Mother Courage at CSC- Page 8

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 10:20am

Noticed a quote from Larry Kramer's statement of support released today:

 

"Doing productions of Shakespeare or opera classics in modern settings does not allow for editing out an hour of text."

 

Really? Have you seen any recent examples of either lately, Mr. Kramer?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 10:24am

Yeah, no one ever edits Shakespeare!

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 10:28am

He must not have been a big fan of Alan Cumming's MACBETH. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 11:07am

well kramer sometimes has a tendency to speak first and think second (as he himself would acknowledge) but obviously he is well aware that shakespeare is almost always cut and not infrequently by an hour. It's a shame he said that, because there is much worth in the rest of what he said. 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 11:16am

It reads mostly like a review of Meryl Streep's production.

 

TO THE GREAT TONYA PINKINS ON THE OCCASION OF HER TELLING THE DIRECTOR OF THE CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY TO STUFF IT FOR HIS BUTCHERING OF HER "MOTHER COURAGE":
tonya you are a magnificent artist and activist and thinker. we worked together ages ago and i knew it then. i totally support you in this necessary stance and confrontation. rarely have i read such 'artistic' bull**** as kulick is vomiting out. doing productions of shakespeare or opera classics in modern settings does not allow for editing out an hour of text. how dare the £ucker! that is not "collaborative" working it out together. that is fascistic stupidity. the quotes from brecht he sites are ripped entirely out of context. read some of the prose that brecht wrote while trying to escape McCarthy in los angeles and america; he was actualy living mother courage himself in that time and place because he hated america so. yes, he saw that we don't learn from history. the great writers have known this since ancient greece. that is history's tragedy. that is mother courage's tragedy--that history won't allow her to change and she knows it. yes, she survives. as do we all until we die. some of us try to hold our heads high, as you and your mother courage elect to try. for the record, i think this was one of meryl's less convincing performances. i felt in some way that she did not understand this play and the charactr she was portraying; but at least tony kushner and george wolfe gave her something whole to challenge. i hope someone more suitable comes along to allow you to perform brecht's entire play along the heroic interpretation you envisioned. i long to see that. much love. i admire you so. larry

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 11:56am

"It reads mostly like a review of Meryl Streep's production."

Not sure why you needed to verbatim quote something that was already linked but in any event, there is 1 sentence in the entire quote about the streep MC. If you think it was mostly a review of that, you might want to consider a class in content analysis since you missed everything important in what you read. 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 12:18pm

I didn't see it linked.  Maybe it was linked by someone I've blocked. Or maybe you crazy.

 

If you want to split hairs and tell me to take a class, you should go back and realize that there were two sentences about Streep.

 

But I agree, it's criminal when shows aren't done with every word ever written for them exactly the same way year in and year out.  

 

 

Updated On: 1/2/16 at 12:18 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 12:59pm

Phyllis Rogers Stone said: "I didn't see it linked.  Maybe it was linked by someone I've blocked. Or maybe you crazy."

It was and still is linked in the headline at the top of every page... But no matter.

If you want to split hairs and tell me to take a class, you should go back and realize that there were two sentences about Streep.

What sentence other than "i felt in some way that she did not understand this play and the charactr she was portraying; but at least tony kushner and george wolfe gave her something whole to challenge."? 

 But I agree, it's criminal when shows aren't done with every word ever written for them exactly the same way year in and year out.  "

Oh, sarcasm! Yay.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 1:39pm

It was and still is linked in the headline at the top of every page... But no matter

 

Yeah, that's what people mean when they say something is linked.  

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 1:58pm

So what did Kulick do wrong in Kramer's eyes?  Work for Koch or something?

 

I'm thinking all this Brecht talk is a red herring.  As Froid said, "Sometimes a fight between two people is just a cigar."

[SNAFU]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 2:02pm

Mr Kramer has obviously never seen any Shakespeare done by Julie Taymor.

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 3:11pm

much more light on this subject from Michael Potts... reported via a blog as his FB feed appears to be private.

http://directorsvision.org/2015/12/31/an-actor-exits/

[BobPopa]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 3:21pm

I think this puts it in the most honest perspective. Tonya is strong and opinionated and talented and a diva. She also in true diva fashion refuses to accept responsibility because her talent affords her the opportunity to act unprofessionally. I think when she said that for the first time in a decade the material matched the talent, this sums up her own opinions of herself and how she thinks she is above the others in the creative process. This has nothing to do with race, or sex. It's about thinking your you know what smells better than everyone else involved

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 4:35pm

"I saw this production before this all happened, and that is making me particularly sympathetic to Pinkins. The decision to set it in the Congo is tacked on at best, and the version of the script being used is really terribly chopped up. Mother Courage is an extraordinary play, but you would never know that from what Kulick has put on stage. The setting could have been almost anywhere except for the fact that the posters and program repeatedly told us that this was the Congo. So it felt like an afterthought at best, cultural tourism at worst."

 

I'm inclined to agree. Having seen the product of all this conflict, I'm finding myself sympathetic to her point of view.

 

As for the "cartless" comment unless I've blocked it out, I think the play still ends with Courage pulling the cart by herself.

[CurtainsUpat8]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 4:41pm

Her response to Mr Potts really makes things clearer to me. He seems to be very honest and genuine and FAIR in what he writes. She sounds like a spoiled brat. If you want to call that a "diva" than go ahead.  She sounds like an idiot. She has to have the last word in everything.  Yes she is talented, but after reading all of this she has lost one fan. Me.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 4:43pm

“I’ve tried to avoid this, but I see things spiraling out of control."

Really?  With Tonya Pinkins involved?  (Don't get me wrong, I adore her.  For me, it's always about the work. This is such a tough business.)


The biggest red flag is Kramer.  Whom I hate even more after inserting himself into this.  

 

I wonder if Tonya will start up a webpage about this?   I'm kidding.  Of course she will.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 5:21pm

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 5:32pm

From Publisher's Weekly:  Many of the ideas are empowering if not always new, realistic, or rooted in rationality

[smidge]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 5:46pm

Well, bless her heart. I'm still waiting for the inevitable "What role should Tonya Pinkins play next" thread

[TBone]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 7:26pm

CurtainsUpat8 said: "Her response to Mr Potts really makes things clearer to me. He seems to be very honest and genuine and FAIR in what he writes. She sounds like a spoiled brat. If you want to call that a "diva" than go ahead.  She sounds like an idiot. She has to have the last word in everything.  Yes she is talented, but after reading all of this she has lost one fan. Me."

 

 

AMEN.

 

 

Updated On: 1/2/16 at 07:26 PM

[A Director]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 7:53pm

More from Larry Kramer.  Either he can't reach the Shift key or he's the second coming of e.e. cummings or archy the cockroach.

Morgan Jenness posted Michael Potts’s longer statement for Mr. Kramer to read.  Mr. Kramer responded: “morgs, i’m afraid i find potts’ response petty and simple-minded and not dealing with the main issues. first and foremost how dare kulick cut an hour from this script and what was left after this castration, which no doubt tonya was troubled by, as she should have been, and potts should have been too. as rehearsals continued and previews too it sounds like tonya was just doing what any great actress would be doing if reaching for even higher levels — trying to work things out emotionally and as is often the case still learning after the curtain comes up. so tonya didn’t tell all the actors what she was thinking, or suddenly found herself trying, or told them too pointedly, hurting the pooor baby’s feelings. haven’t they worked with great actors before? I have. glenda jackson did what the **** she wanted, thank god because ken russell was incapable of helping her, which sounds a lot like kulick not being able to help tonya and her knowing it, thus increasing her frustration factor. i had the privilege of watching rehearsals involving such as kim stanley, geraldine page, ralph richardson, the great olivier, and was friends with the great luise reiner. they all had and did and reacted just as tonya did.”

 

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 8:05pm

Until he can produce Geraldine Page's Facebook comments, I'm calling bs. 

[Back Row]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 8:45pm

This whole soap opera would make a terrific comedic play, perhaps told from the perspective of the crew members who have to watch all of it unfold, helplessly waiting for the inevitable train wreck to occur. #crewperspectivematters

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 9:06pm

Just what this story needed, the rantings of that hateful, angry troll. 

Updated On: 1/2/16 at 09:06 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 9:19pm

Off-topic, but anyone else find it hilarious that she tweeted this?? https://twitter.com/tonyapinkins/status/683395427576713217