TARELL ALVIN McCRANEY enters. Miami, 1980s. He is a boy growing up in the Liberty City housing projects, among the nation’s worst. He stays with his father and grandparents on some nights. They feed him peanut butter and jelly, and he is content. They are devout Baptists and fill up the boy with God’s stories, and he is content.
On other nights the boy stays with his mother. She is a crack addict with an abusive lover, with unpaid bills. Now and then the electricity is cut off. Now and then the boy is picked on by other boys for being gentle, shy, quiet. Still the boy is content; he loves his mother. She moves them to another project to give the boy a fresh start. Three years later a hurricane named Andrew hits their home, destroys everything. They return to Liberty City. The mother checks herself into rehab. Some years later, when the boy is a man of 23 and his mother is 40, she dies of an AIDS-related illness.
This is Mr. McCraney’s own story, and this is the kind of language — terse and unsentimental — that has helped make him a playwright of uncommon acclaim. His prose is as raw as his subject matter: children growing up without parents, teenagers searching for their identities, adults holding on to hope. Most of his characters are poor and jobless, and some die suddenly. And their dialogue takes a distinct form: The actors often drop out of character to describe their stage directions aloud — “Ogun Size enters” — to make the theatergoers feel they are not so much watching a play as they are sharing in every banal and beautiful line of a story that the cast and the author are unfurling.
CREATURE
And you begin with a bang. The first day of class you will meet Karen Hartman, your intrepid instructor for the fall (that's her over there on the right--->). Not only is she a fantastic teacher, she's also a professional playwright. Check out her bio here. You'll also be meeting one another and getting right into what we're here to do.... talk theater and art! And if that isn't enough, right away you'll be off to your first show called COUNTY OF KINGS at the Public Theater!
On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 10:57 AM, Julia McGill <jools_@hotmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.publictheater.org/content/view/131/226/
>
> For anyone that's interested! It's a lot of fun.
>
> "Are you a creative-minded teenager attending a PUBLIC SCHOOL in one of New
> York City's five boroughs? Are you interested in the arts, theater,
> performing, and poetry? Do you enjoy meeting new people and making life-long
> friends? Are you looking for something rewarding and fun to do during your
> summer break that's FREE?
>
> Students who complete this program will have the opportunity to:
>
> PERFORM onstage for family and friends;
> JOIN Summer ShakeUp on July 10, a special one-day event at the famous
> Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home of the world renowned Shakespeare in
> the Park. Summer ShakeUp includes an exclusive backstage tour of the
> theater, workshop with Public Theater Artists, and lunch - ALL for free;
> Get two FREE tickets to see a Public Theater summer production without
> having to wait in line! *Subject to avail."
>
>
>> Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 20:29:17 -0400
>> Subject: Last class on Wednesday!
>> From: khartman@aya.yale.edu
>> To: achiilee@tmail.com; karenheart.trac@blogger.com
>> CC: arielkay@gmail.com; daniel.kadyrov@gmail.com;
>> dramaprincess777@yahoo.com; ichilds5@gmail.com; jennigirl1024@aol.com;
>> jodie54@live.com; jools_@hotmail.com; Lilbri1six5@aim.com;
>> nikkizdodd@gmail.com; roxygurl4193@yahoo.com; Tamarpaoli@gmail.com;
>> aliciacproto@gmail.com; eost@high5tix.org
>>
>> Sob - I will miss you all!
>>
>> But we have one more gathering (before the TRaC Finale, that is) -
>> Wednesday at 4:30 pm.
>>
>> Reminder, your last assignment is another Explode-a-Moment - but this
>> time write about a moment in these last two months of TRaC. A moment
>> that has stayed with you (in class, or at a performance, or in
>> conversation with a guest or even with each other).
>>
>> Send to me in advance if you can (up to 2pm on Wednesday is ok).
>>
>> See you Wednesday!
>>
>> Karen
>
> ________________________________
> check out the rest of the Windows Live™. More than mail–Windows Live™ goes
> way beyond your inbox. More than messages
But we have one more gathering (before the TRaC Finale, that is) -
Wednesday at 4:30 pm.
Reminder, your last assignment is another Explode-a-Moment - but this
time write about a moment in these last two months of TRaC. A moment
that has stayed with you (in class, or at a performance, or in
conversation with a guest or even with each other).
Send to me in advance if you can (up to 2pm on Wednesday is ok).
See you Wednesday!
Karen
Our fifth and final show will be a musical work!
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
at the Public Theatre Wednesday May 6. We'll meet at the Public, 425
Lafayette, at 7:40 pm, so there will be time for a quick dinner break
after class.
The show will be over around 9:30 pm.
See you there!
If you will be absent, please e-mail me asap so I can release your ticket.
Tomorrow in class we will be working on REVISION - so bring a piece
you'd like to work on further. 4 copies if you can.
See you all at 4:30.
Karen
What's up y'all? 
Sixteen year old Rachel Stein is having a bad year. Her father hasn't changed out of his pajamas since 9/11. Her mother has begun a close, personal relationship with Jesus. Her new neighbor, a sixteen-year-old Elvis impersonator, has fallen for her, hard. And the Apocalypse is coming Wednesday. Her only hope is that Stephen Hawking will save them all.
The germ of End Days began when playwright Deb Laufer heard an NPR report that 40% of Americans are Evangelical Christians. "I wanted to learn more about Evangelicals," she says, "and also to probe how the yearning for faith relates to the thirst for scientific knowledge." How better to get at that than in a play where the same actor plays both Jesus and Stephen Hawking? In creating End Days Laufer consulted with a physicist friend; for the EST production, science advisor and physicist Gabriel Cwilich worked with her to validate and deepen the scientific content. "Scientific themes run through all my plays," says Laufer. "Yet I've always felt that the best way to get people to listen is to be funny."
Important safety video up on the Main TRaC Blog! Make sure to check it out....
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