In the Culture of One World Randy Gener

A Global Media Project | Arts Economy, Cultural Diplomacy and Critical Thinking

IRAN REPORT | Foreign shows teem at annual Fajr International Theater Festival

Iran’s 32nd Fajr International Theater Festival runs from January 16 to February 1. Thirty-three troupes from Iran and other countries will be competing in the international section.

January 16, 2023 · Leave a comment

VIDEO | Monsieur Space on building theatre today

JEAN-GUY LECAT ON BUILDING THEATRE TODAY: “The difference between a true space and one that is not lies in the criteria that favours or disfavours life. That which favours this concentration is thus legitimate while that which shies away from it is not.

January 5, 2023 · Leave a comment

VIDEO | In Provincetown, a site-specific workshop re-imagining of “In the Summer House” by Jane Bowles

This post offers two videos. First, a video excerpt of the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival’s workshop production of In the Summer House (Act 2). At the end of this post is a video recording of the post-performance conversation I moderated with the show’s director David Kaplan.

November 1, 2022 · Leave a comment

SOUTH KOREA | Seeking proposals for Center Stage Korea from presenters, performing arts centers and networks

The Korea Arts Management Service is considering project proposals submitted by international festivals, arts centers, and networks who will implement a project involving Korean performing groups/artists as part of their performance program.

October 30, 2022 · Leave a comment

THEATER COMMENTARY | Viewing Jane Bowles and her “In the Summer House” through the prism of Tennessee Williams

You’ve likely not heard of Jane Bowles, but she wrote a cock-eyed, mesmerizing play that was one of the signal achievements of postwar American drama. It’s right up there with the classic works of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Gertrude Stein, late Eugene O’Neill, Lillian Hellman, and Sam Shepard. This post is about Jane Bowles’s unjustly neglected play: “In the Summer House.”

October 16, 2022 · 1 Comment

ART & POLITICS | Hope lingers in Sarajevo’s Festival MESS, one of the Balkan region’s most important festivals

Dino Mustafic, director of Festival MESS, describes this year’s Festival as conquest for happiness and hope. Mustafic, one of the most important theater directors in the region, adds that the theater in the Balkans is “struggling to survive.” Over the last five years, Festival MESS’s budget was slashed by 73 percent.

October 2, 2023 · Leave a comment

FESTIVAL WATCH | Documentary theater seeks social change via international “Theater of the Voiceless”

To track this creative upswing, the Austrian Cultural Forum, Goethe-Institut Washington, Embassy of Switzerland and Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics have launched “Theater of the Voiceless,” an international symposium and festival on documentary theater that runs June 16 to June 19 at various venues in Washington, D.C.

June 16, 2023 · 1 Comment

CAUSES | Boston’s storied “Downtown Crossing” theater history revealed in hands-on talk/tour

BOSTON | You’ve heard of “Downton Abbey.” Do you know about Downtown Crossing? If the Englishness of the PBS series “Downton Abbey” fascinates most of us, Boston theater historian Susan Roberts … Continue reading

January 9, 2023 · Leave a comment

Performance review | Diverse City Theater’s nervy revival of Lee Blessing’s “Two Rooms” gives voice to voiceless

Diverse City Theater’s nervy production argues that Two Rooms has not lost an inch of topical relevance. The play has not lost its eloquence. It is a muted cry of rage.

August 17, 2023 · Leave a comment

Deadlines | New York’s “hotINK at the Lark” seeks foreign scripts for 2013 festival by Oct. 15

“hotINK at the Lark 2013” is seeking to present new work by six playwrights from outside the United States in public readings at the Lark Play Development Center, April 17-22, 2013.

August 3, 2023 · Leave a comment

Native American News | Native Voices at the Autry gives “First Look” to suspenseful play by Native American actor, Oct. 25

If you are in the Los Angeles area, you might want to check out this reading, part of Native Voices’ signature FIRST LOOK SERIES: Plays in Progress.

August 3, 2023 · Leave a comment

Currently in production | Play excerpt, models, design sketches for Pacific Beat Collective’s “Tala” at HERE Arts Center, July 28 to 31

“Tala” will perform in a workshop production July 28th to 31st at HERE Arts Center in downtown SoHo in New York City. The play, a work-in-progress, is a critique on the nature of political revolutions. Click here to read a play excerpt and see the work of the designers and actors as they prepare for the production.

July 23, 2023 · 1 Comment

Play excerpt | Saviana Stanescu’s “4 Alice,” part 2 of “The Window” at Romanian Cultural Institute in New York

And you thought these actors were just making things up as they went along. Didn’t you? Admit it. You did. This is an exclusive excerpt from Saviana Stanescu’s play “4 Alice” for THE WINDOW installation/performance project

June 14, 2023 · 3 Comments

From Havana, Teatro El Público re-casts “Caligula” as gay tyrant

This Cuban take on “Caligula” “consciously uses Albert Camus’s play to subvert cultural norms and our concept of masculinity. Why can’t a homosexual be portrayed as possessing as much violence and cruelty as a stereotypical heterosexual male chauvinist character? What does it mean to be gay and masculine? And why are these two terms still thought of as mutually exclusive?

June 12, 2023 · Leave a comment

Performance review (NSFW) | Italy’s Ricci/Forte serves up queer fantasia in “Macadamia Nut Brittle”

Macadamia Nut Brittle is excoriating, sexy, hallucinatory, viciously funny. The plot steals from the mode of a reality-TV show, but its stance is subversive and punk. As the noisy evening unfolds, Ricci/Forte detonates, again and again and again, the illusory logic of this TV genre

June 8, 2023 · 3 Comments

Performance review | Seeing the Romanian Cultural Institute’s “Window” through Alice’s looking glass

The Window is a unique theatrical experience, because enigma is a principal aspect of its charms. An inspiring two-part site-specific performance-design project created and directed by Ana Mărgineanu for the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York (RCINY), The Window asks you to pay close attention if you happen to stroll by RCINY’s storefront spaces.

May 30, 2023 · 2 Comments

Play excerpt: Jeton Neziraj’s “Yue Madeleine Yue,” a tragicomedy about anti-Roma discrimination

The play tells the story of a Roma family that was forcedly expelled from Germany to Kosovo. In their new reality, this family confronts the challenges of living in a recently newborn state. One day, a Roma girl named Madeleine falls in a hole that was created by a construction company. The girl falls in a coma. As she fights for her life, her father strives to pursue justice. He faces bureaucratic officers, businessmen, policemen and embassy workers.

May 21, 2023 · Leave a comment

Dutch composer JacobTV remixes images of democracy, world leaders, global media into musical “News” commentary

PITTSBURGH: “The rules of democracy are under pressure,” states the Dutch avant-pop composer JacobTV. “Our government makes decisions without asking the parliament for permission. The Dutch government bailed out corporations and … Continue reading

April 27, 2023 · Leave a comment

Plays from Scotland, Canada, Cyprus, Israel, Bulgaria, Latvia dip hotINK at the Lark, March 22-26, in NYC

NEW YORK CITY: I first met the Montreal-based playwright Suzie Bastien in Limoges, France, in 2005. At the time, she was developing a new work, Après. Her second play, LukaLila … Continue reading

March 22, 2023 · 1 Comment

Kabuki actor Tamasaburo Bando V at San Diego’s Kyoto Symposium, March 20-22

SAN DIEGO, CALIF.: Tamasaburo Bando V is one of Japan’s most celebrated performers of Kabuki, the traditional dance/drama form whose roots date back some 500 years. On Thursday, March 22, 10:30 … Continue reading

March 19, 2023 · Leave a comment

“From the Edge: Performance Design in the Divided States of America” at LaMaMa La Galleria

On Smart Power, International Cultural Exchange and Performance Design | An Interview by Amanda White Thietje

3 Interviews by AMANDA WHITE THIETJE:
-
RANDY GENER and I met in Prague this summer, where we were both attending the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ). I was wandering through the exhibits, soaking up the inspiration and the beauty of the city; he was serving as both curatorial advisor of "From the Edge" (USITT’s USA National Pavilion) and Editor-In-Chief of this year’s PQ daily newspaper.
-
Randy agreed to talk with me about the PQ, and there’s so much in this interview I want to share with you that I’m going to post it in three parts. Click on the titles of each article below so you can read each part of the interview:
-

  • Interview – Part 1: "From the Edge"
  • Interview – Part 2: "Active Searching & The Value of the Prague Quadrennial"
  • Interview – Part 3: "A Ripple Effect."
  • -

    “From the Edge: Performance Design in the Divided States of America,” the USA national pavilion at Prague National Gallery

    From the Edge: Performance Design in the Divided States of America

    Reflections on curating and creating national expositions in an international art-based mega-exhibition in Prague
    -

  • Curatorial essay: "Exhibiting a country on the edge: a U.S. approach to performance design"
  • USA exposition returns from Prague: "American performing garage under the sign of Obama"
  • Prague diaries: "Philadelphia theater-makers talk about how performance design affected their works and processes."
  • Interview with curators: "Curators speak about the thrills, challenges and obstacles of staging national expositions of design."
  • -

    Praise and Commendations

    >> "A first-rate writer and editor. Randy Gener understands culture in the widest sense: as news, as art, as politics, as media," Margo Jefferson, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer.
    -
    >> "Mr. Randy Gener’s 'in the theater of One World,' a showcase of his own individual work, is taking up the slack that print journalism is leaving behind. You won’t find this in your local papers," Superfluities Redux.
    -
    >> "The visionary," Instinct Magazine.
    -
    >> "An internationalist, a champion of cultural exchange and dialogue," The New York Daily News.
    -
    >> "Randy Gener's command of theatrical subjects is unequalled among his contemporaries," American Theatre magazine/Theatre Communications Group.
    -
    >> "Randy Gener sheds light into censorship and repression of the arts," Judges of the Deadline Club Award, New York chapter of Society of Professional Journalists.
    -
    >> "Randy Gener is one of the most compelling voices of our era of globalization," Ioana Ieronim, author, poet and Fulbright Program Director of Fulbright Commission Romania.
    -
    >> "Gener draws our attention to largely ignored voices and visions on the international theatrical scene," Judges of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.
    -
    >> "Mr. Gener holds himself to a high standard in his long-form journalism — perhaps a model for young journalists," Superfluities Redux.
    -
    >> "Gener’s writing on theater, especially as it interacts with LGBT lives, is beautifully done, knowledgeable and almost lyrical in its language,” Judges of NLGJA Journalist of the Year.
    -
    >> "Randy Gener demonstrates the ripple effect that spotlighting artistic passion can have," Judges of the Deadline Club Award, New York chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
    -
    >> "Randy Gener's 'Love Seats for Virginia Woolf' is a meditative homage. Gener has staged his play with a subtle grace that complements the art objects' sedentary ingenuity. Never has Virginia's room of one's own been so suggestively furnished,” The Village Voice
    -
    >> "Gener's accumulation of words in his play 'Love Seats for Virginia Woolf' are the feathery evanescence of the butterfly's wings clamped together with the bolts of iron that are the four loveseat sculptures. The actors become words personified. I was left astonished,” The Virginia Woolf Miscellany of the International Virginia Woolf Society.
    -
    >> "His essays wed critical intelligence with a love of the telling and unruly fact," Judges of George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.
    -
    >> "Gener went above and beyond with regard to enterprise, resourcefulness and overcoming of obstacles in the pursuit of the story," Judges of Deadline Club Award, New York chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
    -
    >> "Randy Gener has been a tremendous asset to American Theatre ever since he was selected as a Jerome Foundation Affiliated Writer back in 1995-96, and especially since he joined the staff full-time in 2001," American Theatre magazine/Theatre Communications Group.
    -
    >> "One of the leaders of the Asian American community," The New York Daily News.
    -
    >> "In conferring the Pamana ng Pilipino (Legacy of the Filipino Nation) Presidential Award to Randy Gener, the President recognizes Gener's excellence in the field of theater arts and creativity, and diligence in promoting Filipino-American interests and accomplishments to mainstream audiences in Europe and the United States of America," His Excellency Benigno Simeon Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines.
    -

    Categories

    Biography

    Randy Gener is the Nathan Award-winning editor, writer, critic, curator, playwright and visual artist in New York City.
    -
    His conceptual installation, "in the garden of One World," debuted at La MaMa La Galleria in New York. He is the author of "Love Seats for Virginia Woolf," and other plays.
    -
    For his editorial work and critical essays as the senior editor of American Theatre magazine, Gener has received the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, the highest accolade for excellence in dramatic criticism in the United States; the Deadline Club Award for Best Arts Reporting from the New York chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists; five media awards for excellence in travel-writing from the annual North American Travel Journalists Association Awards competition; and the NLGJA Journalist of the Year 2010.

    Follow me on Facebook

    Follow me on Facebook

    Tweets:

    • Russian hunk Anatoly Goncharov strips down cultureofoneworld.org/2015/06/28/rus… http://t.co/1qjmmqdG7f 1 month ago
    • Russian hunk Anatoly Goncharov strips down cultureofoneworld.org/2015/06/28/rus… 1 month ago
    • G+ NEWS! In July, you won’t be able to upload photos or view existing ones using G+ Photos Chrome App. omgchrome.com/google-photos-… via @omgchrome 2 months ago
    • They're not old news until this sexy boy sings. Got it? twitter.com/Domotalk/statu… 2 months ago
    • Russian Hunk Anatoly Goncharov strips down wp.me/pYMNA-1XS 4 months ago
    • Russian Hunk Anatoly Goncharov strips down cultureofoneworld.org/2015/04/02/rus… 4 months ago
    • RT @BHFFNYC: @RandyGener Join us at the Party to benefit #BHFF on Saturday, April 19th! Bring family and friends! facebook.com/events/6297193… 1 year ago
    • RT @kuyathegroup: @RandyGener Please share our video if you like! youtube.com/watch?v=7nM2BK… … 1 year ago
    • Popular Notre Dame Athlete Matt Dooley Comes Out As Gay In Heartwarming Video shar.es/BMGzC via @instinctmag 1 year ago
    • RT @ConnerHabib: Just leaked: 6 ep reboot of The Comeback! Awesome. kennethinthe212.com/2014/04/exclus… (courtesy of @RobertBagnell) 1 year ago
    Follow @randygener

    Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,578 other followers

    by randy gener

    randy gener pictured at columbus circle in manhattan

    Share this blog

    Facebook Twitter More...

    Archives

    Follow

    Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

    Join 1,578 other followers

    Build a website with WordPress.com