The most prominent themes of the novel are those that are relevant to various literatures and discourses, such as contemporary Native American literature, post modernism, realism, oral storytelling, folklore, and mythology.
Identity and Mythology.
In the vein of contemporary Native American literatures, many characters in "Love Medicine" are in search of an identity. David Treuer identifies "the search for cultural reconnection" as a driving force of Native American fiction, arguing that "self-recovery is achieved through cultural recovery." Speaking of her own mixed-blood heritage, Erdrich has explained in an interview that “one of the characteristics of being a mixed blood is searching…all of our searches involve trying to discover where we are from.” Louis Owens and Catherine Rainwater have noted that the positionality of Native Americans and writers both coincide on the margins, as people that must observe from the outside. Owens states that “the seemingly doomed Indian, or tortured mixed-blood caught between worlds surfaces in Erdrich’s fiction, but such characters tend to disappear behind those other, foregrounded characters who hang on in spite of it all […] and, like a story teller, weave a fabric of meaning and significance out of the remnants.”
To illustrate Indigenous cultural endurance, Erdrich superimposes Ojibwe mythological narratives and images onto her characters. Owens identifies Nanabozho, a peripatetic trickster and world-creator, as a key intertextual reference in Erdrich’s text. Owens points to the first chapter of "Love Medicine": true to traditional trickster narratives, in the beginning of "Love Medicine", June Kashpaw is seen without a home and on the move. If the purpose of telling Nanabozho stories is to challenge listeners and to obversely remind them of their roots, Owens argues, then the purpose of June’s absence in "Love Medicine" is to underscore each character’s enduring place within the tribal community. Furthermore, in Owen's formulation, Just as the trickster transcends time and space, June’s death, which occurs on Easter Sunday, disrupts linear Christian time and interweaves it with cyclic/accretive time.
Finally, Owens states that the mythic principle of Nanabozho is made explicit in the Nanapush family name; the revealed patrilineal link between Gerry Nanapush, a fugitive culture hero seemingly capable of shape shifting, and Lipsha, who always has a few tricks up his sleeve, ensures the transmission and survival of Indigenous values in the text.
Land and Tribal Identity.
Meditations on land as a formative and nurturing source of tribal identity feature prominently in "Love Medicine." For example, Uncle Eli, with his deep connections to the land, is described as being healthy and robust in his old age, unlike his senile brother Nector, who grew up off-reservation. The primacy of land finds formal expression in Louise Erdrich’s artistic manifesto, “Where I Ought to Be: A Writer’s Sense of Place.” In it, Erdrich articulates a traditional tribal view of place, where generations of families inhabit the same land, and in doing so, imbue the landscape with history, identity, myth and reality. Erdrich contrasts this relationship with Western culture’s mutable, progressive view of geography: “nothing, not even land, can be counted on to stay the same.” Western literature's alienation from place, in Erdrich's view, is marked by the impulse to document change in the face of an ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation. She explains how American Indian writers write from a different position: for them, “the unthinkable has already happened,” and as such, their task is to reconstitute a new birthing place that is capable of “[telling] the stories of contemporary survivors while protecting and celebrating the cores of cultures left in the wake of the catastrophe.”
Indigenous Humor and Survival.
In multiple interviews, Erdrich has commented on the importance of humor as a mechanism for Indigenous survival and resistance. She states: “when it’s survival humor, you learn to laugh at things […] it’s a different way of looking at the world, very different form the stereotype, the stoic, unflinching Indian standing, looking at the sunset.” William Gleason argues that in "Love Medicine", humor works by cropping up at “inappropriate” moments, thereby posing a greater question of belonging. Gleason's examples of out-of-place humor include Nector’s tragicomic death and Gordie’s telling of the Norwegian joke in “The World’s Greatest Fisherman,” as King is heard physically threatening his spouse outside. In light of the historical “unthinkable” perpetrated against Native communities, Gleason quotes from various theorists to point to the regenerative effect of laughter. It is Lipsha’s comical take on the world that allows him to endure heartache and eventually realize that “belonging was a matter of deciding to.” According to Gleason, jokes can also take on an explicitly subversive, if not emancipatory, dimension when they invoke Native American mythology. He identifies Heyoka, a literally and metaphorically backwards facing contrarian jester, and Nanabhozo, a wisecracking trickster, as two incarnations of pan-Indian characters that thrive on jokes. Various characters selectively exhibit different aspects of Heyoka and Nanabhozo in the novel: Lipsha complains of his head being “screwed on backwards,” in response to a startling revelation from his grandmother, while Marie employs trickery and dark, aggressive wit to survive in the convent. Gleason argues that laughter isn’t simply a product of Indigenous longevity in "Love Medicine", but rather a key component of it.
Home and Belonging.
Noting how "Love Medicine" ends with the word “home,” and how every character in the novel has a different idea of what home is, Robert Silberman argues that “home […] is an embattled concept, as ambiguous as June Kashpaw’s motives in attempting her return;” June’s interrupted homecoming is the subtext that haunts the entirety of the novel; simultaneously, her family members each express a desire for a home of their own. While homecoming is a common theme in Native American literatures, Silberman notes that the way "Love Medicine" engages with the subject evades easy classification, since home represents freedom for some, but entrapment for others. In his essay, Greg Sarris superimposes such ambiguity and anxiety surrounding homecoming onto moments of his own personal life to explore a possible reading of text that transcends Native borders. Unlike Catherine Rainwater, who views the experience of reading "Love Medicine" as a kind of permanent unhoming arising out of irresolvable conflicts between opposing codes, Sarris focuses on Albertine’s return to the reservation and Lipsha’s return to his familial roots to illustrate how his own personal relationship with home is simultaneously made universal and particular through an encounter with text.
Style.
Considerable attention has been devoted to the varied genres and forms that Erdrich employs in "Love Medicine", and how they interact with each other. Kathleen Sands describes "Love Medicine" as a metafictional novel that consists of “hard edges, multiple voices, disjointed episodes, erratic tone shifts […] incomplete memories” that are spliced together in a self-reflexive manner. According to Sands, the novel is concerned as much with the process of storytelling as with the story itself. Hertha D. Sweet Wong, on the other hand, questions whether "Love Medicine" can be considered a novel at all. Instead, Wong quotes Robert Luscher’s definition of “the short story sequence”: “a volume of stories, collected and organized by their author, in which the reader successively realizes underlying patterns of coherence.” Yet, Wong argues, even that definition fails to adequately capture the inherent nonlinearity of Native American narratives, which are often multivocal and achronological. Consequently, Wong arrives at a description of "Love Medicine" as a “web” of short stories that is “informed by both modernist literary strategies (for instance, multiple narrative voices) and oral traditions(such as a storyteller’s use or repetition, recurrent development, and associational structure).”
Oral Form.
Hertha D. Sweet Wong points to Erdrich's simulation of Indigenous oral forms in her short story "webs" as a key narrative innovation. Wong argues that the egalitarian pluralism that is embedded in Native American oral traditions offers new artistic possibilities for writers of multivocal narratives; what was experienced, under conventional post-modern explanations, as an alienation from both self and society, and the indeterminacy of language, can now be reimagined as a vivacious expression multivocal unity.
Kathleen Sands further refines critical understanding of the oral form in "Love Medicine" as a competition between personal narratives: no one voice demonstrates a privileged relationship with the truth, and readers can only catch a glimpse of the real story by “puzzling right along with them [the personal narratives] to the end.” Sands writes, “the source of her [Erdrich’s] story telling technique is the secular anecdotal narrative process of community gossip, the storytelling sanction toward proper behavior that works so effectively in Indian communities to identify membership in the group and ensure survival of group values and its valued individuals […] Gossip affirms identity, provides information, and binds the absent to the family and the community.”
On a contrasting note, citing a bias towards culturalism in the textual critiques of Hertha Sweet Wong and Paula Gunn Allen, Ojibwe writer and literary critic David Treuer cautions against imposing unqualified notions of Native American "polyvocality" and narrative egalitarianism on the text of "Love Medicine." Treuer argues that the what readers experience as "polyvocality" is actually a proliferation of personal symbols, and that on the level of language, all the narrators of "Love Medicine," in fact, inhabit the same consciousness. Treuer points to a tension between the "language of event," marked by stark naturalism, and the "language of thought," marked by rich symbolism and metaphors, and how all the chapters of "Love Medicine" "use a mixture of fact and fancy, a mixture of the figure and the figurative, to create its tensions and to resolve them." Thus, according to Treuer, "Love Medicine" is a product of literary techniques that derive predominantly from Western Fiction. Examining the opening chapter of "Love Medicine", Treuer notes that beyond surface similarities, there is little that ties the text to well known Ojibwe Wenabozaho narratives. Treuer takes pain to note that he is not advocating for an understanding of "Love Medicine" that is devoid of Indigenous cultural context; to the contrary, Treuer argues, Erdrich's genius is in summoning an "idea of [Ojibwe] culture," and expressing Indigenous yearning for such culture, in a literary environment that is not its own.
Genres and Literary Traditions.
For Helen Jaskoski, the “Saint Marie” chapter is notable for its reflexive use of Ojibwe Windigo stories to subvert a complex of European romance and fairytale allusions. An embodiment of winter starvation, the Windigo can take possession of human souls and cause cannibalistic cravings. In many stories the “Windigo meets defeat at the hands of a child […] who must become the Windigo herself in order to defeat the monster.” Jaskoski points to several passages of “Saint Marie” where Marie demonstrates childlike intimacy with a supernatural being reminiscent of the Windigo, who is then metaphorically linked to Satan. Fittingly, in effort to counter Marie’s intimacy with the devil, Sister Leopolda is seen variously hurling her "lance" and attempting to kick Marie into an oven, actions that, according to Jaskoski, are reminiscent of chivalric legend and fairytales such as “Hansel and Gretel,” respectively. When Marie enters the convent, Jaskoski argues, she is the child that becomes the Windigo herself. She achieves symbolic victory over sister Leopolda when she catches a sense of the pitiful person at the core of Leopolda’s persona, much like when the vanquishing heroines of Windigo stories discover a person hidden inside the monster’s icy shell.
Robert Silberman redirects critique of Love Medicine back to Western Literary traditions, noting that at the end of the day, "Love Medicine" is printed and marketed as a novel. He writes: "the return to the literary is inevitable." Silberman and Catherine Rainwater both discuss how "Love Medicine" rises out of the Western family saga, and remains heavily indebted to its conventions. Silberman goes a step further and argues that the realism and naturalness of Erdrich’s characters, as evinced in their colloquialisms and in their first-person present tense narrations, is “as much a construction as the skill at creating a convincing voice that led Hemingway to see in Twain’s Huckleberry Finn the start of a genuine American literary tradition - an antiliterary, seemingly informal American style.” Erdrich’s “literary antinomianism” has no shortage of precedents, Silberman claims, from Faulkner to Raymond Carver.
Interpretative Duality.
James Ruppert and Catherine Rainwater argue that Native forms and Western Literary conventions bring with them opposing codes that make two entirely different interpretations of the same text possible. Ruppert and Rainwater cite multiple such examples: for example, it is entirely possible to read Henry Lamartine’s story as either a tragic story about a soldier suffering from PTSD or a moral story about an Ojibwe warrior who is unable to escape the ghosts of his vanquished enemies. Likewise, Rainwater argues, Gordie’s encounter with June’s ghost is either a drunken hallucination or a metamorphosis of June’s spirit that forces Gordie to confront his past abuses. In Rainwater’s words, this in-between position requires that the reader “consider perceptual frameworks as the important structural principle in both textual and non-textual realms.”
Structure.
Regardless of differences in critical and theoretical approaches, many scholars such as Wong, Ownes, and Rainwater agree that there exists an underlying structure that link "Love Medicine's" stories together. On an intratextual level, Wong states, there exist many connective devices, from recurring symbolism to coinciding paths. Hertha D. Sweet Wong points out the loosely chiasmic structure of "Love Medicine", where symmetrically positioned chapters mirror each other on subject matter. Wong, along with Owens, also notes that on an intertextual level, "Love Medicine" represents one component of a series of narrative sequences in the Love Medicine Sequence, with each narrative sequence being assigned its own natural element as a dominant image: Water ("Love Medicine), Air" ("The Beet Queen"), Earth ("Tracks"), and Fire ("The Bingo Palace"). This thematic scheme has been explained by Erdrich herself in multiple interviews.
Background.
While she was enrolled as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, Erdrich penned several short stories and poems and submitted them to publishers. Two of the stories that she penned, titled "Scales" and "The Red Convertible", later became chapters of "Love Medicine". After sending both stories off to publishers, she and her then-husband, Michael Dorris, discussed merging and expanding upon those two stories which resulted in "The World's Greatest Fisherman", the opening chapter of "Love Medicine." "The World's Greatest Fisherman" proceeded to win the Chicago Tribune's Nelson Algren Fiction Award. Erdrich and Dorris subsequently discussed expanding upon the characters of Nector, Marie, and Lulu. The short story "Scales", in particular, was inspired by her experience working as a weigher of commercial trucks. In several interviews, Erdrich and her then-husband described their creative relationship as one of primary writer (Erdrich) and editor/contributing writer (Dorris).
Publication History.
Critics such as Lorena Stookey have commented on Erdrich's unique view of publication as a means of providing the writer with "temporary storage," instead of a "final word." Erdrich has issued two major revisions of "Love Medicine": one in 1993 and another 2009. The 1993 edition expanded upon the initial publication with four new chapters and a new section within the chapter entitled "The Beads." Erdrich also made revisions to her language in response to reader reactions to the sexual encounter in "Wild Geese." For the 25th anniversary edition, Erdrich decided to remove two chapters: "Lyman's Luck" and "The Tomahawk Factory." In the author's note, Erdrich reasoned that the two stories "interrupted the flow" of the final pages of the novel.
Reception.
"Love Medicine" has received a handful of awards since it was first published in 1984. Kurup and Wagner-Martin state that "Love Medicine" "catapulted [Erdrich] to the front of what Kenneth Lincoln describes as the 'Native American Renaissance' [...] Lincoln [...] suggested that she stands alongside the greats of American letters." In 1984, "Love Medicine" received the National Book Critics Circle Award for the best work of fiction, the Susan Kaufman Award for best first fiction from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and the Virginia McCormick Scully Award. In the following year, it went on to receive the LA Times Award for Fiction, the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation and the Great Lakes Association Award for best work of fiction. Marco Potales of the NY Times praised the book, stating "[...] this is a notable, impressive book of first fiction: the unique evocation of a culture in severe social ruin, yet still aglow with the privilege and power of access to the spirit-world."


Hairspray (2002 album)

Hairspray: Original Broadway Cast Recording is the cast album for the 2002 musical "Hairspray". The show is an adaptation of the 1988 film of the same name. It features performances from the show's cast, which includes Harvey Fierstein, Linda Hart, Dick Latessa, Kerry Butler, Clarke Thorell, Mary Bond Davis, Laura Bell Bundy, Matthew Morrison, Corey Reynolds, and Marissa Jaret Winokur as the lead character of Tracy Turnblad. The cast recording earned the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Album information.
The cast recording contains seventeen songs from the musical, with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman. The book for the musical is by Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell. "Hairspray's" music is written and performed to conform to the story's 1962 setting, with influences spanning the genres of doo-wop, rock and roll, soul, and pop.
Sony released the recording on August 13, 2002 (ASIN: B00006AALQ).
Track listing.
All tracks written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
Additional songs and score changes.
As the soundtrack was recorded before previews in New York had begun, several songs in the stage show now differ from their respective recordings on the album, most notably "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" and "Cooties".
In addition, certain musical numbers were excised for the cast album entirely, including "The Nicest Kids in Town (Reprise)" and "Velma's Revenge" (a reprise of "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs"). "The Madison", another one of these numbers, occurs after "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" and is sung by Corny and Company. The song, however, was included on the 2-Disc Collector's Soundtrack titled "Boink-Boink".


HBCU band

A Historically Black College and University marching band (also known as a HBCU band) is the marching band sponsored by a historically black college or university. A distinctive "HBCU-style" of marching band originated in the American South in the 1940s through the blending of earlier traditions of military music and minstrel shows with a performance repertoire based on popular song.
The spectator popularity of HBCU bands within the campus communities of their institutions has historically eclipsed that of traditional athletics. One 2009 survey of students and alumni of HBCUs found that more than 83-percent felt that most people attended HBCU football games only to see the marching band perform.
Different studies have linked HBCU band membership with both higher and lower rates of academic achievement versus the at-large student population. Among the predominantly male, African-American membership of the ensembles, they have been theorized to support positive identity formation. Instances of death and serious injury have occurred among HBCU band members due to patterns of endemic and often violent hazing.
History.
Origins.
Early American military music recruited large numbers of black musicians. A 1738 statute enacted by the Virginia House of Burgesses required military service for “free mulattos, blacks, and Native Americans". Due to government concerns of a domestic rebellion, they were prohibited from carrying arms and were, therefore, exclusively used as "drummers, fifers, trumpeters, or pioneers”. As many as 5,000 African-Americans provided military service during the American War of Independence, including notable musicians such as Barzillai Lew. The tendency to recruit African-Americans into military bands continued after independence; following the War of 1812, a large number of civilian, all-black brass bands formed among veteran military musicians across the United States, but particularly in New Orleans where they often adopted the theatrical styles of minstrel shows.
Early history.
Drawing on these traditions, the first HBCU band was established in 1890 at Tuskegee Normal School (later Tuskegee University) under student direction. In 1907 its first professional director, retired U.S. Army Major Nathaniel Clark Smith, was appointed. Ensembles at additional historically black colleges and universities followed. Under the early direction of W.C. Hardy - a former minstrel show musician - Alabama A&M University began performing popular songs of the day in addition to marches, an approach to music selection later popularized among other HBCU and Primarily White Institution (PWI) bands.
The earliest incarnation of the modern HBCU style of marching band, in which the distinctive high-stepping style coalesced with popular music and elaborate dance routines by both bandsmen and auxiliaries, has been traced to Florida A&M University in the 1940s. Beginning in 1952, under director Conrad Hutchinson, the Grambling State University band cultivated a reputation for extravagant performances that was soon emulated by bands at most other HBCUs.
In 1955, the marching band of Tennessee State University became the first HBCU band to appear on national television during their performance at a Chicago Bears NFL game. Six years later, in 1961, the band became the first HBCU band to perform for an inauguration of the President of the United States when it was assigned to the inaugural parade of John F. Kennedy. The Grambling State University marching band provided halftime entertainment at Super Bowl I in 1967, with its performance later named "One of the Top 10 Super Bowl Halftime Shows” by "Sports Illustrated".
21st century.
As of the 2010s, HBCU bands included those of Grambling State University, Tennessee State University, Norfolk State University, Texas Southern University, South Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Jackson State University, Florida A&M University, Bethune Cookman University, Winston-Salem State University, Fayetteville State University, Shaw University, Southern University and Hampton University. Some high schools, principally in the American South, have adopted the HBCU style, including Jefferson Davis High School of Montgomery, Alabama and Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur, Georgia.
Characteristics.
Drum majors.
Drum majors in HBCU bands fill a different role than those of other marching bands which use the position to control tempo and impart field direction. The role of HBCU drum majors evolved from that of leaders of bands in black minstrel parades who were performers themselves. In the black minstrel theatrics of the 19th century, according to Lee Evans citing DeVeaux and Giddins, "'black people realized that they could perform their ‘blackness’ for money,' so they began dancing and singing and doing comedy skits in the streets'.
Instrumentation.
Many HBCU bands feature an instrumentation that privileges brass instruments to maximize sound and create a "brighter" musical tone. Snare drummers typically use a traditional, military-style sling drum instead of the harness drum typical of contemporary American marching bands.
Marching style and drill technique.
The marching style of HBCU bands has been described as "show style" and represents a modification of the high-step marching style popularized by the bands of the Big Ten Conference in the early 20th century with the addition of an upper body swing. During field shows, HBCU bands perform geometric maneuvers featuring straight lines based on the four-person squad system of drill influenced by former Purdue University band director Bill Moffit's text "Patterns in Motion". These drills are interspersed with energetic dance routines known as "breakdowns".
Repertoire.
From an early stage, HBCU bands have placed a focus on performing a musical repertoire reflective of the popular song of the day, a practice later adopted by PWI bands. This has recently included a heavy emphasis on R&B and Hip Hop chart toppers. HBCU bands are also known for "punches" – short, musical pieces drawn from the melody of songs associated with popular culture such as television and movie theme songs. During stoppages in game play these will be performed in alternating sequences with the opposing band, with the ensemble able to perform the most without repeating any "winning" the battle.
Terminology.
HBCU bands employ a distinct nomenclature. Performances are called "battles", while the energetic participation or approval of the crowd is known as "house" and ensembles attempt to "win house". Performing a "punch" is called "throwing", as in "throwing a punch".
Events.
The Honda Battle of the Bands is an annual, invitational exhibition of HBCU bands that occurs each spring in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sociological and pedagogical aspects of HBCU bands.
Academics and personal development.
Negative aspects.
Graduation rates among members of HBCU marching bands tend to lag behind those of the general population of the institutions.
Positive aspects.
Research by Henry Taylor Frierson concluded that HBCU marching bands represent an ideal institution for development of black male youth by supporting positive identify formation and a customized support structure.
A 2011 study by Christopher Jett concluded that HBCU participation could be linked to "producing successful African American male mathematics majors".
Cultural status.
A 2009 study found that 50.2-percent of incoming, current, and former students and faculty at HBCUs listed the reputation of the school's marching band as a leading factor in their decision to attend or work at that institution, making it the fourth most cited factor after genuine interest, cultural connection, and location. Meanwhile, 83.9-percent stated their feeling that most people attended HBCU football games only to see the marching band perform. In 2018, the Associated Press observed that "on some black college campuses, marching band members are more popular than basketball or football players".
Gender roles.
The position of drum major at HBCUs has traditionally been dominated by men. In 2018, the first female drum major at Florida A&M University was selected in that band's 72-year history.
Hazing.
Several sources have reported on endemic hazing within HBCU bands. In 2011, NPR reported that – at one school – new members "had to face choreographed assaults, with two-by-fours, belts, baseball bats ... suffering literally hundreds of blows from their older compatriots". Hazing-related deaths and injuries within the bands of Southern University and Florida A&M University have led to criminal prosecutions.
A limited survey conducted in 2013 by Bruce Allen Carter of the National Council on the Arts found that gay males who were members of an HBCU band experienced "ever-present anxiety" when participating in band-related activities. Each survey participant also reported being subject to hazing that was so "shameful and embarrassing" that it was "not something they ever discussed".
The Red Dawg Order, a student anti-hazing organization established in 1994 within the Florida A&M University marching band, subsequently morphed into a "ganglike organization" that established a presence in nearly every HBCU band in the United States and became – in some bands – a leading instigator of hazing.
Racial issues.
HBCU bands tend to be predominantly African-American, though occasionally persons of other races have been members. According to a 2012 study, white students attending an HBCU generally avoided social activities and focused on academics, however, if they were a member of the school's band they "appeared to develop strong relationships with their peers" within the ensemble.
In 2001, Matt Smith became the first white drum major at Hampton University. According to Smith, opposing schools would use Smith's race to demean the group as a whole.
From 2018 to 2020, Justin Heideman, who is white, was head drum major of the Jefferson Davis High School (Montgomery, Alabama) marching band, an HBCU-style high school band. In the second year of Heideman's tenure, after video of one of the band's performances was posted online, Heideman encountered – according to "USA Today" – "hate, ignorance and prejudice" in a minority of online comments to the video, with some suggesting "there was something heinous about a group of black children following the lead of a white boy". However, Jefferson Davis students defended Heideman's role and the majority of comments offered "praise and positive social engagement". Writing in "Teen Vogue", Danielle Kwateng-Clark later lauded Heideman as a positive example of "a white person ... existing in predominantly Black space".


Silver-gilt bowl (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Silver-gilt bowl is a 7th century BCE silver-gilt bowl. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It dates to c. 725–675 BCE.
Description and interpretation.
The work depicts a winged deity (resembling Assyrian deities) cutting down a lion with a sword. Surrounding that is a number of animal and narrative motifs. This includes Egyptian subjects like a sphinx wearing a pschent and a lion walking over a dead man (symbolizing a pharaoh conquering his enemies). The outer band of the bowl also has a variety of motifs, and above that are inscriptions. One, "I am [the bowl] of Akestor, king of Paphos", was partly obliterated and replaced by "I am [the bowl] of Timokretes", presumably by the bowl's next owner.
The bowl's significance stems from its excellent condition, high quality, and its amalgam of Egyptian, Assyrian, and Phoenician features.


Bromantic comedy

A bromantic comedy is a comedy film genre that takes the formula of the typical "romantic comedy" but focuses on close male friendships.
Description.
Bromance, a word that blends the words "brother" and "romance", can be defined as a "close nonsexual friendship between men". A bromantic comedy finds humor in reversing the formula of the typical "romantic comedy". In the film "Knocked Up", it is not the man and woman that have the romantic chemistry, but the two men. In "I Love You Man", it is not the man and woman (the bride and groom) of the story who fall in love, break up, and then are reunited romantically at the end—but the two male leads. Bromantic comedy films present expressions of male intimacy, while humorously poking fun of the characters' fears of being homosexual.
The "slovenly hipster" protagonists of the bromantic comedy usually are not mature and are lacking in ambition. They are "beta males" that are into porn and junk food, but they are forced to grow up when they discover "straight arrow" women, children and responsibility. It is a story of "the dissolution of a male pack, the ending of a juvenile male bond," according to David Denby in "The New Yorker".
Bromantic comedies contain the concept of a "code" between men: "bros before hos". The idea is that the bonds between men are more significant, stronger, deeper and based on mutual understanding, whereas the bonds between a man and a woman can be capricious, shallow and less satisfying. So, if a man leaves his male friends for a woman, he will eventually be dumped, abandoned, betrayed, and/or dominated. This may be too dark for comedy, so bromantic comedies deal with misogyny with tentativeness. There is often an element in the plot that allows the men to go off on their own, away from the women. Examples of this are the "man cave" of "I Love You, Man", or the "mancation" of "The Hangover".
According to film scholar Timothy Shary in "Millennial Masculinity: Men in Contemporary American Cinema", a number of films in this genre, like "Wedding Crashers", provide a surprising level of bisexuality for its male characters, and a place for more diversified male relationships to exist.
Shakespeare's play, "Love's Labor's Lost", provides, in its opening passage, a comedic prototype for the idea of men agreeing to a "code" to sequester themselves and avoid romance with the opposite sex.
Judd Apatow is a prominent director of the bromantic comedy genre. His films "The 40 Year Old Virgin" (2005), and "Knocked Up" (2007) paved the way for a surge of similar films that were released in the mid-late 2000s. Films from this era found an audience for the comedic depiction of same-sex relationships, something to which male viewers could relate, but which had been overlooked by screenwriters.
History.
Aspects of "bromantic comedies", including male camaraderie, are found in Barry Levinson's 1982 film "Diner". In that film, a group of six male friends struggle with growing up and finding their way in the real world, while they have each other to support them along the way. A similar situation occurs in the films "Kicking and Screaming" (1995) and "The Hangover" (2009).
With John Hamburg's "I Love You Man" the genre seems to have reached a particular apogee, as the film goes very far in its depiction of bromance, while receiving many excellent reviews. In it, Paul Rudd stars as Peter Klaven, who is about to marry the love of his life, but he realizes that he doesn't have any male friends to serve as the best man at his wedding. Then he meets Jason Segel's character, Sydney, who is friendly and a great complement to Peter, but their bromance starts to impact the groom's relationship with his bride-to-be.
Broadway has borrowed the idea of the bromantic comedy from the movies and wedded it to the traditional musical form in "The Book of Mormon" and "The Producers".
Criticism.
The genre has its critics who accuse it of political incorrectness and a variety of insensitivities, but the films are satires, and in that sense, the exposing of social ills may be considered to have some potentially positive effect. A primary comedic target of the bromantic comedy is the idea that there is a "code" of male behavior that may tend to impede men from relating in a realistic or natural way with both men and women. Using satire and ridicule the films expose the flimsy ideology and the fears that are the basis of such "codes". However, social critic David Hartwell concludes that beneath a facade of progressive and liberating motivation, the bromantic comedy genre is ultimately guilty of "perpetuating the ideologies it is trying (or pretending) to critique."


Second Hand Rose (song)

"Second Hand Rose" is a 1921 popular song written by Grant Clarke and James F. Hanley for Fanny Brice.
Brice performances.
Fanny Brice introduced the song in the revue "Ziegfeld Follies of 1921" which opened at the Globe Theater (now known as the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre) on Broadway on June 21, 1921. Although one critic found this production of the revue not as good as previous versions, an exception was Brice: "This inimitable artist chalked up one of the few high marks of the evening with this song. For clarity of utterance, economy of means and a highly developed comic sense, Miss Brice has no peer on our stage. She got a genuine reception on her entrance and clamorous applause for her exit. And earned every bit of it legitimately."
Brice's 1922 recording of the song became a hit record, reaching #6 (US). The song was also sung by Brice in the 1928 film "My Man".
The song's popularity inspired a 1922 screen dramatization starring Gladys Walton.
Streisand performances.
Barbra Streisand, who had starred in "Funny Girl", the 1964 Broadway musical based on Brice's life, recorded "Second Hand Rose" as part of her 1965 television special "My Name Is Barbra", releasing it as a single for the tie-in studio album "My Name Is Barbra, Two...".
Streisand remembers in "Just For The Record": "'Second Hand Rose' became part of a tongue-in-cheek fantasy sequence which was shot at Bergdorf Goodman's... And thanks to people I loved and loved working with—Joe Layton, Dwight Hemion, Peter Matz, Robert Emmett, Tom John, and, of course, Marty — I was able to realize my dream."
Her rendition became an international hit, reaching #14 in the UK, #6 in Australia, #32 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100, and number one on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. (The record was subsequently included in Streisand's 1970 greatest hits compilation.)
Streisand had received similar acclaim for her cover of the Brice hit "My Man". The success of these recordings prompted both "Second Hand Rose" and "My Man" to be included in the 1968 film adaptation of "Funny Girl", despite neither song appearing in the original stage musical.


L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival

The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival (LACS) is an annual film festival held in the spring in Los Angeles, California. LACS programs short films exclusively in the comedy genre, and is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. During the four-day event, between 60-90 comedy short films from around the world are screened at the festival's main venue in Downtown Los Angeles, with additional industry panels and parties taking place at various locations around the city. The festival culminates on the final night with a red carpet awards ceremony, where winning filmmakers and screenwriters are honored and the "Commie" award is presented to a comedy industry notable for career achievement and "excelling in achieving outstanding comedical achievements in the field of comedy excellence."
The festival mission states that LACS is "dedicated to introducing the newest and hottest comedic talent to the industry, and helping them make the connections they need to take their careers to the next level." Each year, a selection of films from the festival is screened at multiple venues around the country as part of the L.A. Comedy Shorts Best-of-Fest Tour.
History.
L.A. Comedy Shorts was founded in 2009 by Gary Anthony Williams of "Boston Legal", along with Festival Director Jeannie Roshar and Festival Producer Ryan Higman. The inaugural festival took place March 5–8, 2009 at The Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles, and was sponsored by Funny Or Die, Atom.com and The Onion. Participating celebrities included Mark Hamill, Aisha Tyler, Sean Astin, and awards show host Adam Carolla.
In 2011, LACS added a prize for comedy short student films.
Currently not in operation.
L.A. Comedy Scripts.
LACS also hosts the L.A. Comedy Scripts Screenplay Competition, which judges feature-length and short comedy screenplays from around the world. L.A. Comedy Scripts finalists and winners are honored at the LACS awards event.
For the 2010 festival, L.A. Comedy Scripts added the half-hour comedy TV pilots category.


Danmark Har Talent (season 2)

The second season of Demark har talent aired on TV2 on 28 December 2015 and will finish in 2016. The series will be again host by Christopher Læssø and Felix Schmidt. On the judging panel Jarl Friis-Mikkelsen, Cecilie Lassen and Peter Frödin will return with new forth judge Nabiha while TopGunn won't return for his second season. Once again in this season the golden buzzer is available for each judge to press once the whole series to put one act straight through to the live shows.
Background.
It was announced Tv2 will make a second season of the show. It broadcast on 28 December 2015 and will finish early 2016
Host and judges.
The season host once again are Christopher Læssø and Felix Schmidt and the judges Jarl Friis-Mikkelsen, Cecilie Lassen and Peter Frödin with new forth judge Nabiha. TopGunn won't return for his second season.
Semi-finals.
The semi finals will begin on 9 February 2016. 7 acts will perform every week. 2 acts will advanced from the public vote 1 act will advanced from the judges vote


La llama (opera)

La llama is a 1915 Spanish language opera by the Basque composer José María Usandizaga. The (OSE) revived the opera under the baton of in 2015, accompanied by a recording on Deutsche Grammophon.


Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married

Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married is an international best selling 1996 novel by Irish author, Marian Keyes. It chronicles the life of Lucy Sullivan, a 26-year-old perpetually broke, unlucky-in-love office worker from London, who has a penchant for bad boys, a needy, alcoholic and flawed father, a dead-end job and exasperating flatmates, dippy Charlotte and bossy Karen. The book is written in the first person and is described by Keyes as a "sideways" sequel to her first novel "Watermelon". The novel was adapted into a television series in 1999. It aired on the ITV network, but struggled with numerous scheduling changes. The series has aired internationally and has been released on DVD.
Book.
Plot.
Lucy visits a fortune teller with her three mis-matched friends, and a marriage is predicted in her future. When the fortune-teller's prophecies for her friends come true, Lucy begins to suspect that she will soon be marrying. Lucy spends the following 12 months looking for Mr Right. Various eligible bachelors are introduced, among them Gus, Lucy's unreliable lover; Daniel, her oldest friend; Chuck, a handsome American; and Adrian, the video shop man. This is followed by a series of disastrous dates, drunken nights out, confessions and revelations. Author Keyes has said, "I'm very fond of that book and I think I have the most affection for Lucy Sullivan as a character. There's a lot of me in there [...] I wanted to write about a single girl in London who goes out with eejit after eejit, you know, because that was really the life I had led, and there was this strange culture of singleness I encountered and I found this very funny. Lucy's depressive, but she has a sense of humour, and that's why I like her."
Reception.
The success of the novel led to publishing deals of more than £600,000, one of the most lucrative ever achieved by an unestablished writer. Between Britain and Ireland "Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married" has sold over 250,000 copies; In Ireland, the book went straight to number one and stayed there for nine weeks.
TV adaptation.
The novel was adapted into an 8-hour, sixteen part, television drama series by Carnival Films for the LWT network. It originally aired on ITV in November 1999. It was described as a "saga about broken hearts and terrifyingly unsuitable boyfriends" with "plenty of workplace-mileage to be extracted from Lucy's job at Nudawn Supplies". Sam Loggin played Lucy. Her flatmates, Charlotte, a promiscuous dippy blonde, and Karen, a bossy Scottish communal financer, were played by Letitia Dean and Zoë Eeles respectively. Other characters included Lucy's three colleagues: sensitive Meredia (Debbie Chazen), loud-mouthed Megan (Sara Stockbridge), and middle-class Hetty (Gwyneth Strong). The group of girls party their way around London looking for would-be husbands or boyfriends. Gerard Butler starred as Lucy's unreliable lover, Gus.
Scheduling.
The series was launched with four episodes in its first week at 10:30pm on ITV, following which it aired once weekly. However, it failed to attract the young adult audience at which it was aimed, so the series was withdrawn (mid series, episode 9) from that timeslot in December 1999. The programme was subsequently aired a year later between November 2000 and January 2001, in the early evening, pre-watershed time slot at 17:05. LWT said, "the underlying tone and structure of the series was not dissimilar to that of the tea-time soaps and, given the wider audience available at that time, it was substantially edited and revoiced to make it suitable for the slot."
Despite this, the show drew complaints from viewers for featuring a sex scene and bad language. Complaints from viewers about the content of various editions of the series were upheld in part by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) in 2001. Nine complained of the inclusion of a lesbian storyline and kiss, while others believed that the sexual content, swearing and tasteless material were inappropriate for the time of transmission. In its report, the ITC said it had "serious concerns about the scheduling of a series which concentrated on the sexual relationships of a group of young adults, so early in the evening". A Standards Panel was concerned by the general nature and tone of the content, in particular the sexual themes in one episode, which it "considered were likely to have exceeded the expectations of the majority of the audience at a time when a large number of children would be available to watch it". It was concluded that certain episodes were, therefore, in breach of the Programme Code.
According to LWT, the series also failed to perform well in the earlier slot and was eventually withdrawn. It has since been repeated on ITV in a late night time slot at various times.
DVD release.
The entire series was released on DVD for the first time in Australia (Region 4) on Thursday 5 June 2008.


Use It


Thingumajig Theatre

Thingumajig Theatre is a puppet company who creates and performs innovative visual theatre, interactive giant puppets and outdoor performances. Founded in 2005 by Korean American puppeteer Andrew Kim and British actor/musician Kathy Kim, Thingumajig Theatre is based in Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England.
History.
Thingumajig Theatre’s two directors, Andrew Kim and Kathy Kim, first worked together as mask performers in a play by Horse and Bamboo Theatre in 2002. Since then, they’ve worked together as makers, performers and directors for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, Islewilde Festival, Oregon Country Fair, Vancouver’s Public Dreams Society and Taiwan’s Dream Community. In 2005, with their first full-length play, “The Vertigo of Sheep” which was awarded a UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence, they formed into a permanent theatre company.
In 2006 they moved into the old Sunday school room in Wainsgate Chapel in Old Town, West Yorkshire, which served as their workshop for five years. Since 2011, they are now based in the Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade workshop.
In 2008, Thingumajig Theatre joined forces with HEADS, a Hebden Bridge participatory arts organisation, and produced the Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade, a vivid, non-commercial community-generated parade. This event is now produced by Handmade Parade CIC.
Giant Puppets and Community Events.
Thingumajig Theatre also creates and performs giant puppets for outdoor events and performances such as parades, pageants and festivals. They have also directed and led several community-generated events such as the Conwy Lantern Parade and Pageant, the Liverpool Halloween Lantern Carnival Finale and the Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade.


Scepter of Dagobert

Originally part of the French Crown Jewels, sometimes considered its oldest part, and dating from the 7th century, the "scepter of Dagobert" was stored in the treasure of the Basilica of Saint-Denis (also known as Basilique royale de Saint-Denis) until 1795, when it disappeared, stolen in the basilica and never seen again.
Its name comes from Dagobert I (629-639), the French king for whom it was supposedly created by master goldsmith Éloi de Noyon, better known as Saint Eligius.
Description.
Made of filigraned and enameled gold, the scepter was 56 cm long. It was made out of three parts, the rod, the hand holding the world and a statue at the top, the oldest part of the scepter.


Fugue for Tinhorns


Ella Mae Irby

Ella Mae Irby (1923–2001) was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee's Bend quilting collective, along with her mother, Delia Bennett, and her daughter Linda Diane Bennett. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Early life.
Irby describes growing up in rural poverty during the early 20th century as difficult and often futile. “We farmed. Lived on the Brown plantation, under what they called "landlords." Cotton, corn, peas, sorghum syrup, hogs, cows . . . Back at that time you worked for thirty cents, forty cents a day, and out of that you pay the landlords. . . . Time was hard. They call it "advancing" back in those days.”
Irby and her family were obligated to pick cotton in exchange for rent on the plantations’ grounds on which they lived and sharecropped.
Irby had her first child, and fellow quilter, Lou Ida Bennett when she was 28 years old. She married Addison Irby when she was 32 years old.
Work.
Irby learned to sew from her mother, who used to dye and fashion church ensembles for her children from fertilizer sacks. Quilting was taught through the matriarchal lineage of her family and was widely practiced.


Gregor Schmidinger

Gregor Schmidinger (born 16 April 1985) is an Austrian screenwriter and director. He is best known for his 2019 feature film "Nevrland" (2019), as well as for his short film "Homophobia" (2012).
Life and work.
Schmidinger studied Digital Television at the University of Applied Sciences Salzburg. He wrote his diploma thesis about "Transmedia Storytelling", and studied screenwriting at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is member of the Austrian Directors Guild and the Austrtian Screenwriters Guild.
As a filmmaker.
Schmidinger's films deal with mental health and LGTB issues. His first short films, "" (2008) and "Homophobia" (2012), have combined more than 15 million views on YouTube. One of his inspirations for "Homophobia" was the suicide of Jamey Rodemeyer in 2011, attributed to bullying due to his homosexuality, and a video Rodemeyer had submitted for the Internet-based 501(c)3 non-profit It Gets Better Project. Although the title of the film was deemed generic by the audience, Schmidinger defended it as it "provides a way of reaching a broader audience with a single word: search engine optimization meets art".
His first feature film, "Nevrland", premiered at the film festival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken. It won the Best Youth Jury Award, as well as in the Best Young Actor category. "Nevrland" deals with the story of Jakob, a teenager who works at a slaughterhouse, and is struggling with a debilitating anxiety disorder. He encounters the 26-year-old artist Kristjan on a cam-chat sex site, a confrontation that, according to the "Saarbrücker Zeitung", "opens the door into the depths of his fantasies and fears."
Film festival work.
Schmidinger is co-founder of the Porn Film Festival Vienna. The festival is aiming to bridge the gap between feminist and queer theory, art, and pornography.


Stay sutures

Stay sutures are temporary surgical sutures which are placed during operation to hold or manipulate the operating area. In cases of ocular surgery, tracheostomy, suprapubic cystolithotomy, appendicectomy, ureterolithotomy, or choledocholithotomy stay sutures can be given. They can be used to temporarily align a structure to stabilize it. This can allow a surgeon to work more safely around the area, without the possibility of a clamp slipping and falling out of place. Stay sutures can also limit bleeding in an area where key vessels may be disturbed. Usually they are removed at the end of the surgery prior to the closure of the incision, although they may be left in place if the surgeon feels they pose no risk to the patient. They can also be placed at the end of strabismus surgery to avoid that the eye drifts back to its original position. Stay sutures can sometimes be used in the management of surgical emergencies .Stay sutures are kept in place with the help of Hemostatic Artery forceps .


Roberta Brown (swordmaster)

Roberta Brown is an American swordmaster and actress.
She is known for her work on "Queen of Swords" where she worked as a sword coach and onscreen as a sword double for female characters played by Tessie Santiago, Bo Derek, and Paulina Galvez. She has choreographed numerous fights and sword fights for other television series, theatre, and motion pictures.
Career.
Brown took up fencing at college and continued her studies as an actress and stage combatant at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art (London), where she received a Master of Fine Arts equivalency. She became one of a limited number of female swordmasters who worked in theatre, film and television. She acted as fencing double for Lucy Liu in the film Charlie's Angels, and choreographed a scene in a TV episode of "ER" between Noah Wyle and Goran Visnjic. She worked on the syndicated TV series "Queen of Swords" and as fight director on the TV film "Boudica" with Alex Kingston.
She was a theatre student at Brandeis University where she was introduced to fencing, and has been acclaimed as an outstanding alumna. She has practiced her craft for over ten years.
She was brought onto the TV series "Queen of Swords" by the initial swordmaster and stunt co-ordinator Anthony De Longis to train Tessie Santiago's stunt double Natalia Guijarro. She also doubled Bo Derek in master shots and Paulina Gálvez wagon scene in the episode "The Witness". She has been a stunt double on "Masterpiece Theatre" programs.
Brown has choreographed for television series, theatre, and motion pictures. Among the actors she has trained, coached, and occasionally fenced onscreen are Billy Campbell, Tessie Santiago, Peter Wingfield, Andrew Helm, Valentine Pelka, Anthony Lemke, Patricia Arquette, Lucy Liu, Elizabeth Gracen, Bob Golec, Patrick Fabian, Noah Wyle, Goran Visnjic, Mary Reinhardt, and Alex Kingston. Though never having trained him, she fenced with actor/swordmaster Anthony De Longis onscreen.
She has taught swordplay and theatrical combat in among other locations Howard Fine Acting Studio and The Lee Strasburg Institute (both Hollywood); Juan Angel Theatre and Teatro Libre (both Bogotá, Colombia); Graz Kendo Club (Austria); Teatro Lope de Vega (Spain); Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art (London); Inosanto Academy, College of the Canyons, University of Southern California, and West Los Angeles College (all California). She is a recognized expert in many forms of martial arts, including short swords and whip work. At the Beverly Hills Fencers' Club, Brown is Director of Theatrical Combat.
The "Los Angeles Times" wrote of Brown: "She's dead serious about the importance of proper training and safety procedures."
"Variety" wrote that "Roberta Brown's fight choreography heightens the brutal confrontations." "Backstage West" calls her oeuvre "disturbing and convincing." The "Fight Master" opined: "It is her solid experience, talent, and smarts that allow her to thrive in an otherwise male-dominated field."


Sandy Bonsib

Sandy Bonsib is an American quilter and quilting instructor who resides in Issaquah, Washington. She is a frequent quilting teacher, has been featured on PBS, and is the author of multiple books on quilting technique, including Quilting Your Memories, Quilting More Memories, Folk Art Quilts, etc., primarily for Martingale and Company.
Bibliography.
"Memory Quilts: 21 Heartwarming Projects with Special Techniques"
"Sweet Treats: 12 Delectable Quilts from 2 Easy Blocks"
"Quilting Your Memories: Inspirations for Designing With Image Transfers"
"Quilting More Memories: Creating Projects With Image Transfers"
"Tried And True: New Quilts From Favorite Blocks"
"Folk Art Quilts: A Fresh Look"
"Flannel Quilts"
"Americana Quilts"


Amakusa pottery

 is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally from the Amakusa islands, in Kumamoto Prefecture.


Bead crochet

 Bead crochet is a crochet technique that incorporates beads into a crochet fabric. The technique is used to produce decorative effects in women's fashion accessories. The word "crochet" is derived from the French "croche" or "croc" meaning "to hook". Published descriptions of bead crochet date from around 1824 although it was probably common before then. At one time, bead crochet was thought by some people to be appropriate only for rich people.
Early examples of bead crochet include nineteenth century miser's purses. By the 1920s bead crochet technique also made necklace ropes, bracelets, and beaded bags. Bead crochet waned during the 1930s when the great depression reduced free time for decorative needlework and as inexpensive manufactured goods became more readily available. Interest in bead crochet has revived somewhat in recent years as a hobbyist pastime.
Construction.
Most bead crochet is created by stringing beads onto uncut crochet thread prior to crocheting. Most artists either use a beading needle or apply clear nail polish to the end of the thread to create an anchor point for beading. At predetermined stitches, the crocheter slides one bead down and incorporates it into the fabric. Pre-stringing requires both the bead sequence and the crochet pattern to be fully planned in advance of manufacture. This technique aligns beads on one side of the stitch. So crocheting in rounds naturally yields a bead side and a crochet side. Projects that are worked in rows would either have beads on both sides of the fabric or have alternating bead and non-bead rows.
Off-loom stitches and fringing may also be used to add beads onto finished crochet work. Design considerations in bead crochet include the size of the yarn or weight to be used, the diameter of the beads, and the weight of the bead material.


Hans de Wolf

Hans de Wolf (born 12 February 1955) is a Dutch television, documentary and film producer. He is also a guest tutor at the Netherlands Film Academy and the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts.
From 1985 to 1989 Hans was director of the Netherlands Film Festival. From 1990 onwards he was producer at production company Egmond Film & Television, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards with the film "Antonia's Line". Together with Hanneke Niens he co-founded company KeyFilm in 2008.
During his career Hans de Wolf won numerous awards both as producer and with KeyFilm.
Notable awards are the Prix Europa Television Programme of the Year for the telemovie "Chopsticks" (1996), the Golden Calf Best long feature film for "Nynke" (2001) and two Platinum Films for box office hits "Soof 1" and "Soof 2".


Comedia (festival)


Garema Place

Garema Place is a paved outdoor area in Civic, Canberra, Australia, with a number of shops, restaurants and cafes with outdoor dining. As a central point within the CBD, many community events including protests and festivals are held at the location.
From 1921 to 1923 a railway line which connected with the station at Kingston terminated at the present day location of Garema Place until the rail bridge over the Molonglo River was washed away in a flood.
Garema Place is the location of Canberra's Multicultural Festival held each February and the Celebrate Canberra Festival in March.
In 1963, then-Prime Minister Robert Menzies opened the Canberra Centre shopping mall along Garema Place, which became the first in Australia to be fully-enclosed and air-conditioned with three floors. Due to the expansive nature of the centre and its association with the Garema Place area, the Centre has since grown to also cover the land, as if it was a district of its own.
Garema Place is known for its sculptures and artworks by local artists, predominantly a silver statue of a pillow located in the main area near the chess board. This pillow is colloquially known as the 'Goon Bag,' due to its resemblance to the item and the item's wide knowledge in Australian culture.


Right side (knitting)


Canting

 (IPA: , VOS Spelling: "tjanting", ) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely "batik tulis" (lit. "written batik"). Traditional "canting" consists of copper wax-container with small pipe spout and bamboo handle. Traditional "canting" is made of copper, bronze, zinc or iron material, however modern version might use teflon.
Etymology.
"" is derived from Javanese word of "canthing" (IPA: ) which means the small scooping tool.
History.
"Canting" is originated in Java and invented by the Javanese, it is believed to be invented since 12th century.
G. P. Rouffaer reported that the "gringsing" batik pattern was already known by the 12th century in Kediri, East Java. He concluded that this delicate pattern could only be created by the "canting", an etching tool that holds a small reservoir of hot wax.
Design.
A "canting" consists of:
The size of "canting" may be varied according to the desired dot size or line thickness to be applied to the cloth. A batik craftsperson uses "canting" in a similar fashion as drawing using a pen.
Types.
There are three ways of classifying the types of "canting":
Technique.
Firstly, the cloth must be washed, soaked and beaten with a large mallet. The hot and liquid wax is scooped from small "wajan" (wok) heated upon small stove. The batik craftsperson sometimes blow the spout tip of "canting" to allow the liquid wax to flow smoothly and to avoid clogging, then they draw the line or dot upon the cloth, applying the liquid wax, following the patterns and images that previously had been drawn using pencil. A pattern is then drawn with hot wax called "malam" using "canting". The wax functions as a dye-resist. After this, the cloth is dipped in a dye bath containing the first colour. After the cloth is dry, the wax is removed by scraping or boiling the cloth. This process is repeated as many times as the number of colours desired. For larger areas of cloth which need to be covered, the wax is applied using a tool called tonyok "nemboki/mopoki".


SylvaC

SylvaC (with a deliberate capital C at the end) is a brand of British ornamental pottery characterised primarily by figurines of animals and Toby Jugs. The SylvaC company briefly ceased production in 1982 although production of SylvaC pieces was resumed in 1998 by the current trademark holder Norman Williams.
The company was founded in 1894 by William Copestake and William Shaw. They gave their names to the fledgling company - Shaw and Copestake. Copestake left in 1895, however, and Richard Hull became Shaw's partner. Hull's son joined in 1936 and in 1938 the Thomas Lawrence Falcon Pottery was bought (which produced pottery with the distinctive 'falcon' mark on it). However, the Shaw and Copestake company maintained its original name right up until the end.
Central to the SylvaC line throughout its history were figurines of animals, and rabbits in particular. Dogs were also popular and virtually every breed ended-up being characterised in pottery. Many variations of Toby Jugs were produced, including 'character' versions which celebrated events or tied into product advertising.
Although many colours and glazes were used, most people remember the distinctive orange or green glazes most.
SylvaC pieces are not rare; however, they are becoming collectable, and the best pieces can fetch high prices. There is a common belief that pieces made after 1982 are fakes or somehow "less" SylvaC than pieces made before then. As with any collectable, there is a vested interest in keeping prices high despite the fact that SylvaC was never particularly expensive to produce and not in any sense rare and certainly never meant to be high art. The Falconware/SylvaC brands have passed through many hands since the days of Shaw&Copestake and the notion of a "Golden Era" of SylvaC is a very modern construct that has had a detrimental effect on all of the great pottery houses, especially those based in Stoke-on-Trent.


The Cisco Kid and the Lady

The Cisco Kid and the Lady is a 1939 American film starring Cesar Romero as the Cisco Kid, replacing Warner Baxter, who'd won the Academy Award for the role, and is the fifth film in The Cisco Kid series. For Cesar Romero, this was the first of six Cisco Kid roles.
Plot summary.
Kid and his partner, Gordito, and another outlaw named Harbison are each bequeathed a third interest in a gold mine of a dying prospector and whose only request is that they take care of his baby. In order to make sure that each keeps their promise, he tears the map of the mine in 3 parts.
Reception.
Frank S. Nugent, of "The New York Times", reviewed the film saying, "In sum, "The Cisco Kid and the Lady" is good old-fashioned horse opera and good entertainment to boot". "Time Out London" wrote that the film has "a shaggy-dog charm". Paul Mavis of DVD Talk rated it 3.5/5 stars and called it "completely satisfying". Patrick Naugle of DVD Verdict wrote, ""The Cisco Kid and the Lady" is standard western stuff (everything unfolds as you'd expect, with the requisite happy ending), but for what it is, it's amusing and goes down easy as a shot of tequila."
Notes.
Other films in which Cesar Romero played "The Cisco Kid" were:


Mac Wellman

Mac Wellman, born John McDowell Wellman on March 7, 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio, is an American playwright, author, and poet. He is best known for his experimental work in the theater which rebels against theatrical conventions, often abandoning such traditional elements as plot and character altogether. In 1990, he received an Obie Award for Best New American Play (for "Bad Penny", "Terminal Hip", and "Crowbar"). In 1991, he received another Obie Award for "Sincerity Forever". He has received a Lila Wallace-Readers' Digest Writers Award, and the 2003 Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award (2003).
Personal development.
In 1967 Wellman earned a baccalaureat International Relations at the American University, marrying his first wife, Nancy Roesch, the same year. Moving to the University of Wisconsin, he earned a master's degree in English focusing on poetry. After teaching several years, he sought professional renewal by touring Europe. In The Netherlands, Wellman began a collaboration with Annemarie Prins, a Dutch theatrical director/producer whom he had first met during his junior year in college, creating radio plays. In 1975 they directed a stage production, "Fama Combinatoria", at Theatre de Brakke Grand in Amsterdam.
During the late seventies Wellman moved to New York City and married a Dutch journalist, Yolanda Gerritsen. Wellman continued writing poetry and plays, and in 1977 published a collection of poetry, "In Praise of Secrecy", while in 1979 his play, "Starluster" was produced in New York.
Writings.
Wellman's plays frequently resemble a moving collage of events which has more in common with an avant-garde dance production than Broadway-style theater. Wellman has stated, "More and more I think all theater is site-specific. When plays work, they work in the space." Helen Shaw wrote, "Since a 1984 essay, 'The Theatre of Good Intentions', [Wellman] has been the cynosure in a heaven full of experimental playwrights who rail against what Jonathan Lear, in his book "Open Minded", called a 'tyranny' of 'the already known'."
Discussing his style with "BOMB Magazine", Wellman said that he uses words as objects in his writing. "I found if you try to write totally in cliches and things that don't sound right," Wellman clarified, "you deal with a language that frankly is 98% of what people speak, think, and hear. So it's enormously enjoyable." This type of language has been positively characterized as "an untrammeled flow of logorrhea: plain words, fancy words, space-age words, Victorian words and words that defy the dictionary" by "The New York Times" reviewer Ben Brantley. In terms of production, Wellman experiments with stage direction. Some directions are spoken and others are not, blurring the line between action and direction. Wellman notes, "That's something I'm really interested in. I like it when people talk about what's going on in a play. Sometimes it's more interesting than trying to enact everything."
Professional credits.
Wellman is the I. Fine Professor of Play Writing at Brooklyn College, New York City, and in 2010 he became a CUNY Distinguished Professor. Wellman is author of more than forty plays, including:
In addition to several collaborations with composer/percussionist David Van Tieghem in the 1990s, he collaborated with Bang on a Can composer David Lang in 2006 on the opera "The Difficulty of Crossing a Field", adapted from a very short story by Ambrose Bierce. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the McKnight Foundation and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1990, he received an Obie Award for Best New American Play (for "Bad Penny", "Terminal Hip", and "Crowbar"). In 1991, he received another Obie Award for "Sincerity Forever". He has received a Lila Wallace-Readers' Digest Writers Award, and most recently the 2003 Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award (2003). He is a co-founder of The Flea Theater in New York City.