UGA's World Priemere of (the English language version of) The Misadventures of Uncle McBuck by Augosto Boal.

This brilliant political satire by Augusto Boal uses a myriad of interesting techniques to poke fun at "democracy by capitalism," in the funniest way possible. Before the play started I didn't know anything about it except that it was a political satire with lots of superheros and other copyrighted characters whose names and costumes had been changed, and that it was going to be very, very funny. Funny is an understatement. This play also deals with some very dark themes. Political unrest and misinformation from the government were a major topic.
The play was filled with pop culture references. The whole play was narrated by a Mr. Rodger- esque character (Bradly Golub). From there it incorporated everything from a scene that included "Friends" -like characters who sit in coffee shop and talk about political revolution (to laugh track) to a musical interlude that consisted of the Thriller dance, to a parody of the Robin (Sparrow) and Batman (Catman) are gay theory.
This play also explored issues of racial stereotypes and the exploitation of workers in foreign countries. A wonderful scene involved Uncle McBuck (played by a very capable Shana Youngblood), searching for stereotypical natives to exploit, er employ as workers.
Of course one of the most important questions to ask when watching theater such as this is - is the audience (and the actors) going to be inspired or merely entertained by this play? I'd like to believe that the audience will be inspired, and this is largely in part to the excellence of the cast crew and director of this show.
So, do Catman and Sparrow find true love? Do the revolutionaries win or does Uncle McBuck conquer this poor third world country? Are 2-d props really as much fun as 3-d props? For the answers to these questions and more, you are just going to have to watch the play.
Uncle McBuck opens Thursday, February 21st and runs through Sunday March 2nd. For more details call the box office at (706) 542-2838 or online at www.drama.uga.edu.

Athfest 2007 (Part One)

If you missed this big festival or haven't heard of it then you either you've been living under a rock or you live nowhere near Athens, GA (and if that's so why are you reading this blog). Unfortunately I wasn't able to go out Thursday night, so I didn't see any bands from that night. But I was able to see an impressive list over the next two days. Big crowds, the hot weather and rampant commercialism don't really appeal to me so other than Friday and Saturday's headlining acts I didn't see any of the mainstage bands. Okay. I did see a few minutes of Bain Mattox and the Sleepy Horses on Saturday, but other than to say that I wasn't impressed with either I don't have anything to say.
To begin with- first impressions of and a list of the bands I saw the last two nights.
The first band I saw was Friday's headlining act, Perpetual Groove. This much hyped jam band was not quite as impressive as you might be led to believe, but they still managed to entertain a large varied crowd. They certainly weren't bad, they just weren't as technically proficient as I would have expected. I wished I was watching a different act, like Phish, or Widespread Panic, or the Dead. But of course most of these bands are defunct or too large to play in Athens. I mean, take a look at what happened when Widespread played in here in their hometown almost 10 years ago. Anyway, my point is there a neat little jam band and jam bands are a real crowd draw, but they don't live up to the hype.
Next I headed over to Caldonia to see Nutria. This band wasn't originally on my list, but I had nothing to do between Perpetual Groove and Venice is Sinking, who I really wanted to check since I saw some of last years set on YouTube. Plus I wanted to see the band after them, Modern Skirts, because a friend of mine works for them as an intern and I had heard good things about them. When I got there Nutria looked and sounded a little familiar but I wasn't sure why (it turned out I had seen and reviewed them almost two years ago at the Caldonia). Nutria is an amazing hard rock band with some pop influences. Certainly not bubble-gum pop, but like many Athens bands a little more talented and melodic than other contemporary bands. I'm not going to get into a full review here, but they rocked. And they covered a Perpetual Groove song that was so much better then when I heard them play it a few moments before.
I stuck around for the next act, Push!, a pop- rock band reminiscent of the 80's (although I got the impression that the lead singer may have been just barely old enough to remember the 80s'). At first they were quite impressive, with strong vocals from the female lead singer. It was also very danceable, which was fun. There was even a cute couple widely dancing in the front. But after a while it just became repetitive, so I left.
I tried to get into Little Kings to see Venice is Sinking and whoever was before them, but it was packed and they weren't letting people in. Something about the fire marshall. Those pesky authorities. So, I walked around for a while and ended up at Tasty World, just in time to catch the tail end of the Leavers set. I only heard 2 or 3 songs but from what I did here, they were a good solid hard rock band that had a rock/spoken word feel. They were good and differnt. I would like to hear more from these guys.
I tried Little Kings again hoping that people might be leaving as the set was ending. No such luck, but I did find out that because they were playing outside on the patio, there were people standing on the sidewalk and in the street listening. So I joined them. I got there in time to hear the tail end of Venice is Sinking's set. They are an amazing 5 piece pop-rock band featuring male and female vocals and a violin, and well worth listening too.
Modern Skirts was the last band of the night and considering all the hype I was expecting nothing but greatness. And I was not disappointed in the least. The Modern Skirts are the Athens version of bubble-gum pop. And this is not a band thing because what it means is talented musicians who play danceable rock. In the Modern Skirts case this included a dynamic keyboarder. The other great thing about this band was there showmanship. They played to everyone including up out on the street, even dedicating their final song, a cover of Biz Marke's "You Say He's Just a Friend." I didn't know the song (I had to look it up later), but still the energy was amazing and I couldn't resist singing along. I wish I had more space because I could write pages about them, but just know they were amazing and can't be missed.
Athfest was amazing and I have more to say about Saturday night, but I will save that for a later post.

Hamletmachine-University Theater

This production (which was written by Heiner Muller) is amazing. I do not know how to begin to describe the awsomeness that is this play. It is very symbolic and lyrically very tight. The play is a deconstruction of Hamlet, that took Muller 30 years to write. The play itself is short and subject to much interpretation. I was a both excited and little worried when reading the play because had the potential to be amazing but it appeared to be difficult. In my opinion, Del Hamilton (the director), the cast, and the actors all did an excellent job. I don't want to waste a lot of time describing the production, because I don't really think that gives a real idea of the play. If you are interested in a summary the flagpole has a nice article, you can also read the short (4 pages) script online here.
I'm really glad that I did see the play but I'm sorry that I waited so long, because I would love to see it again. There will be one more performance tomorrow in Athens, after that the play will move to 7 Stages in Atlanta and run there.
Hamletmachine is quite an unusual play. For one thing the characters break the fourth wall, as well as sit in the audience at several points. There is also quite a bit of interactive media involved - projections, televisions, ect. This is one of those plays that definately has to be experenced and cannot just be seen. It's not an easy play to understand, and I think having a good understanding of Hamlet, as well as knowing something about the historical and political settings of the play help. I still think its enjoyable anyway, just because of the stunning visuals and strangeness.