Thursday, December 20, 2012

...on earth peace, goodwill toward men...

"They'll Vote With Potter Otherwise!"


Kristy, Bailey, and I are about done for 2012. We’re so excited to be going away for the holiday! It’s been a great year for us, and there’s so much work to still be done, but we’re extremely ready for a vacation and chance to rest. We’re looking forward to spending this holiday season with our family and friends, and we hope that you’re in a position to do the same. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! …on earth peace, goodwill toward men… From our home to yours… We’ll be in touch again in 2013! All the best to you and yours!

“, not every part of Marx’s theory has proved true.” OR HAS IT?

“Marx thought that with the development of capitalism, the capitalist and working class would become increasingly antagonistic (something he referred to as class struggle). As class conflicts became more intense, the two classes would become more polarized, with the petty bourgeoisie becoming deprived of their property and dropping into the working class. This analysis is still reflected in contemporary questions about whether the classes are becoming more polarized, with the rich getting richer and everyone else worse off, as we have seen...
     Why do people support such a system? Here is where ideology plays a role. Ideology refers to belief systems that support the status quo. According to Marx, the dominant ideas of a society are promoted by the ruling class. Through their control of the communications industries in modern society, the ruling class is able to produce ideas that buttress their interests.
     Much of Marx’s analysis boils down to the consequences of a system based on the pursuit of profit. If goods were exchanged at the cost of producing them, no profit would be produced. Capitalist owners want to sell commodities for more than their actual value-more than the cost of producing them, including materials and labor. Because workers contribute value to the system and capitalists extract value, Marx saw capitalist profit as the exploitation of labor. Marx believed that as profits became increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few capitalists, the working class would become increasingly dissatisfied. The basically exploitative character of capitalists, according to Marx, would ultimately lead to its destruction as workers organized to overthrow the rule of the capitalist class. Class conflict between workers and capitalists, he argued, was inescapable, with revolution being the inevitable result. Perhaps the class revolution that Marx predicted has not occurred, but the dynamics of capitalism that he analyzed are unfolding before us.
     At the time Marx was writing, the middle class was small and consisted mostly of small business owners and managers. Marx saw the middle class as dependent on the capitalist class, but exploited by it, because the middle class did not own the means of production. He saw middle-class people as identifying with the interests of the capitalist class because of the similarity in their economic interests and their dependence on the capitalist system. Marx believed that the middle class failed to work in its own best interests because it falsely believed that it benefited from capitalist arrangements. Marx thought that in the long run the middle class would pay for their misplaced faith when profits became increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few and more and more of the middle class dropped into the working class. Because he did not foresee the emergence of the large and highly differentiated middle class we have today, not every part of Marx’s theory has proved true. Still, his analysis provides a powerful portrayal of the forces of capitalism and the tendency for wealth to belong to a few, whereas the majority work only to make ends meet. He has also influenced the lives of billions of people under self-proclaimed Marxist systems that were created in an attempt, however unrealized, to overcome the pitfalls of capitalist society...
     Conflict theory also sees society as a social system, but unlike functionalism, conflict theory interprets society as being held together through conflict and coercion. From a conflict-based perspective, society comprises competing interest groups, some with more power than others. Different groups struggle over societal resources and compete for social advantage. Conflict theorists argue that those who control society’s resources also hold power over others. The powerful are also likely to act to reproduce their advantage and try to shape societal beliefs to make their privileges appear to be legitimate and fair. In sum, conflict theory emphasizes the friction in society rather than the coherence and sees society as dominated by elites.
     From the perspective of conflict theory, derived largely from the work of Karl Marx, social stratification is based on class conflict and blocked opportunity. Conflict theorists see stratification as a system of domination and subordination in which those with the most resources exploit and control others. They also see the different classes as in conflict with each other, with the unequal distribution of rewards reflecting the class interests of the powerful, not the survival needs of the whole society (Eitzen and Baca Zinn 2010). According to the conflict perspective, inequality provides elites with the power to distribute resources, make and enforce laws, and control value systems; elites use these powers in ways that reproduce inequality. Others in the class structure, especially the working class and the poor, experience blocked mobility.
     Conflict theorists argue that the consequences of inequality are negative. From a conflict point of view, the more stratified a society, the less likely that society will benefit from the talents of its citizens; inequality limits the life chances of those at the bottom, preventing their talents from being discovered and used. To the waste of talent is added the restriction of human creativity and productivity.”
From:
sociology the essentials
by Margaret L. Andersen and Howard F. Taylor
 

, Mr. Neumann discussed the turning point of his theatrical life:

"In a 1979 interview, Mr. Neumann discussed the turning point of his theatrical life: “Somebody by the name of James Joyce — not the James Joyce — hauled me off on Jan. 3, 1953, to the Théâtre de Babylone,” he recalled. “It was the first performance of ‘Waiting for Godot.’ ”"

From:

Frederick Neumann, Actor, Director and Interpreter of Beckett, Dies at 86


They're gambling with our lives.

"Few people, if any, in Washington expected the two sides to show their hands so early. If nothing else, the president and House Republicans have strong incentives to fight, or at least look like they are fighting, right up until the last minute to convince their respective liberal and conservative bases that they resisted as long as possible whatever concessions they ultimately decide to make."

From:

In Latest Campaign, Obama Takes Deficit Battle to the Public

"Now we're going back to the rich and the poor."

“There wasn’t a middle class in the history of the United States before the unions,” said Gerald Florkowski, a retired assembly line worker from General Motors who drove from his home near Flint when he heard about the legislative push. “It was just the rich and the poor,” he said. “Now we’re going back to the rich and the poor.”

From:

Bills Placing Limits on Unions Advance in Michigan Legislature

By and

...always grilled me to make sure I hadn't lost my integrity;

"Stella always grilled me to make sure I hadn’t lost my integrity; she considered this a major problem for the American artist. I wonder what she would have said about the almost total materialism of our current era?"

From:

American Theater

‘Stella Adler on America’s Master Playwrights’

", she is a wildly exciting lover-mistress,"

"How striking is this: “E and I were going to make love in the afternoon and while cleaning herself on the bidet, she began to bleed from her bumsie. And I mean BLEED. . . . I searched E’s bumsy very often to check up on its progress. It is an extraordinary thing to look up . . . and to do it not with lust or sex in mind, but with love.” “I have been inordinately lucky all my life but the greatest luck of all has been Elizabeth. She has turned me into a moral man but not a prig, she is a wildly exciting lover-mistress,” etc. The glowing rest is too long to quote."

From:

Burton on Burton

‘The Richard Burton Diaries,’ Edited by Chris Williams

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Michael Thomas Cain Gets A Mention For His Contributions To The Westchester Collaborative Theater.

Michael Thomas Cain gets a mention for his contributions to the Westchester Collaborative Theater

From Westchester to NYC. New York Regional Theater’s Burgeoning Westchester Collaborative Theater



WCT Program, 2012 Winterfest of  Ten Minute Plays
WCT Program, 2012 Winterfest of Ten Minute Plays

Regional Theater is the engine that drives original theatrical productions and puts them on the map, moving them toward greatness. If new plays are nurtured and developed with love, effort and artistry,  eventually they may be shepherded to Broadway. This is especially true if the theatrical group has an esprit de corps and inspired guide to watch over the flock of artists and their offerings. The beauty of such non profit theater is that there are no chains shackling its creativity.  Without the pressures of time and money weighing heavily upon it, the best regional theaters make the most of their incredible opportunity to experiment, innovate and collaborate with a fluid mix of playwrights, actors and directors.

This has been the case with Westchester Collaborative Theater, established in 2011 in Ossining, New York. Within the span of barely two short years, this regional theater group’s productivity has burgeoned like Jack’s magical beanstalk. WCT has produced Winterfest 2011 and Winterfest 2012.  These events included a number of Ten Minute Plays, original offerings by WCT member playwrights…world premiers, acted and directed by professionals and aspirants. With a variety of individuals at the ready, a spirit of generous camaraderie infuses openness and flexibility not regularly accessible in the closed atmosphere of stuffy professional theater which is hesitant to take risks.

Campbell Scott, award winning actor and director, was a guest artist in November.
Campbell Scott, award winning actor and director, was a guest artist in November.

A blessing for WCT is its proximity to New York City, the theater hub of the world. Guest artists who live in the area, like comedian Robert Klein (last year) and in November of this year, well known actor and filmmaker Campbell Scott, are able to share their talent and expertise and serve as an inspiration to veteran performers and engaged newbees. The atmosphere at WCT is creative and non threatening, the overriding risk of lousy box office receipts absent. WCT thrives on donations, grants and the good will of patrons and the surrounding community. It is a labor of love won by the efforts of dedicated individuals like Executive Director, Alan Lutwin, who adore live theater and the living moments of performance art.

This year’s Winterfest follows on the heels of a productive year for the  Westchester Collaborative Theater which included the scheduled Summerfest of One-Act play readings, monthly LAB with developmental readings and talk backs about select playwrights’ works in progress and a full length play reading. As a result of WCT’s labs, playwright/director Michael Thomas Cain was able to develop his play and present Enough’s Enough at La MaMa E.T.C. in NYC as part of the 2012 NY International Fringe Festival.

The works-in progress initiative for playwrights, directors and actors has been exciting. Each week guest artists with years of experience in the entertainment industry engaged in readings and talk backs. In November award winning actor and director, Campbell Scott (Victor Geddes with Julia Roberts in Dying Young and the protagonist of David Mamet’s The Spanish Prisoner, Co-director of the award winning film, The Big Night with Stanley Tucci) performed a reading of The Wife and the Widow Next Store by Richard Manichello. The playwright, screenwriter, actor, poet (penned the award winning Choices of the Heart for television) who wrote Agnes of God, John Pielmeier (he also wrote the screenplay for the film Agnes of God) was another guest artist in November who shared his experiences and contributions to the theater and television community.

WCT Director, Alan Lutwin, introduces the 2012 Winterfest
WCT Director, Alan Lutwin, introduces the 2012 Winterfest

This season’s 2012 Winterfest of Ten Minute Plays included new members, professionals and those whose love of theater, writing, directing and acting have kept them involved in regional theater in the New York City area. Many of the artists’ works have appeared in Drama festivals in New York City and around the nation. Of these, some have been semi-finalists or finalists at the festivals, nominees of major prizes and award winners of other venues.

One such notable is Richard Manichello, 30 years in the entertainment business (actor, producer, Artistic Director of Peekskill Playhouse) and an Emmy Award-winning director and writer of stage, film and television. Manichello directed two plays for the WCT Winterfest. The first was Hooters, written by playwright Gabrielle Fox. Fox’ plays have been produced throughout New York City and the metro region. Manichello also directed Lava Sus Manos by playwright Jess Erick.

Hooters, directed by Richard Manichello, with Jess Erick as Becca and Adam Glatzl as Sammy
Hooters by Gabrielle Fox.  Directed by Richard Manichello, with Jess Erick as Becca and Adam Glatzl as Sammy.
 
 
The Hunters by Joe McDonald, Directed by Matthew Silver. Janice Kirkel (left) as Eileen and Lorraine Federico as Rose (
The Hunters by Joe McDonald, Directed by Matthew Silver. Janice Kirkel (left) as Eileen and Lorraine Federico as Rose
 
 
New Orleans Playwright's Turtle Soup from White Suits in Summer. Directed by WCT actor and director Elaine Hartel.
New Orleans Playwright, Rosary O’Neill’s Turtle Soup from White Suits in Summer. Directed by WCT actor and director Elaine Hartel.
 
 
Turtle Soup: Suzanne Ochs as Lucille (left) and Janice Kirkel as Aunt Jean.
Turtle Soup: Suzanne Ochs as Lucille (left) and Janice Kirkel as Aunt Jean.

Another professional, Rosary O’Neill, whose work was presented at the Winterfest, like Manichello, has weighty career experience and many awards and fellowships under her belt. O’Neill who is from New Orleans is a published/produced playwright (22 published plays) novelist, actor, director and retired Professor of Drama and Speech at Loyola University of New Orleans. The fourth edition of her textbook, The Actor’s Checklist, is used in schools nationwide. O’Neill founded the Southern Repertory Theatre in New Orleans and for many years was its Artistic Director, producing a number of the plays she had written. The comedic 10 minute play “Turtle Soup,” directed by Elaine Hartel (actor and director for WCT and other New York regional theater groups) was excerpted from O’Neil’s semi-autobiographical play about a wealthy family in New Orleans, White Suits in Summer

Snow Birds by Csaba Teglas. Directed by Michael Thomas Cain with Jon Barb and Leslie Smithey
Snow Birds by Csaba Teglas. Directed by Michael Thomas Cain with Jon Barb and Leslie Smithey

For more information about the Westchester Collaborative Theater’s 2012 Winterfest of Ten Minute Plays, the actors, directors and playwrights, or for information about membership in this active regional theater company, check their Facebook page, Westchester Collaborative Theater.


Not pictured, Take One for the Team by Carol Mark. Directed by Joe Albert Lima. With John Barbera as Will, Margie Ferris as Terri and Taku Hirai as Kevin.

Bobbo's Bullet by Wayne Paul Mattingly. Directed by Joe Albert Lima. Left to right, Sara Beth Colten, Femi Alou, Pe'er Klein, Margie Ferris.
Bobbo’s Bullet by Wayne Paul Mattingly. Directed by Joe Albert Lima. Left to right, Sara Beth Colten, Femi Alou, Pe’er Klein, Margie Ferris.
 
 
Lava Sus Manos by Jess Erick. Directed by Richard Manichello. From left to right, Femi Alou, Shelley Lerea, Tracey McAllister, Ryan Mallon, Mary Roberts.
Lava Sus Manos by Jess Erick. Directed by Richard Manichello. From left to right, Femi Alou, Shelley Lerea, Tracey McAllister, Ryan Mallon, Mary Roberts.