No. 11 in 2009

No. 11 Productions is celebrating its first holiday season! Here’s a quick rundown of what this 8-month-old company accomplished this year and what is on the roster for 2009.

2008

• Received the first ever Stephanie Mnookin Grant from Skidmore College
• Debuted in the SaratogaArtsFest with an original adaptation of Lysistrata
• Presented the world premiere of We Three in the Capital Fringe Festival and FringeNYC, garnering some great reviews from DC Theatre Scene and nytheatre.com
• Collaboratively created a beautiful shadow play called Claire and the Ornithological Shadow, receiving another great review from nytheatre.com and piquing the interest of the Jim Henson Foundation
• We launched a website, a monthly email newsletter, a swell blog, a facebook group, recorded 2 podcasts, and conducted 1 late night radio interview
• Organized an extensive reading series (11 Celebrates 10) celebrating 10 years of the Plays and Playwrights anthology series with readings of 9 plays at 8 different venues

2009

• We’re performing Artaud’s Jet of Blood or the Ball of Glass in the Frigid Festival
• 3 more readings as part of our 11 Celebrates 10 series
• Currently applying to the Capital Fringe Festival, Berkshire Fringe, and maybe FringeNYC
• Post video clips of past and upcoming productions on our website and youtube
• Hoping to become a non-profit
• We can’t officially announce our spring show yet – but if all goes according to plan it will be killer!
• There’s also a murder mystery on our horizon
• Make this blog a premier source of theatre discussion for actors, directors, students, and theatre lovers alike

It has been an amazing, busy, wonderful 8 months for us. When we began No. 11 we vowed to be constantly producing work and I think we’ve met the goal. There have been growing pains, of course, and our numbers have diminished. But rest assured that we are small but mighty, our energy and enthusiasm is uncontainable, and 2009 is going to be our year!

Written by Julie Congress

Claire and the Ornithological Shadow

Claire and the Ornithological Shadow is a hit! Read our terrific review here:

http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/showpage.php?t=clai7582

And never fear, you've still got two chances to see this innovative new work!

Friday and Saturday, December 19th and 20th at 8pm.
The Bushwick Starr (207 Starr Street, Brooklyn NY 11237)
Only $11

We look forward to seeing you there!

Time Out

Claire and the Ornithological Shadow is listed in Time Out New York.

Rush to your local newsstand and see for yourself.

Rehearsal Photos

Here are a few rehearsal photos from Claire and the Ornithological Shadow.  These scenes take place in the shadow portion of the show:  

BLOG CPR

Step 1.  CALL

 

Check the victim for unresponsiveness. 

 

Readers?   Hello?  Hold on, hang in there, more postings are on the way.  We have gotten carried away with our production of Claire and the Ornithological Shadow. Building the set and folding dozens of paper birds have taken away from our more frequent Blogging practices.  Not to fear, balance is to be found.  I’ve been looking for it for 5 months now and I feel like I am on the cusp of it.  That is not to say that I feel like I am even close to achieving balance in my life, but I do feel like I am learning.  Learning how to deal with a day job, a theatre company and a personal life.  There is no question that it is a lot to juggle and that it is a problem many young (and perhaps older) theatre artists face.  I wish I could provide an answer to a schedule that involves working from 9-5, rehearsing from 7-10, and still getting in personal time.  It is a riddle. 

 

Step 2.  BLOW

 

Tilt the head back and listen for breathing.

 

Alright, perhaps this is more depressing then resuscitating, so I will move on.  Claire and the Ornithological Shadow has kicked into high gear.  With only ten more rehearsals left, the show is finally starting to click in that really magical way that perhaps only theatre artists know about.  We should be putting some pretty exciting production photos on our website soon so that you can get a sneak peek into just how remarkable this production is going to be.  This is me, gently blowing all of you into the theatre to share in this unique theatrical experiment. 

 

Step 3.  PUMP  

 

If the victim is still not breathing normally, coughing or moving, begin chest compressions.

 

So get up, come out, and allow yourself to be moved by the ability of a young woman and a shadow to change their existence for the better.  This is the first piece that No. 11 Productions has created as an ensemble and we are very proud of this original work.  It is a risky piece of theatre, yet it is also simple and beautiful.  The character that Samantha has created is by far her strongest work with the company and the precision and specificity of Mitchell is unparalleled in any of our previous work.  The shadow puppets designed by Jen Neads are skillfully made and professional.  Obviously I am PUMPING up the show…shamelessly.  I am proud of what we have created and I am certain that when you see it, our slight BLOG hiatus will be forgiven.  If not, at least you will have had an uplifting and not so expensive night of theatre. 

 

It should be known that I am not certified in CPR, but that was my best attempt!        

Written by Ryan Emmons          

11 Be or Not 11 Be

As you know, we had our first reading of our reading series (11 Celebrates 10) on Monday!  The play was called Out To Lunch by Joseph Langham, and we read at Under St. Marks. 

Before I talk about the performance, which I will, I wanted to point out something else.  Something that I hope continues throughout our reading series.  It was truly inspiring and fun to work with other young theatre artists with similar aspirations and goals in creating theatre.  At our rehearsal for the reading there was energy and excitement about this relatively unknown play.  There was also a sense of play and silliness that I think can be lost in a world that often seems to be every theatre company for itself.  This reading went beyond that and was simply about people wishing to create theatre collaboratively.  Of course this project was low stakes and the artistic commitment was on a much smaller scale than attempting a full production.  When something becomes a larger commitment, that is when it seems people need to stay true to their own company.  That is when actors and directors and designers become territory that is not ready to be lent out like a library book.  I’m in no way condemning this, I act in a similar way…I just wonder if an inter-company loan system might benefit us all.   

The reading itself went well.  We had a good sized audience, the playwright was there we had a talk back that opened up the play in new ways and shed some light on theatre and art in this day and age.  The entire evening was very fun, again there was a lightness and an honesty to what everyone was doing that made this an enjoyable experience for all.  Even more exciting was that this became an opportunity for theatre artists to talk about the political nature of theatre, the power of theatre and what needs to be done in theatre as we move forward in our world today.  I felt like I was a student in a small café in France right before the revolution.  Certainly with our country, economy and lives where they are, an artistic revolution is necessary.  We are on the cusp of great change, for better or for worse, and we need to be prepared to reach out and also listen to the pulse of our country and then, like any good actor would do, react.

 

Written by Ryan Emmons

               

11 Be or Not 11 Be

Last night, Mitch and I, the resident Night Owls of No. 11 Productions, were interviewed on the radio! Actor Paul Newport hosts a segment called “Acting Up” and last night, or, rather, this morning at around 2am, we were on live talking about our upcoming reading series (11 Celebrates 10), our company, and our upcoming original production: Claire and the Ornithological Shadow.

It was my first experience ‘going live on the air’ and I will say I was rather nervous about it. However, Paul Newport is a real swell fella and an excellent interviewer, and it was a very fun and exciting venture. Our segment was part of the Teddy Smith show on WPAT AM 930. They’re gonna send us a copy and we should have it uploaded onto our website soon (for our loyal fans who did not happen to stay up until 2am to listen to us).

Here at No. 11 Productions we are working hard to get this company moving and exciting events, such as this radio interview, are starting to bring us some legitimacy. We’ve got a very full, varied, and thoroughly awesome Winter Season planned. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version:

• 11 Celebrates 10 reading series – No. 11 Productions will be celebrating the 10 years of the Plays and Playwrights Series of Anthologies by reading 9 plays and 8 venues. See our homepage for details. And it’s FREE!
  
• Claire and the Ornithological Shadow – An original shadow play we’re creating at the very moment. Dec. 12, 13, 19, 20 @ 8pm and Dec. 14 @ 2pm. Venue: The Bushwick Starr.
  
• Jet of Blood or the Ball of Glass by Antonin Artaud – Our take on this unbelievable play by the father of Theatre of Cruelty. Presented as part of the FRIGID Festival in late February and early March.

So that’s our update. If you didn’t receive our newsletter and would like to, email us at no.11productions@gmail.com.

We’re going places!

Written by Julie Congress

11 Be or Not 11 Be

No. 11 Productions is a very new company. Here’s a brief status update of what we’ve done so far and what we plan to accomplish in the near future.

Already Done:

• We had a very successful production of our original adaptation of Lysistrata in the SaratogaArtsFest
• We had great runs of Will Goldberg’s We Three in the Capital Fringe and New York International Fringe Festivals
• Obtained a Tax ID Number
• Have begun planning our next two productions (tentative show dates in November/December and February/March)
• Sent out our first email newsletter (didn’t get it? Email us at no.11productions@gmail.com to subscribe)
• Created a website and blog!

Still to Happen:

• Form a legal General Partnership
• Procure a venue for our next production
• Write our mission statement
• Find a park that will let us perform Lysistrata
• Start a facebook group
• Open a bank account
• Become a self-sustaining repertory theatre company (okay, maybe this is a little further down the line. But it’s gonna happen, just you watch!)

Written by Julie Congress