Over the next year, TFANA will host a series of free public discussions, which will focus on each team member’s exploration of how theatrical design can support art. I am honored to kick off TFANA’s Humanities series “Part One: A Conversation with Jean-Guy Lecat,” an exploration on space, architecture and performance design. Our conversation talk is set for Sunday, January 5, 2023 at 5:30pm at the Theatre for a New Audience at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn. Continue reading »
Filed under Talk to Me …
AWARDS | “A Song for My Mother” wins Plaridel Award for Outstanding Editorial Essay
The Plaridel Awards, a national competition honoring excellence in Filipino American journalism, were announced by the Philippine American Press Club USA (PAPC USA). The Plaridel Awards is named after Marcelo H. del Pilar, a Filipino journalist and publisher who over a century ago went into exile in Europe. Plaridel was his nom de plume, the anagram of his surname, Del Pilar. Continue reading »
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.” Continue reading »
INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM SEMINAR | LGBT issues and human rights coverage explored at Boston’s LGBT Media Summit
My aim is to emphasize opportunities and strategies for the LGBT Media here in the U.S. to cover international issues and human-rights concerns that affect LGBT communities around the world. LGBT journalists have had few opportunities to work as foreign correspondents. That’s especially the case in today’s media environment, with sharp cutbacks by many news outlets in their international coverage. Continue reading »
BRAVE OR SUICIDAL? | What happened when a Russian gay rights activist staged a lone protest on an annual military holiday
Often it is worth questioning the democracy of social media by just re-viewing a second time and digging a little bit deeper. The video below which documents Kalugin’s confrontation with Russian airborne troops has gone viral. What’s also spread like wildfire is the outraged and sometimes ill-informed commentary on it. It is easy to lash out at Russian government officials. If you look closer at this story though, the surface is not what it seems. Here, the Russian special forces turned out to be the good guys. Continue reading »
BLUEPRINTS FOR DIPLOMACY | New Statesman columnist argues for new cultural relations in Britain
A New Statesman article, entitled “Why Britain can’t afford to fall behind in the race for soft power,” maintains that the west must not stint in giving financial support for culture and cultural diplomacy. If the west failed to sustain cultural confidence, then “China’s gain in global influence and trade will be our loss.” Continue reading »
RADIO INTERVIEW | Speaking about politics and world culture on SiriusXM’s “Pia Lindström Presents”
In October 2012, I was invited to be a guest on “Pia Lindström Presents” She asked me to speak about politics, the arts and world theater. She also asked me personal questions. Continue reading »
THEATER TALK | House of Sweden hosts Swedish and American dialogue in D.C.
Artistic Director of Backa theatre Mattias Andersson who specializes in creating and staging theatrical projects grounded in sociological research methods will discuss this hot topic with Robert McNamara, artistic director of SCENA theatre and Otis Ramsey-Zöe, Lecturer of Theatre Arts at Howard University. Randy Gener will moderate the talk. Continue reading »
CURATORIAL ESSAY | From the Edge: Performance Design in the Divided States of America
I would go so far to say that, after post-structuralism, communication is now the dominant force in design innovations. PQ provides designers with an international art-based platform where they can wrest back the current valorization of time-based performance modes, which visual artists have ruthlessly co-opted for their own ends Continue reading »
INTERVIEW Part 2 | From the Edge: Active Searching & The Value of the Prague Quadrennial
“These events, on a practical level, raise the public’s level of awareness of the importance of good creative design. They affirm the professionalism and creativity of outstanding designers and theater architects. And these events have demonstrated an economic impact to the countries that host them.” Continue reading »
Postcards from the Inge interview, Part 3 | A Ripple Effect
The following interview originally appeared in Postcards from the Inge, a blog. It is re-posted here with the kind permission of the author. Interview by AMANDA WHITE THIETJE Well, here it is, friends—the final installment of the Randy Gener trilogy. Thank you for tuning in this week to read Randy’s words, and many thanks to Mr. Gener … Continue reading »
Immigrant artists and scholars in New York tell their tales of struggle, woe and inspiration
“New York with an Accent,” an afternoon of performances and readings, will be held 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Saturday April 14 at Nuyorican Poets Café, located at 236 East 3rd Street Between Ave B & C in the East Village Continue reading »
Postcards from the Inge interview, Part 1 | From The Edge
IT’S PRAGUE QUADRENNIAL WEEK on Postcards from the Inge! 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, so look for the second installment here and the third installment here. Continue reading »
Postcards from the Inge interview, Part 2 | Active Searching & The Value of the Prague Quadrennial
The following interview originally appeared in Postcards from the Inge, a blog. It is re-posted here with the kind permission of the author. Interview by AMANDA WHITE THIETJE Here is the second installment of my interview with Randy Gener, curatorial adviser and co-creator of the USA national pavilion “From the Edge,” about the Prague Quadrennial. I’ve included … Continue reading »
Postcards from the Inge interview, Part 3 | A Ripple Effect
“The future is increasingly becoming hyper-local and immersive. The designers of the future will have to provide valuable insights into how, why and where we create new performance environments. They will determine the shape of theatre architecture to come. What’s the matter with Kansas if it cannot see that the techniques of illusion shape our reality, and not the other way around?” Continue reading »
Curatorial essay: Exhibiting a country on the edge, a U.S. approach to performance design
Vibrating within a new discipline that is up for grabs, From the Edge proposes one approach toward an American version of performance design. Future curatorial teams will really have to find the courage to contend with the challenge of displaying the U.S. anew in a competitive international environment. Continue reading »
Culturebot’s panel discussion on citizen criticism and the arts live-streams, takes place Jan. 15
Culturebot.org, a multidisciplinary arts and culture blog, and the Public Theater‘s Under the Radar Festival have graciously invited me to participate in a panel discussion on citizen criticism and the arts during the festival. Curated by Culturebot.org, the discussion on criticism and the arts is entitled “Everyone’s A Critic! Exploring the Changing Landscape of Arts Writing.” … Continue reading »
2011 — My year in review
2011 had but one theme for me: I worked to advance the creativity of artists. I tried, in my own busy way, to experiment on how to Occupy American Theater. Continue reading »
Randy Gener presents “Sondheim and After: A Listening Party,” a conference and lecture for Europe’s National Operetta Theatre “Ion Dacian”
Gener states in his lecture: “Sondheim has fashioned modernist scores that took advantage of dissonance and urban angst about love, sex, family and marriage to challenge the mind, not soothe it. For Sondheim, the art of writing smart lyrics rhymes with his restless search for dramatic and narrative truths.” Continue reading »
A one-of-a-kind international festival of musical performing arts in Romania celebrates Stephen Sondheim
A special concert performance of Sondheim musicals and a conference, entitled “Sondheim And After: A Listening Party” pays tribute to America’s Greatest Living Composer, within the framework of the 4th edition of the International Festival for Musical Performing Arts “Life is Beautiful” in Bucharest. Continue reading »