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The James Wilde Project (a developmental workshop)
James Wilde was a war correspondent for TIME Magazine for over thirty years. This play examines what motivated Wilde to pursue the extremes of human suffering as a reporter, and the effect the work had on him. It offers a new perspective on the news of war and the people who bring it to us.
Measure for Measure
A young leader, determined to purify society of sexual corruption, finds himself at the mercy of his lust for a nun. She is forced to choose between her brother's life and her morality. Wickedly comic, unbearably raw and strangely tender, Measure for Measure exposes the chaos of a society as it fights for love beneath a repressive regime.
"...an explosion of music, dance, and found text. (Measure for Measure) succeeds...in bringing the story to immediate life and it will leave you thinking about the text afterwards in a way that a 'straight' telling would not.
"...Jessica Burr's vigorous and imaginative direction really shines. The ensemble as a whole is excellent.
"The music by Gogol Bordello is another great and unexpected addition. In a group number before intermission the whole cast wildly dances to "Illumination," a raucous klezmer-gypsy-punk number that perfectly express the decadence, corruption, and energy of the play's setting and characters.
"Overall, this production is truly an original and strong one. I highly recommend it."
~Alyssa Simon, nytheatre.com
"...all you need are an ensemble of strong, intrepid actors to create the texture of the world, and minimal set and costumes.... Perfect for companies rich in spirit and imagination but low on funds. Real estate in NYC has made this kind of poetic risk-taking a rare and unlikely occurrence in post-Giuliani New York.
"Good Shakespeare is FUN—the really compelling interpretations are always the ones that go at it balls-to-the-wall and don't shy away from the sometimes uncomfortably extreme levels of ultra-violence and debauched sex..."
~Tom Toxic, ToxicPop.com
365 Days/365 Plays
365 Days/365 Plays started when Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks committed to writing a play a day for a year. blessed unrest was selected to produce a week's worth of world premiers, and then perform downtown at the Public Theater. In keeping with Ms. Parks's spirit of creation, blessed unrest rehearsed each play for only one intense day, and performed them cumulatively throughout the week.
"...the blessed unrest company's actors are adept and unafraid of a little experimentation. A big part of the individual 365 Days/365 Plays experience comes from the attitude of the producing theater, and—though their week with the show is over—blessed unrest was a perfect fit."
~Alexandria Symonds
The Kosova Project
The six-member company of Lying traveled to Prishtina, Kosova for an international theatrical exchange with Teatri Oda. This adventure included incorporating a Kosovar actor into the play for critically acclaimed bi-lingual performances, intensive training workshops and roundtable discussions.
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"Si një hap I pare bashkëpunimit mes dy teatrove private: atij Oda nga Prishtina dhe blessed unrest nga Nju Jorku, në skenën e Odës u dha premiera sgfaqjes Lying...Atmosfera artisike e shfaqjes krahas situatave dramatike apo tragjike, përmbytet edhe nga situatat komike."
~Albana Beqiri, Zëri E Shtunë |
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Lying
Learning to fall. Dancing with nuns. First sex. Snow.
LYING tells the story of Lauren, a precocious girl with a compulsion to lie, as she comes of age in a grownup world. Lauren bends truth and uses metaphor in the telling of her playful, impish tale, shaped, if it could be, like a question mark. Adapted from the metaphorical memoir by Lauren Slater. Performed in New York at the Women's Interart Theatre and the renowned NY Fringe Festival to critical acclaim.
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"True to its title, Lying never claims to be the whole truth, but simply a glamorous, schizophrenic version of it as seen by the quasi-epileptic protagonist, Lauren.... Director Damen Scranton makes masterful use of the stage and couldn't have asked for a better cast of players.... Burr and Opatrny's script, adapted from Lauren Slater's memoir of the same name, is a recipe for delicious humor laced with beautiful, delicate prose.... It's the best Goddamned show I've seen this year."
~Komail Aijazuddin, nytheatre.com
"What was the best of the best [of the NY Fringe]? In our view, blessed unrest's lovely, moving drama Lying topped the list. It is a tour de force for Burr and Opatrny.... Damen Scranton, who directs the piece, shows considerable ingenuity and wit, as he deploys his troops to best advantage."
~Irene Backalenick, nytheaterscene.com
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Come if You Dare 2
An exuberant, free performance developed from a weeklong, process-oriented workshop exploring the travel journals and interviews of Jessica Burr and Matt Opatrny from their journey through the former Yugoslavia and Albania.
Research journey through the former Yugoslavia and Albania
The artistic leadership of blessed unrest spent six weeks exploring theatres and interviewing theatre professionals about their work. In Kosova they found Teatri Oda, with whom they resolved to exchange ideas, technique, and performance.
San Francisco Fringe Festival
Performed Certain Things, Which I Will Call Sacred (The Lovers' Project) to critical and audience acclaim.
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"Certain Things, Which I Will Call Sacred: New York-based theatre company blessed unrest brings its original meditation on love and memory to the fest.... Jessica Burr and Matt Opatrny rehearse and remember the various stages of a lifelong love affair that, in its golden years, risks disappearing along with the memory of those who lived it. Repetition allows the richness of a simple idea to bloom: even the set consists of a single prop, a flower pot, multiplied 82 times, forming a garden where the flowers are buried, waiting to be unearthed.... Burr and Opatrny create a touching dynamic that's pleasing to watch."
~The San Francisco Bay Guardian
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Quiet Now: New Play Readings II
A mysterious stranger, a large hole in the backyard, and a not so grieving widow. All is not what it seems in Jacksonville by Deirdre O'Connor. In the Astor Place subway station, an upper level Hare Krishna named Bob must use every trick in the book to motivate a fund-raising devotee who has lost his drive in Sages by Matthew Hoverman. In Untitled Russia by Heather L. Macdonald, two Americans set out to expose the seedy side of Russian life only to find themselves caught in the middle of it. In Rules by Louisa Benton, it's a Minot family celebration—there may not be enough peas for dinner, but there is plenty to dine on under the rug.
Certain Things, Which I Will Call Sacred
(The Lovers' Project)
2 actors, 11 writers, 60 years, 82 terra cotta pots.
What happens when the love of a lifetime is shattered by the loss of memory? An original piece created by blessed unrest with text by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charles Mee, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Zona Gale, Deirdre O'Connor, Henrik Ibsen, Karen Larsen, Anton Chekhov, Petronius, and others. Performed at the Looking Glass Theatre in New York, and at the San Francisco Fringe Festival.
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"Certain Things,
Which I Will Call Sacred stands entirely on its own
as a work of art… Indeed, the best part of Certain
Things is the way Burr and Opatrny transform seamlessly
from character to character."
~NewYorkTheatre.com
"Creative and touching…Smith Conroy
is one of New York’s most talented up-and-coming directors."
~offoffbroadwayreview.com |
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All's Well That Ends...Well
An innovative retelling of Shakespeare's dark comic tale of perseverence
and misguided love. Set in the living rooms of contemporary society
and in the midst of a far-off war, All's
Well That Ends...Well tells of a society disrupted by the
misplaced affections of a young woman, the defiance of a nobleman,
and the terrifying power of a sick king revived. It is a story of
rebellion and the relentless pursuit of happiness, pitting the rigors
of youth against the obstinacy of experience, class against class,
mettle against blood.
LYING
Adapted from the memoir by award-winning author Lauren Slater, LYING
is one woman's account of a childhood overshadowed by her diagnosis
with epilepsy. Along with violent seizures and intense neurological
disturbances, she develops a compulsion to lie. At once funny, sexy
and disturbing, LYING provokes questions
about contemporary perceptions of sanity and truth.
Quiet Now: New Play Readings
In She Waits by Deirdre O'Connor,
Paulie stands to lose more than just her marriage as the secrets
of her bedroom begin to tear her life apart. The
Deep Run by Noemí Martínez Cress is a final
fishing trip for a six-year-old girl and her grandfather where the
stakes are higher than catching a prize trout.
Come If You Dare
The culmination of a weeklong workshop with three goals: to continue
our ongoing commitment to training, to read and discuss Anne Bogart's
A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art
and Theatre, and to explore composition as a creative tool
in our process.
Life is a Dream
A meditation on morality, love and the search for truth by prolific
17th century Spanish playwright, Calderón de la Barca. Written
in 1635, Life is a Dream tells the
story of Segismundo, imprisoned at birth by his father, Basilio,
king of Poland. Rosaura, a much-maligned potential princess with
gender issues, arrives in Poland from neighboring Muscovy to avenge
her honor, and finds a grown Segismundo locked in an isolated prison.
The play follows the parallel journeys of these two characters as
they struggle with questions of vengeance, ambition and honor.
tea and text for six women
Women of various ages speak as mothers, daughters, lovers and witnesses,
sharing stories from their lives while they gather at a non-traditional
tea party. The text of the piece is taken from the candid and uncensored
poetry of Sharon Olds, an award winning poet and New York's Poet
Laureate from 1998-2000. The structure of the piece is based on
the writings and composition methods of John Cage. This is coupled
with a gripping retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's classic poem The
Raven. Together they challenge audiences to question the
context and structure of their own lives.
The Rover
A little known play by the 17th Century female playwright Aphra
Behn; in our version, performed by an all female cast.
Certain Things, Which I Will
Call Sacred
Part of An Evening of Kantor.
A granddaughter's memories of her grandparents confronting Alzheimer's.
Peer Gynt 1:16:19
Not a biblical reference, but rather a compact, frenetic retelling
of Ibsen's classic play that lasted exactly 1 hour 16 minutes 19
seconds.
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