Rude News

Great Review and Discount for NOW NOW OH NOW

2012-05-24T13:40:00.003-07:00

IN BRIEF:

Austin Chronicle review praises NOW NOW OH NOW
$15 discount tix this weekend ONLY for Rude News subscribers!
GRRL ACTION is accepting applications for Summer 2012
Austin Critics Table nominates Robert Pierson for B. Beaver Animation

NOW NOW OH NOW

"A mind-blowing roll of the die...
The Rude Mechanicals have set a high bar in Austin for work that is original and unconventional"
- The Austin Chronicle
Read the full review here.
Want to know more? Read the Austin Ammerican-Statesman feature article too!

$15 tickets this Friday and Saturday ONLY
for Rude News subscribers!

BUY TICKETS NOW! Use code "Rude" to get the Rude News discount.

Rude Mechs is proud to present the first fully mounted production of NOW NOW OH NOW, previously presented in various workshop versions under the working title “CL1000P.” Inspired by evolutionary biology, the Brontës, and LARP communities, NOW NOW OH NOW invites you to enter into an interactive puzzle for the stage about the importance and impermanence of selecting for pleasure over survival. A triptych tribute to everyone’s inner geek, NOW NOW OH NOW embodies Rude Mechs’ desire to create a more tangible, social, active, and personal experience for the audience. The performance marries serious scientific content with the nerdy pleasure of puzzles and gaming and the undeniable satisfaction of Murder Mystery Theatre. This intimate consideration of how our individual choices lead us through life and impact the world takes a locked room puzzle, a lecture on sexual selection in evolutionary biology, and the world's weirdest night of Dungeons and Dragons and weaves them all together to paint a picture of why the things you find beautiful are important to the world.

WHEN:

May 17 - June 9 | Thursday to Sunday | 7 PM and 9 PM

TICKETS:
Thursay and Sunday - Pay-What-You-Can
Friday and Saturday - $25
For Thursday and Sunday, reserve online, pay with cash or check only at the door.
For Friday and Saturday, purchase tickets online.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
NOW NOW OH NOW is created by Rude Mechs
Concept, Structure, and Content development by
Madge Darlington, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, and Shawn Sides
with Lowell Bartholomee, Robert S. Fisher and Lana Lesley
Staging by Shawn Sides
Writing by Hannah Kenah
Performers: Robert S. Fisher, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, Lana Lesley, E. Jason Liebrecht, and Shawn Sides

This production is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theatre Pilot and The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Rude Mechs is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin's future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SUMMER 2012

Rude Mechs believes that every girl has a story to tell that is worthy of its own work of art. We are currently accepting applications for our summer GRRL ACTION program, now in its thirteenth year. GRRL ACTION is a three-week day camp for any girl between the ages of 13-16 who is interested in expressing herself. Girls attend morning sessions (9 am-noon) with inspiring women artists who mentor them in autobiographical writing and performance. The program culminates in two performances that are free to the public. For more information or an application, please visit http://www.grrlaction.org/workshop.php.

Summer 2012 dates: June 25 - July 15
Have questions? Contact Madge Darlington at madge@rudemechs.com

ROBERT PIERSON NOMINATED FOR B. BEAVER ANIMATION

We're beaming with pride to announce that company member Robert Pierson has been nominated by the Austin Critics Table in the "Acting in Leading Role" category for his work last fall in B. Beaver Animation. B. Beaver was presented as part of our Contemporary Classic Series which presents re-enactments of landmark experimental performances. Hats off to Robert and all of our friends and colleagues in the Austin community that received nominations!

2012-05-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

BUY TICKETS NOW!

Rude Mechs is proud to present the first fully mounted production of NOW NOW OH NOW, previously presented in various workshop versions under the working title “CL1000P.” Inspired by evolutionary biology, the Brontës, and LARP communities, NOW NOW OH NOW invites you to enter into an interactive puzzle for the stage about the importance and impermanence of selecting for pleasure over survival. A triptych tribute to everyone’s inner geek, NOW NOW OH NOW embodies Rude Mechs’ desire to create a more tangible, social, active, and personal experience for the audience. The performance marries serious scientific content with the nerdy pleasure of puzzles and gaming and the undeniable satisfaction of Murder Mystery Theatre. This intimate consideration of how our individual choices lead us through life and impact the world takes a locked room puzzle, a lecture on sexual selection in evolutionary biology, and the world's weirdest night of Dungeons and Dragons and weaves them all together to paint a picture of why the things you find beautiful are important to the world.

NOW NOW OH NOW is performed for an intimate audience of only 30 people, so there will be several showings of the performance each night. The audience experience is roaming so we recommend that you wear comfortable shoes and consider leaving big purses and bags at home.

WHEN
May 17 - June 9 | Thursday to Sunday
showtimes vary, visit our website for more information

TICKETS
Thursday and Sunday - Pay Way You Can
Friday and Saturday - $25
For Friday and Saturday, purchase tickets online.
For Thursday and Sunday, reserve online, pay with cash or check only at the door.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
NOW NOW OH NOW is created by Rude Mechs
Concept, Structure, and Content Development by Madge Darlington, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, and Shawn Sides*
Staging by Shawn Sides
Writing by Hannah Kenah
Performers: Robert S. Fisher, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, Lana Lesley, E. Jason Liebrecht, and Shawn Sides

*Rude Mechs creates new works collaboratively, and we believe it is important to acknowledge the work that is done prior to getting the show ready for production. This work begins often with the Co-Producing Artistic Directors finding consensus around a project's concept. That done, a collaborative team refines the concept, develops content, structure and style, and gets the piece on its feet. This collaborative team eventually expands to envelop to the entire production team as the work is created.

NOW NOW OH NOW

2012-04-05T08:40:00.003-07:00

NOW NOW OH NOW

is the title of the next new work by the Rudes (which you may have seen workshopped as "CL1000P"). NOW NOW OH NOW with no punctuation.

But we thought it might be amusing to some to share the full list of titles we auditioned. But before I do, I want to tell you about a rule we have in Rudelandia that roughly goes, "if you notice a typo in a postcard after it has been printed, keep it to yourself because nothing can be done about it." And there is a lot to be learned from this rule and its application to areas beyond postcardary. In this instance the rule seems to suggest that while you may prefer other titles to NOW NOW OH NOW, you should do so privately because we ain't going back.

LOVE

RUDES

Cagney and Lacey in A Thousand Plateaus

CL1000P

A Thousand Plateau

Thousand Plateaus

1000 Plateaus

A Grand Plateau

The Grand Plateau

Ten Thousand Plateaus

1001 Plateuas

A Thousand Tableaus

The Tour

The Grand Tour

Soft Treaty

"...which to me is not unlike..."

A Cordial Engorgement (!)

Plus Ca Change

The Geek Triptych

The Nerd Triptych

The Dork Triptych

Permanent Death

Journey to the End of Taste

Quack Quack Quack

Quail Quake Quiver

Where the Stallion Meets the Sun

Now and Hold on Fast

And We’re Walking

Fin de Siecle

The Affirmation of Difference over Transcendental Hierarchy

Nobody Leaves This Room

Superbig Thinky Haunted Mystery Piece

Faciality

One or Several Wolves

When the Peacock Spreads its Tail it is Beautiful, but Obvious

Beautiful, Obvious

Pressure to Make a Good Mate Decision

Anything Can Kill You

Sexual Selection and the Tertiary Markets of Melsinnvorn

The Already Defeated

Rate of Change in Hen Taste

Exponential Grown in Female Preference

Apparatus of Capture

Who Does the Earth Think It is

Halcyon Quest

Halcyon: The Reckoning

Halcyon Pursuit

Halcyon Trails

Anomaly

Ensing is Burning

The Extraordinary Adventures of Birds

Melsinnvorn: The Second Age

Beyond Melsinnvorn

The Fall of Melsinnvorn

Year Zero

Beautiful Fertile Valley

As Different As A Moonbeam from Lightning

Unquiet Slumbers

Firm As Weeds Among Stones

A Pang of Exquisite Suffering

Songs of the Grand Plateau

Life in the Grand Plateau

Still-Life of the Grand Plateau

Still Life

Bird Aesthetes

Aesthetes

One Thousand Plats

A Thousand Plats

Candles and Birds

Candles and Birds in a Locked Room

1000 Candles and Birds in a Locked Room

Candles and Birds: A Still Life in Three Parts

Candles & Feathers

Feathers & Flames

The Still Life Variations

Still Life Triptych

Still Life in Triplicate

Singing Still Life

Living Still Life

Still Life with Songs

The Melsinvorn Triptych

The Melsinnvorn Trio

The Melsinnvorn Triad

The Melsinnvorn Trisul

The Melsinnvorn Miniatures

Fine Fettle

I’ll Be Coming Around

How You Get There

Play for the Already Defeated

Termagant

Viragogogo

A Kiss is a Lovely Trick

We’re so Bored

Rude News - A Few Things to do This Spring, Starting Tonight!

2012-03-13T20:39:00.001-07:00

IN BRIEF:
This issue is dedicated to telling you we are in rehearsal until May. In the meantime, here are just a few events to keep you busy - our friends are making great art that we hope you will get out and support!

WEDNESDAY MARCH 14TH!!! Kirk Lynn to moderate the post-film Q&A at Austin Film Festival's screening of Trip to Bountiful - more below
Rubber Repertory presents JUBILEE, their last show in Austin for a while, Jubilee, at The Off Center. You cannot miss this.
Rude Mechs is super proud to host Gloria's Cause, by Dayna Hanson (choreographer, I've Never Been So Happy), and presented by Dance Umbrella as part of Fusebox Festival. Go see it!
Grrl Action Summer Workshop Summer Workshop dates are June 25 - July 15. Contact madge@rudemechs.com to get an application.
A wee Rude update.

Austin Film Festival presents

A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL
part of their Made in Texas: Adaptations Series

When: Wednesday, March 14th at 7:30pm
Where: Texas Spirit Theater at the Bob Bullock Museum
Tickets: $5 (print this newsletter and get $1 off the ticket price when you show it at the door!)
Parking: Free parking in the museum parking lot after 6pm

Our own Kirk Lynn will moderate the post-screening Q&A, with Producer Dennis Bishop (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, HBO Pictures, “Dexter”) in attendance!

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see one of the finest stage-to-screen adaptations of all time, THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, written by legendary playwright, Horton Foote (inaugural recipient of Austin Film Festival’s Distinguished Screenwriter award). This moving, magnificent film won the hearts of moviegoers and theatergoers everywhere in the 1980s, as well as a Best Actress Academy Award for star Geraldine Page.
Page won the Oscar® for her portrayal of Carrie Watts, a sixty year old woman living with her son and daughter-in-law in 1940's Houston, Texas. Carrie wants nothing more than to return to her hometown one more time before she dies, but her son and his wife don't think it's a good idea. Picking the right time, Carrie escapes and begins her trip.

Rubber Repertory presents

JUBILEE

When: April 5 - April 21, 2012
Where: The Off Center
Tickets: $15 (Thursdays are PWYW)
Get Tix Here

What's wonderful about Rubber Repertory is that they take the concepts, the tenets, the expectations of theatre, and blow them out of the water." -Avimaan Syam, Austin Chronicle

This will be Rubber Repertory's last show before an indeterminate hiatus, and they're looking for more than just a good idea; they're looking for atonement. They want to find the very proper time to sound the trumpet. They want to put on the clothes that will make them disappear. They want to arrange their bodies in a way that gives real comfort. Part dance and all devotion, JUBILEE is a nonstop, non-narrative, and non-denominational leap of faith. [NOTE: To carnal minds they may appear to act absurdly, but the path of duty is rarely the path of safety.]

ABOUT RUBBER REPERTORY: Since 2002, Co-Directors Josh Meyer and Matt Hislope have created some of the most unique theatre in Texas. With shows such as Biography of Physical Sensation, The Casket of Passing Fancy (2007 Rockefeller MAP Fund grant), Surprise Annie, RED CANS, At Home With Dick, and the American premiere of Wallace Shawn's notoriously "unstageable" A Thought in Three Parts, Rubber Rep pushes boundaries and creates work that's high on invention and surprise. Their productions have garnered B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics Table Awards for "Outstanding Theatrical Innovation," "Outstanding Direction," "Unique Theatrical Experience," and "Outstanding Late-Night Adventure." For more information, visit www.rubberrep.org.

Dance Umbrella and Fusebox Festival present

GLORIA'S CAUSE

When: April 26-27, 2012 7:00 pm, and April 28, 2012 9:00pm
Bonus: Dayna Hanson's band, Today!, plays Friday, April 27, 2012 at Fusebox's late night venue.
Where: The Off Center
Show Info: Fusebox Festival website
Tickets: Get your Fusebox Festival Pass while there's still a discount available!

Inspired by the complex ironies of the American Revolution, Gloria’s Cause is a full-length dance theater work by 33 Fainting Spells’ co-founder Dayna Hanson (the amazing woman who choreographed the dances in I've Never Been So Happy). Co-commissioned by On the Boards and Under The Radar Festival, this rock-driven piece exhumes the colonies’ forgotten players and offers a layered, colorful and gritty look at the roots of America’s inequities.

ABOUT DAYNA HANSON: A 2006 Guggenheim Fellow in Choreography and 2010 United States Artists Oliver Fellow in Dance, Hanson is joined by longtime collaborators Dave Proscia and Peggy Piacenza. Seattle-based performers Wade Madsen, Maggie Brown, Paul Moore, Jim Kent, Pol Rosenthal and Jessie Smith join the cast, together creating a kinetic, darkly funny world where incongruous sources clash and morph. After multiple presentations of 33 Fainting Spells' work by Dance Umbrella in the past, Dayna returns to Austin in this co-presentation between Fusebox and Dance Umbrella, hosted by Rude Mechs.

Tell the nearest Grrl to apply to Grrl Action Summer Workshop!

When: June 25 - July 15, 2012

Where: The Off Shoot (2211-A Hidalgo St., Austin, TX 78702)

The Grrl Action Summer Workshop is a three-week intensive workshop for teenaged girls, run by Rude Mechs, in which girls envision, create, publish, and perform original works for the stage based on their own life experiences. The three-week intensive culminates in two performances that are free to the public. Don't miss them!
Support Grrl Action: Grrl Action is reliant on donations from the community and local foundation grants.

We hope you will contribute to sustain this invaluable program.

A Rude update seems in order

We premiered I've Never Been So Happy in Los Angeles at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theater in October, and while we were having a blast, building good houses, and getting mixed reviews, we happily accepted a few awards for INBSH from the B. Iden Payne Awards.
At the same time, we produced a beautiful re-creation Mabou Mines' amazing play, The B. Beaver Animation, to somewhat confused houses. We promise to offer a little more background and support for the next installment in our Contemporary Classics series.
The Method Gun, a project of Creative Capital, was filmed by OntheBoards TV and is available at ontheboards.tv - we get 50% of all the income, so download away! Just remember that video of live performance is, well, video of live performance...
We mounted a wee work-in-progress showing of CL1000P (working title, still, yes), which we are rehearsing right now for a full production in May. Stay tuned!
Then we toured The Method Gun to Brisbane Powerhouse's World Theatre Festival in Brisbane Australia - could not have had more fun. If you were ever curious about what the City of Austin could have done with the Seaholm, check out Brisbane Powerhouse.

An Intern's Perspective #5

2012-02-16T20:48:00.002-08:00

The workshop production of 'CL1000P' has closed. The artistic team will review all of the awesome notes they received from audience members and begin rehearsals in March for their bigger and better 'CL1000P' (the title, however, might not make it). Until then they will be in Australia performing their hit show, 'The Method Gun' at the Powerhouse Festival in Brisbane.

I had a wonderful time stage-managing and already miss it. It was exciting to be in the middle of all the bustling artists, all providing their expertise on something specific. I've learned a lot! One thing I learned was that Shawn Sides, one of the actresses in the show, is usually the director of the shows at Rude Mechs. I embarrassingly said to a crowd of UT MFA candidates, at their colloquium, that there really isn't a director. Ha!

While they're away I'll be looking after the Off Center as renters use the space, so there will definitely be more adventures to gossip about!

An Intern's Perspective #4 (CL1000P HAS OPENED, Y'ALL)

2012-02-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while and it's high time for a Rude report.

The past couple of weeks have had me in crazy mode. Finishing the set, prepping lights, staying on top of rehearsal- it all takes a small toll after a while, but only in the sleep department. Thankfully, I had a day where I slept for 15 hours. Thank heavens for that!

ANYWAY, the first week of shows have been performed to highly receptive patrons. It's so nice to see those seats filled with smiles and discerning looks. At the nightly talkbacks, audience members have offered wonderful thoughts on the show- what works, what doesn't quite work. Everything is generally positive and constructive. Things people like so far: audience interactivity, going on a journey, and strange stories. An example of these three things combined is getting to walk through a diorama! What???

One more week of shows for the workshop production of 'CL1000P'. If you can't make it and are dying to see what this show offers, the company will stage a full blown production in May. Will they take a few ideas from the talkbacks? Will they amend a few parts? Will it be even crazier? Check back for more info!!

An Intern's Perspective #3

2012-01-24T20:22:00.001-08:00

So, the preliminary construction for 'CL1000P' is almost there. (Flats are up, screws are in, joint compound lathered on.) After that, we just need to fancy it up. Actors learned a very beautiful song called 'Dido's Lament' and have also restructured Acts II & III for the better. Act III has really taken off. It's funny, heartfelt, and strange all in one. Seriously, it's extremely difficult to get through a rehearsal without laughing hysterically (in a good way). What else? The lovely Linnaea- the other intern- has just begun costume fittings for the actors. Oh, and there will definitely be interpretive dancing.

This just in: all normal $10 tickets for the show have sold out. Luckily, there are still tickets available for the Patron Preview benefit night. I hear there will be food and most importantly, special attention from the cast and crew. The people who reserve for that specific night 'contributes to the Rude Mechs' ability to keep making thoughtful, pushy, award-winning theatre.'

-Blake

An Intern's Perspective #2

2012-01-16T14:34:00.001-08:00

Blake here, and my first week of rehearsal as a stage manager is complete. It is an honor to be given such a role, as I have never stage managed before! I'll also be helping out with set construction, which we start on tomorrow. We will be taking out the normal theatre seating to accommodate a large table we built. The audience (30 per show) will sit at the 30ft. table, while four large set pieces in the four corners of the space will surround them. The designers have also started their awesome plans. The show will be MAGICAL I tell you.

The actors are still in a very mercurial stage, respectively. Indeed, there is really no director in the traditional sense, so they all are the creative force behind the production. (We do have a sole writer who is also acting in the show, too.) A camcorder was brought in to enlighten the actors on spacing, which also helps with getting in the head of a future audience member. Anyhow, I think I'm beginning to believe that the early stages or the inventive portion of a show is the piece de resistance of experimental theatre. Okay, I seriously need to stop saying experimental.

An Intern's Perspective #1

2012-01-13T13:42:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! My name is Blake and I am a new intern here at Rude Mechs. So far, I've been helping out around the theatre with Thomas (one of the co-pads) as my guide. We've been building things, eating lunch together, and building more things. I've also been sitting in on rehearsals and taking a few notes. Here are a some words I thought I'd share.

Rehearsals have been good. The first one had me filling in for one of the actors, so I grabbed a script and went for it. Haven't acted in a while but that's okay. Their process has been most interesting. They are a very diplomatic ensemble, willing to try new things and seeing where it ends up. I also like that the material is brand spanking new, so rehearsals are all the more vibrant and fun. What impresses me most: their ability to try a scene intense, funny, over-the-top, etc. There really are no limits to where they want to go if they are feeling it. Sort of informs my opinion of art as a whole.

The show, tentatively entitled, “CL1000P: Round 2”, is quite the experience. Think of it as a journey: the audience will get to move along with the actors, a perfect mixture of environmental and experimental theatre. But wait! It's a workshop! That's right, the ensemble will need your help getting it to ‘show’ level, fit for future performances here and beyond. Nightly talk backs will be the key to this success. You, the audience member, will get to free associate with cast and crew and discuss ideas, just like they do it at Rude Mechs.

So, check back with this blog to find out more about the development of the show!

2011 Went Like This, Mostly

2011-12-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

We hope that you and yours are making a perfect end to 2011 and starting off 2012 in style. One sure way to do both is to honor the philanthropist inside you by making a donation to Rude Mechs!

DONATE TO RUDE MECHS TODAY! That's right - No sassy print mailing this winter asking for your fantastically reliable annual gifts (thank you!), just this simple email letting you know we are in it for the long haul and hoping you can pick up where The Lazy Eye Ball fell short. You can make your tax-deductible contribution via Eventbrite by clicking any one of the buttons below. The site will stay open through January 31, 2011, and we'll probably give you at least one more reminder between now and then.

Rude Mechs really has had a banner year around the country, and here at home in Austin, so we thought we'd share a quick recap - the links will take you to other entries here in our blog, where we dabble in keeping you au courant, like this:

January 2011
• perform I've Never Been So Happy at Arena Stage in Washington DC for their New Play Festival
from Javier Rivera: "Terrific work at Arena last night...never stopped smiling...and I still felt a little sad. Congratulations."
• host Breaking String's New Russian Festival at The Off Center

February 2011
• perform The Method Gun at Yale University's No Boundaries Festival

from: Catherine Foxahouse: "Method Gun blew me away--incredible!"

• host Breaking String's New Russian Festival at The Off Center

March 2011

• receive a huge awesome feature in The New York Times

• perform The Method Gun at Dance Theatre Workshop

from Kourtney Rutherford: "You guys have tiger blood and adonis DNA. Obvi. Loved the show!! Congrats!"

• host Dystheatre's The Duck Variations; rehearse I've Never Been So Happy

April 2011

• perform world premiere of I've Never Been So Happy at The Off Center

from Mark Macek: "Participated in I've Never Been So Happy last night. Inventive, complex, and absolutely ecstatic. The ancient Greeks would have been proud of you. Thank you Rude Mechs for blowing me away."• host Rubber Repertory's Biography of Physical Sensation at The Off Shoot

May 2011

• present Grrl Wrap - Grrl Action's Year-Round Workshop presentations at The Off Shoot

• host Guerilla Girls workshop for Grrl Action at The Off Shoot

• host Salvage Vanguard's Guest By Courtesy rehearsas at The Off Shoot

• host Andrea Ariel Dance Company's The Grand Theory Of EVERYTHING BETWEEN at The Off Center

• host Ready Set Go Dance's Up, Down, Under, and Through AT THE OFF CENTER

June 2011

• perform The Method Gun at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre as part of RADAR LA Festival

• host Breaking String's Uncle Vanya at The Off Center

from Clayton Farris: "thank you for bringing Method Gun to LA. it was one beautiful piece of theatre."

• I've Never Been So Happy garners awards for "Production of a Musical", "Music Direction", "The David Mark Cohen New Play Award", and "Ensemble Performance" from the 2011 Austin Critics Table

July 2011

• conduct Grrl Action Summer Workshop at The Off Shoot

from Bryanna Estrada: "Whilst writing about Grrl Action in one of my college essays, I was reminded of what an impact this organization had on me! Thank y'all for coming together and forming such an important organization for young women."

• present Grrl Action public performances at The Off Center

August 2011

• host Austin Drama Club's Hamlet at The Off Center

• create The Oyster Club season and launch it with a happy hour at the side bar (thank you!)

• host The Lazy Eye Ball in the ether

from Leslie Bonnell: "Lazy Eyeball = GENIUS."

September 2011

• perform The Method Gun at Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's TBA Festival

from Alejandro Novie: "Simply wonderful performance last night for TBA. Ya'll kick ass!"

The Method Gun performances in Portland were filmed and it is now available to rent or buy the full HD film here: www.ontheboards.tv www.ontheboards.tvHome: host Chaotic Theatre's Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) at The Off Center

• host Loaded Gun Theory's Slapdash Flimflammery VIII: Back to the Flim Flam at The Off Center

• I've Never Been So Happy gets Charles McNulty's Fall Arts Pick in Los Angeles Times

• rehearse I've Never Been So Happy at The Off Shoot

October 2011

• perform I've Never Been So Happy at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles, CA

from Ilana Turner: "I had a chance to tell some of your cast, but I wanted to tell you all ... Thank you, Rude Mechs, for your incredible show, I've Never Been So Happy! I have continued to burst out in laughter when I think about it and I can't quite explain it to others. (I was part of the Loudly Laughing Crew in the 2nd row on Friday.) With this show and Method Gun you people have reinvigorated my love of theater! Truly inspiring."

• rehearse the legendary The B. Beaver Animation by Mabou Mines at The Off Center

• receive prestigious National Theatre Grant from American Theatre Wing

November 2011

• perform the legendary The B. Beaver Animation by Mabou Mines at The Off Center

from Allison Asher: "In a post-B.Beaver feather-dream today. Thanks, Rude Mechs, for continuing to delight. I caught Method Gun at Humana two years ago, and it was one of the reasons that I decided to move to Austin. Can't wait for the next project!"

• host out of context production's Look Back in Anger

• I've Never Been So Happy garners awards for "Outstanding Production" and "Outstanding Direction" from the 2011 B. Iden Payne Awards

December 2011

• perform Dionysus in 69 at Princeton University

from Dan Bauer: "Only in Princeton! Thanks you Lewis Center Princeton for presenting Rude Mechs (Austin, TX) recreation of the legendary and groundbreaking experimental theater piece "Dionysus in 69." A memorable and brilliant performance!!"

• receive Best of 2011 for The Method Gun in Time Out New York and New York Magazine, and for The Method Gun and I've Never Been So Happy in the Los Angeles Times

from The Fringe at CTG: "We loved having you at the Kirk Douglas Theatre twice this past season. Charles McNulty is right, you definitely brought the theatre to life!"

• Kirk Lynn receives a USA Artist Fellowship - with a $50K prize!!

• host David Berman Gallery's presentation of George Krause Sfumato Nudes

ABOUT 2012

Last year we were awarded (as one of six companies in the country) a prestigious play development award from the New England Foundation for the Arts for a new play we can't seem to title - we will send an invitation for you to view our work-in-progress showing this Jan/Feb. We will premiere the new play in either April, May or June! In February, we will tour The Method Gun to Brisbane Powerhouse's World Theatre Festival (yes - in Australia!!). We are planning summer residencies to workshop Decameron Day 3: Revolution! so you can look forward to new episodes of our original soap opera Harbor Cove. That gets us up to the Summer, and that's about as far ahead as we ever get.

THANK YOU

We sent this very thank you to you last year, but we suspect it slipped by a lot of you, and we made a lot of new friends this year, so here it is again.

We are lucky to live in Austin. We are lucky to live in a city where the press engages the arts in ways that are deep and supportive.

We are lucky to live in a community this creative and hard working and confident and intelligent. All this new work and all these open minds. We are lucky to live in a community where artists support one another, rather than compete with one another – where we lift each other up instead of trying to tear each other down.

We are lucky to have so many amazing creative people that can make work with us, that are interested in making new work of their own, that understand failure is a symptom of working well and working hard and working right, not a predictor of future success.

We are lucky to live in a city where the audience is well-read and has a good sense of humor and brags on itself and yet somehow doesn’t take itself too seriously. We are lucky to have an audience that wants to participate in the creation of the play – that knows it isn’t finished until they show up and bring their own associations and dreams to the piece. And yet an audience that holds us accountable – with honesty but never dismissiveness.

We are always asked why we chose to live in Austin, so far from the artistic meccas on the coasts. Why would we have chosen anywhere else? Here we have friends and colleagues who know the value of a life lived making art with comrades and taking time to relax on the patio and share a beer and not get all het up about ‘making it’ because ‘making it’ isn’t how much money is in your bank account or how famous you are, or how ‘respected’ or ‘hot’. But how rich the hours in your day are, surrounded by people you love and admire, in a beautiful place that is both a safety net and the trapeze high above it.

Give the Gift of RUDEness! Oyster Club on the Half Shell is Here!

2011-12-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

IN BRIEF:

Looking for a gift for the person who has everything? Oyster Club on the Half Shell is the answer!
Our own Kirk Lynn was awarded a USA Artist Fellowship.
Method Gun gets Best of 2011 in New York Magazine.
More Rude shows on tour! Dionysus in '69 at Princeton in December and The Method Gun heads Down Under in February.
Keep an eye out for the workshop production of our NEXT NEW PLAY in January/February.

Give an awesome gift that supports the arts!

Looking for a gift for the person who has everything? Something that supports the arts in Austin AND provides you with something special to give? Or maybe you just need the promise of something special in the new year?

Click here to find your answer: A half-season membership to the Oyster Club!

Purchase a half-season membership and attend the remaining four Oyster Club gatherings this season:

January 15th - Behind the scenes tour at the new studios of locally-based internationally-acclaimed artist collective OK Mountain. Wash it all down with award-winning Balcones Whiskey and other edible treats.
February 9th - Rude Mechs' own Kirk Lynn and his beloved partner, National Poetry Award Winner, Carrie Fountain, kick off an open mic for love poems and songs in a unique private home. Austin KOOP radio DJ's will move you with their favorite love songs while you succumb with our intoxicating Love Potion. And yes, there will be cupcakes.
March - Award-winning Austin filmmaker PJ Raval curates a night at the movies. Buttered popcorn will pale in comparison to the treats we will serve!
April - A special night at the wildly popular Fusebox Festival for Oyster Club members. Reception to accompany the event with artful food and drink curated by Edible Austin. (not included: ticket to the performance)

What is the Oyster Club? Meeting once in every month whose name contains an "r" (September-April), the Oyster Club is a way to find pearls of art, architecture, music, film, food, and performance in the oceans of culture in Austin and Central Texas. Rude Mechs will lead this off-beat culture club to backstage access, private tours, secret after-parties, and once-in-a-lifetime spectacles. The Oyster Club will keep you active without making you busy.

Dionysus in '69 and The Method Gun on tour

After knocking the socks (and shirts, and pants, and many undergarments) off of Austin audiences in late 2009, Rude Mechs' faithful re-enactment of The Performance Group's legendary Dionysus in '69 is headed back east for two performances at Princeton's Lewis Center on December 9th and 10th. The performances will be presented in conjunction with a 2-day Performance Studies Symposium that is free and open to the public.

So we hit nearly every corner of the US with The Method Gun in 2011, and ya know, we're just plain b-o-r-e-d with the Nothern Hemisphere. What's a restless theatre company to do? Head Down Under, of course. February 22 - 26, Rude Mechs will make their first foray into Australia with a week long run of The Method Gun at Brisbane Powerhouse's World Performance Festival. We're trying to act all cool and shit, but we're pretty freakin' excited.

Rude Summer - Time to update!

2011-10-11T00:56:00.000-07:00

Wow - so it's been since May, huh? Yeesh. Not gonna get fancy with this one, just the facts.

Since we closed I've Never Been So Happy at The Off Center last May, in reverse order...

October

We are currently touring I've Never Been So Happy to Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theater.

The cast / crew of I've Never Been So Happy on dinner break.

We are currently rehearsing The B. Beaver Animation by Mabou Mines - the second installment in our Contemporary Classics series. This show opens October 27th - don't miss it!

We are currently planning a tour of Dionysus in 69 to Princeton in December, and The Method Gun to Brisbane, Australia (yes!) in February.

We are currently planning the production of our newest, yet to be titled play, coming to The Off Center in February, and then probably again in May!

September

We toured The Method Gun to Philadelphia Live Arts festival and Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts' TBA festival.
We hosted the launch Oyster Club Party at the Plant!
We received B. Iden Payne nominations for "Outstanding Production", "Outstanding Direction", "Outstanding Light Design", "Outstanding Original Script", "Outstanding Original Score", "Outstanding Media Design", and "Outstanding Cast Performance."
We had our City of Austin funding restored, which luckily made up for the flop that was The Lazy Eye Ball.
We were awarded a National Theatre Company grant by American Theatre Wing.

August

We hosted The Lazy Eye Ball (the non-event of the century that proved to raise the least amount of donations as any Eye Ball in history... live and learn).
We hosted the kick-off Happy Hour for The Oyster Club 2011/2012 season.

July
We hosted Grrl Action and produced the work many talented young women at The Off Center.

June
We toured The Method Gun to Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theater. Mr. Douglas was in attendance! He chose truth.
I've Never Been So Happy garnered awards for "Production of a Musical", "Music Direction", "The David Mark Cohen New Play Award", and " Ensemble Performance" from the 2011 Austin Critics Table.
We underwent our annual audit and passed.

2011-05-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

IN THIS ISSUE

1. You are invited to Grrl Wrap, a celebration of arts projects by the year-round participants of Grrl Action.
2. Grrl Action summer program applications now available! Download here.
3. For information about becoming a year-round Rude Mechs corporate sponsor, or about sponsoring The Eye Ball, email Development Director Christian Stagg at christian@rudemechs.com

presents

Grrl Wrap

a celebration of the new works by the participants of Year-Round Grrl Action

ADMISSION IS FREE!
no reservations needed

SATURDAY, MAY 14TH AT 7:00 PM
at The Off Shoot, 2221 Hidalgo

the easternmost end of The Off Center complex

Come celebrate this year's participants of Grrl Action's year-round program with a presentation of the Grrls’ work. Everyone is invited!

The format is a little different this year. We invite you to take in visual images of the grrls’ art projects as they give a presentation on the process of developing, creating and performing their work this last year. Meet the amazing mentors who guided the grrls through these projects, and enjoy a cookie or three as we cheer the young artists on!

COME OUT AND SUPPORT THESE AMAZING YOUNG WOMEN!
And if you feel like you've got some time, cash, interest, click here to see how you can join the fun!

Grrl Action Summer Workshop 2011

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS NOW!

Grrl Action is a three-week summer workshop in which teenaged girls envision, create, publish, and perform original works for the stage based on their own life experiences. Girls between the ages of 13-16 are eligible.

To apply, download the Information and Application Packet for the Summer 2011 Class.

WORKSHOP: June 27 - July 15, classes from 9:00am - noon, at The Off Shoot
PERFORMANCES: July 16 & 17, 2011 at 4:00 pm
WHERE: The Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo St.

BECOME A SPONSOR!

Corporate Sponsorship for one of Austin's finest theatre companies.

The essence of the “new” Austin is found in its contradictions - our city’s chic sophistication is still marked by a laid-back attitude, our fascination with high tech will probably never exceed our passion for Barton Springs, and you can still wear your shorts to a five star restaurant. But while Austin is still a small town at heart, it has nevertheless grown into a very big city over the past two decades. As we celebrate our continued growth, we also face the challenge of retaining our cultural character and uniqueness – the reason many people have chosen to make Austin their home in the first place. By supporting Rude Mechs, you have the opportunity to help define the character of our city and make a significant impact on the cultural life of our community. The reality is the arts cannot survive without support from local businesses and corporations. In this climate of growing enthusiasm but also stark economic realities, we invite you to make an investment in local arts and artists to help preserve and deepen the character of Austin.

If you are interested in becoming a corporate sponsor, let's get you on board by June 1st! Just send an email to info@rudemechs.com and let us know you are interested!

I've Never Been So Happy - April 2011 Production Stills

2011-05-10T01:13:00.001-07:00

I've Never Been So Happy - April 2011, a set on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I've Never Been So Happy
presented by Rude Mechs in association with Center Theatre Group
world premiere production
The Off Center April 21 - May 7, 2011

Photos by: Bret Brookshire

Music / Lyrics: Peter Stopschinski
Book / Lyrics: Kirk Lynn
Co-Directed by: Thomas Graves & Lana Lesley

Cast: Cami Alys, Kerri Atwood, Lowell Bartholomee, Amy Hackerd, Jenny Larson, E. Jason Liebrecht, William Moses, Paul Soileau, Meg Sullivan

Dancers: Noel Gaulin, Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, Lana Lesley, Erin Meyer

Musicians: Peter Stopschinski, Eric Roach, Amy Harris, Roberto Riggio, Joseph Shuffield, Julie Wang, Kathryn Orr, Elizabeth Warren, Thomas Van Der Brook

Designers: Laura Cannon (costumes), Dayna Hanson (choreography), Miwa Matreyek (animation), Stephen Pruitt (lighting), Leilah Stewart (scenic)

Production: Denise Martel (production stage manager), Charlie Llewellin (sound engineer/operator), Rick Thompson (tech director), Jazz Miller (assistant stage manager), Lorenza Phillips (master electrician, video engineer/op)

Announcing I've Never Been So Happy World Premiere!

2011-03-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Rude Mechs, in association with Center Theatre Group, is proud to present the world premiere of

I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY

I've Never Been So Happy, with music and lyrics by Austin Experimental Punk Grand Wizard Peter Stopschinski (Brown Whornet, Golden Hornet Project), and book and lyrics by Austin Experimental Theatre Mascot Kirk Lynn, fluxuates freely between high art and Hee-Haw, treating both with respect. The music pits a "Grand Ole Opry" style West against an "El Topo" style West. The writing butts lyric poetry up against bar jokes with finesse. Directed by Thomas Graves and Lana Lesley, the evening challenges what it means to "go to the theater" in 2011.

WHEN: April 21 - May 7, 2011
Thursday - Saturday at 8 PM
Additional Sunday performance on May 1st
10 performances only!

Friday April 22 - Opening Night Gala - see details below.

Saturday May 7 - Special Closing Night Performance featuring post-show concert by Austin's newest Alt-Country phenom Chablis (Best Local Show 2010, Austin Chronicle Critics Poll), and good eats from La Condesa - tickets $25

WHERE: The Off Center, 2211 A Hidalgo, Austin, TX 78702

"The Rudes continue to deepen their creative process and challenge themselves in new ways. And that results in smart, terrific theater that takes us some place new." - Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin-American Statesman review of December 2008 workshop production.

"BEST INVESTIGATION OF THE WEST: The Rude Mechs' funny, well-informed multimedia performance was a refreshingly queer interrogation of the West. - Claire Ruud, ...might be good (Fluent-Collaborative's contemporary arts e-journal Best of 2008)

YOU ARE INVITED TO I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY'S

OPENING NIGHT GALA!

This unprecedented evening of celebration and performance will include:

A pre-show toast with the Board and Artistic Directors of Rude Mechs

Amazing complimentary food and drink curated by Edible Austin

The world-premiere performance of our new western musical & transmedia shindig

And post-show two-stepping with the cast and crew with cash bar provided by the side bar

Plus 75% of your ticket price is tax-deductible to the full extent of the law!

Your unwavering support has helped Rude Mechs have a spectacular year, including a premiere at the 34th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, a wonderful, critically acclaimed tour of The Method Gun, and the development of a radical new play here at home.

Come celebrate this world premiere in Austin with a company that is garnering high critical praise and building audience around the country.

Time Out New York says of Rude Mechs, "They keep taking perilous theatrical leaps, but we are the ones to feel sweaty-palmed, nearly vertiginous exhilaration."

The New York Times says Rude Mechs "...makes the Wooster Group look conservative."

Time Out Chicago calls our work "...relentlessly inventive... "Beneath its zany, passionate surfaces lie some fierce investigations into the nature of art... brilliantly orchestrated"

The Louisville Courier-Journal calls us "..absurd and awe-inspiring."

Some facts about I've Never Been So Happy:

It is 1 of only 5 projects selected from a national pool for the National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development Program.
It received a work-progress-presentation at Washington D.C.'s prestigious Arena Stage at the New Play Festival.
It is featured in an upcoming PBS documentary by Rob Levi about "how America makes theater."
It is produced in association with Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group.
It features a cast of nine, a small orchestra, a dance team, video animation and a mountain lion!
It is not just a show, it's also surrounded by a transmedia shindig which includes food, games, and wild western fun.

I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY features the extraordinary performing / design / production talents of:
Cami Alys, Kerri Atwood, Lowell Bartholomee, Noel Gaulin, Thomas Graves, Amy Hackerd, Hannah Kenah, Jenny Larson, Lana Lesley, E. Jason Liebrecht, Erin Meyer, William Moses, Paul Soileau, Peter Stopschinski, Meg Sullivan, along with Eric Roach on guitar, four very fine string players / Laura Cannon (Portland), Dayna Hanson (Seattle), Miwa Matreyek (LA), Stephen Pruitt, Leilah Stewart / Woody Golden, Charlie Llewellin, Jazz Miller, Lorenza Phillips, Denise Martel, Rick Thompson, and two thoroughly awesome interns, Taylor McCaslin and Ashley O'Brien. And creating the carnival so far we have the fabulous Jodi Jinks, Kirk Lynn, Edmund Martinez, Robert Pierson, Rachel Shannon, Silky Shoemaker, and Aron Taylor.

I’ve Never Been So Happy was selected for the NEA Distinguished New Play Development Program, and received a development residency at The University of Texas Department of Theatre & Dance’s Musical Theatre Initiative. Creation support for I've Never Been So Happy also comes from The Orchard Project Theatre Residency Program, the National Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Arena Stage's New Play Festival, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Method Gun at Dance Theater Workshop

2011-03-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

Right, so we finished up our perfect week at Yale Rep's - No Boundaries festival and landed our tails in NYC that Sunday with a van full of Method Gun set, props, costumes.

Monday morning we loaded that puppy in to Dance Theater Workshop, and thanks to no light hang, a crack crew, and volunteers Michael, Megan, and Zach, we did it in record time. Tuesday, our sweet friend D. tuned the room. And Wednesday, well, Wednesday, we did tech/dress and our first photo line-up ever, ate a little food... and then we had what we can only describe as the most perfect opening night possible - and it was press night, so we were more than a little freaked out.

We papered the house with many friends and friendlies, gave as relaxed a performance as we could under the circumstances, and were lucky enough to have a warm, generous, and supportive full house. Thursday, Friday and Saturday went pretty much the same - loving audiences and good times at the bar afterwards. Lowell with Brittany, Tina, Meredith, and Max hit new highs in tech supremacy - they ran a tight tight show, and made everyone's jobs a pleasure. Major props and thanks to Vincent, Mike and Chloe. And of course to Carla! Next time we will hang out!!

Most gratifying, though, was the support we received from our buds in NYC, and the really beautiful emails and notes - thank you all so so so much for coming out and spending time with us and making us feel so at home there.

Here's the review call - it's overall pretty dang nice. There is one shite review from legit source - New York Post - man, we pissed her off ("But overall, this "Method Gun" shoots a blank."). And a couple of shite reviews from non-legit sources, like theatremania and some california lit magazine thingie, so if you're LA press, feel free to copy the good ones listed below when we get there. Or if you want to copy a bad one, at least lay off the Boston Globe review - he gets a lot of shit wrong and you just look stupid when you ape him. I'm talking to you, theatremania.

"I was left breathless... Who knew experimental theater could be both daring and sentimental all at once?" Jerry Portwood, New York Press

"In this immensely funny, abruptly touching physical-theater work... They keep taking perilous theatrical leaps, but we are the ones to feel sweaty-palmed, nearly vertiginous exhilaration." - Helen Shaw, Time Out New York Review

"The Method Gun: Our own Helen Shaw raves about the Rude Mechs' "intensely funny, abruptly touching" play in her review in this week's issue, and having seen the show last night, I couldn't agree more. This is a special piece of work that will leave you thinking about theater, people, theater people, teachers, students, nostalgia, kisses, perfection, balloons and tigers. As of this writing, a few tickets remain to the show's last three performances at Dance Theater Workshop, tonight at 7:30pm and 10:30pm and tomorrow at 7:30pm. Buy them." - Upstaged Blog Post - Time Out New York

"This weekend sees the closing of several of my favorite shows, so this edition of Critic's Picks is less a case of "run, don't walk" than a "stand in line, don't take no for an answer" set of recommendations." - Critics' Picks - Time Out New York

"All I can say is get tickets to this show. It is not to be missed." - Jeremy M. Barker, Culturebot

"...a fiendish piece of post-ideological work. And like any great piece of theater — or theory — it lies shamelessly to tell the truth." - Scott Brown, New York Magazine Critics Pick

"...a tender, smart play." – Jason Fitzgerald, Backstage Review

"Leave it to the Rude Mechs to take a topic that would seem to only speak to insider (aka theater insiders), and make it not only fabulously funny, but also universal. " - Amanda Cooper, Curtain Up

"Coming off the 2010 Humana Festival (and no doubt on its way to a theater near you), "The Method Gun" is a choice example of Rude Mechs' satirical wit and inventive performance style." -

Variety Review

"It’s nice to finally see a company from Texas that I’ve been hearing and reading about for years, and to find that they’re as good as the advance word suggested." - New Haven Advocate Review

"The Method Gun is funny, bleak, satirical and serious in equal parts, so well-balanced and timed that you trust it implicitly and just follow along without questioning its intentions. " - New Haven Advocate Review

And last but not least... the fun one

New York Times Review - Jason Zinoman - Yeah - we're told this is a nice review "for The Times". The only real reason to share this slap/tickle paragraph is to let us all stare slack-jawed at The Times for being so freaking lazy, and sexist.

Zinoman writes: "But despite the sophomoric moments the performers win you over with sincerity and even showmanship. Lana Lesley spins mundane moments with a delightful quirk. And the director, Shawn Sides, lanky and swaggering, doubles as a performer whose persona might be called Indie Rock Brando. He stages a lovely montage sequence, including swinging industrial lights, that gives the piece an elegant finish."

This is the correction after we alerted NYT to the fact that Shawn is, in fact, a woman.

"But despite the sophomoric moments the performers win you over with sincerity and even showmanship. Lana Lesley spins mundane moments with a delightful quirk. The actor Jason Liebrecht, lanky and swaggering, has a persona that might be called Indie Rock Brando. Shawn Sides stages a lovely montage sequence, including swinging industrial lights, that gives the piece an elegant finish."

Rude Mechs Feature in The New York Times

2011-03-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

Many Methods to Collaborative Madness

Alan Simons

From left, Hannah Kenah, rear; Lana Lesley; Jason Liebrecht; and Thomas Graves of Rude Mechs perform “The Method Gun.”

By JOAN ANDERMAN

Published: February 22, 2011

IT began, as actors’ stories often do, with a guru. Her name was Stella Burden, a k a “the other Stella.” Ms. Burden created a risky suite of training exercises called the Approach, attracted a fervent band of followers and abandoned them nine years into rehearsals for a high-concept production of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” to be performed without Stanley, Blanche, Stella or Mitch.

Alan Simons

Shawn Sides, left, one of the Rude Mechs’ co-producing artistic directors, in “The Method Gun” with Jason Liebrecht, center, and Thomas Graves, another one of the ensemble’s “co-pads.”

What in the name of madcap Method acting is a company member to do?

That’s the absurdly literal and keenly figurative question at the heart of “The Method Gun,” a play about the creative process by the Austin, Tex., ensemble Rude Mechs, which since it was founded in 1995 has become one of the nation’s leading proponents of devised theater: works developed collaboratively by a company rather than an individual playwright.

“The Method Gun,” which comes to Dance Theater Workshop from March 2 to 11, is the most autobiographical of the company’s pieces. It’s satirical and celebratory in roughly equal parts, exploring ideas of togetherness and loss, the dynamics of being part of a tight-knit group and what it means to take care of one another.

While the show’s premise nods to celebrated acting teachers like Stella Adler and to extreme, emotion-based techniques like the Method, specifics are left aside in favor of merciless riffs on codified approaches to art. But the Rude Mechs’ wicked sense of humor tempers a sincere streak that the company wears like a badge of honor.

“Humor leavens the cringe-worthy part of being totally earnest,” said Kirk Lynn, who wrote the script. “It makes a little space for us to speak our desires or, God forbid, our message.”

Themes of community bubble up in many of the Rude Mechs’ shows, including the current work in progress, a musical exploration of the American West called “I’ve Never Been So Happy.” It is a big moment for the company, which received one of only five inaugural grants from the National Endowment for the Arts’ New Play Development Program.

Last month the company presented a concert staging of “I’ve Never Been So Happy” at Arena Stage, in Washington, which is administering the Endowment program. “One of the things that’s so disarming about them is how much they are themselves,” said the Arena Stage associate artistic director David Dower of the members of Rude Mechs. “It’s challenging, not so much for them but for East Coast audiences, which are much more used to irony.”

The company’s unstructured methods place it alongside the New York contemporaries Radiohole, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, and National Theater of the United States of America. Six of the Rude Mechs’ seven founding co-producing artistic directors , or co-pads, shared (or, as they put it, survived) a common guru in the late 1980s and early 90s. The University of Texas professor emeritus James Ayres ran the school’s demanding and rigorously communal Shakespeare at Winedale course, a nine-week play-performance program 75 miles from Austin.

“I’m not going to say that Winedale is a cult,” said Shawn Sides, who directed “The Method Gun.” “But we were isolated, there was sleep deprivation and a charismatic leader.”

The Rude Mechs’ 1996 debut was staged with cardboard sets and clip lamps in a rented hall. Three years later they landed the lease on 10,000 square feet of cinderblock and tin in east Austin, dubbed it the Off Center and christened the space with an unlikely adaptation: “Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century,” based on rock journalist Greil Marcus‘s mind-bending, plot-free ode to fringe cultural movements. It toured internationally, and blew Mr. Marcus away.

“There was an energy, a flair, a looseness, a daring in their play that I felt I was always reaching for,” Mr. Marcus said in an interview. “For me their production was the completion of the book.”
“The Method Gun” was the Rude Mechs’ first play to receive significant development support, including grants from the Creative Capital Foundation and the MAP Fund. It was hatched at the Orchard Project, a theater retreat in the Catskills where company members began to build the Stella Burden myth and formulate the fictional Approach. In one series of workshops members masterminded their own training methods and put their colleagues through the paces. It was intense.

“At some point one of us just sort of had a tantrum and screamed and got up and left the room,” Ms. Sides recalled. ”We were all pretty sure it was a put-on, but we were 20 percent worried that she was going to quit the company.“

It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. “The collective remains tenuous,” Mr. Lynn said.
The idea for “The Method Gun” stretches back to 2005, when after receiving numerous invitations to teach master classes on the company’s process the co-pads realized they didn’t have a process. Soul searching ensued around notions of structure, self-transformation and what on earth it is that actors do. “I feel like this show is, in a lot of ways, as silly as some of the moments are, pretty naked,” Ms. Sides said. (In one scene some of the actors are thoroughly naked, if you don’t count the balloons tied to the men’s penises.)

Because the Rude Mechs operate as a consensus democracy, with forays into a sort of ardent autocracy, there is no hierarchy, no decider. A reporter is instructed to e-mail the co-pads en masse; a response from one is accompanied by an invitation to the others to confirm or deny. Asked to explain how they make choices, one of the co-pads, Lana Lesley, said, “Sometimes there’s a particular person who’s particularly passionate about a particular thing.”

That’s an arduous way to create, and a rarity, even in experimental theater.

“It’s very, very tricky,” said Anne Bogart, the artistic director of the SITI company in New York and, as co-developer of another performance-training technique, called Viewpoints, something of an expert. Rude Mechs has close ties with SITI, having trained and worked with that company over the years.
“My company is very collaborative, but there has to be, I think, a leader,” said Ms. Bogart. ”Somebody has to say, ‘We’re going over here.’ What Rude Mechs manage to do is nothing short of remarkable.”
The secret to the Rude Mechs’ success? Amnesia. “Putting on a play is hell. But once we get the production up, we forget about how hard it was on all of us to do it and how hard we were on each other,” Ms. Lesley said.

The payoff erases the memory of pain, a version of transcendence that “The Method Gun” captures in its penultimate scene.

Think of Indiana Jones dodging boulders and knives. Onstage. While performing a classic.

A version of this article appeared in print on February 27, 2011, on page AR4 of the New York edition.

Rudes Off Center to Arena Stage to Yale!!!

2011-03-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Oh - we're playing catch up - so it's not gonna be very in-depth, but for the record, here we go:

November / December - CL1000P

We spent the month of November working on our newest production. It doesn't have a title yet, but was called CL1000P - we can't say why. For the month of November we thought about game theory, puzzles, ARGs and pervasive games, and then we put together about 60 minutes of performance that we shared with audience in early December - 12/10/10. That 60 minutes of performance could, if you were interested/noticed, have lead to a few more tasks to be executed at your leisure over the weekend, which would then lead you to a party at The Off Center on Sunday night. What we learned: our puzzles are too easy, it's hard to care about a main character that can't do things for him/herself, when given tasks, most people will execute them right away, and want an instant reward, everyone digs white pleather. We're not sure what we will keep from that workshop, and what we will toss, but we are grateful to the audience members that participated whole-heartedly, and that shared their feedback with us as that is how we move forward.

January - I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY

INBSH rehearsal @ Arena Stage Photo by Lowell Bartholomee

The month of January was dedicated entirely to I've Never Been So Happy. Back in 2007, were lucky enough to have been selected for the NEA's New Play Development Program grant, hosted by Arena Stage, and that resulted in a booking to be a part of Arena' Stage's New Play Festival showcasing the first-round recipients of that grant. We rehearsed the first three weeks of January and then Arena was generous enough to bring 18 of us up there, and to hire 4 DC violinists to boot, put us in a hotel, give us production staff and rehearsal time, and host a two-night concert-staging of the show. It was the first time this cast had ever worked on a few of the scenes, and the very first time we have ever seen the show from beginning to end. We were able to share a little of the video from Miwa Matreyek and a little of the dance from Dayna Hanson, and every single song and bit of text that exists.

We could not be more grateful to David Dower and Vijay Matthews for insisting that we present what would further the development of the project rather than freak out and try to put on a "show" for the "people" who were all industry the first night and DC audience (including some ambassadors, apparently) the second night. We learned so very much and totally fixed Act I. It's perfect now. Well, it's definitely put us in great shape to premiere in April. We've Never Been So Grateful.

Arena Stage @ night Photo by Lowell Bartholomee

At the New Play Festival, we were in the company of really interesting artists from all over the country (and we all developed a profound crush on Polly Carl - Director of Artistic Development, Steppenwolf Theatre and Editor of HowlRound, the Journal of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage, who moderated the artist panel):

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
by Rajiv Joseph
I've Never Been So Happy
created by Rude Mechs
Agnes Under the Big Top, a tall tale
by Aditi Brennan Kapil
Happy End of the World
by Lloyd Suh
The Provenance of Beauty
by Claudia Rankine and The Foundry Theatre

Lana sat on a panel with the amazing artists listed above to talk about our project, and to view clips from the beautiful forthcoming documentary by Rob Levi and Rebecca Halbower - so so nice to see them again! And Kirk participated as a panelist and participant in Arena's concurrent New Play Institute convening titled "From Scarcity to Abundance" which brought in 200 producers, presenters, and art-makers from all over the country to participate in round-table discussions on everything under the sun. You can watch all of them here: http://www.livestream.com/newplay/folder

INBSH @ Arena Stage photo by Stephen Pruitt

You can also follow all of David and Vijay's work inspiring ideas and conversation with artists around the country, on the New Play Blog and check out what's happening all over the country on The New Play Map

THANK YOU, DAVID AND VIJAY AND

EVERYONE THAT WORKED ON THE CONVENING AND THE FESTIVAL!!

February - METHOD GUN

Kinda... We got home January 30th, got a couple days off, and then went into a five-day dance workshop for INBSH... then a week off, and then we hosted two days of NEFA's National Theater Pilot meetings, while prepping Method Gun for its impending tour.

Method Gun at Dance Theater Workshop photo by Yi Chun-Wu

Dayna Hanson thrilled the dance team by spending a few days with us refining the choreo that we had learned so far, and then creating new movement for Dog's Life and Search Party - couldn't be more fun to perform! As soon as Dayna went back to Seattle, we cleaned up the room, pulled out the big table and welcomed the New England Foundation for the Arts and the advisors and artists that are participating in the first round National Theater Pilot program. We were, as always, glad to see our old friends and thrilled to meet all the new ones. We are looking forward to getting all those folks in the room again and continuing what turned out to be some interesting and pretty honest conversation. We were rehearsing Method Gun at night while they were here, so we couldn't really wow them with our hosting savvy... but we did host a night for the New Works community to meet all these lovely presenters at Shangrila. Rubber Repertory were the only folks that could fit it into their schedule, but fun was had nonetheless. The NEFA staff also used their time in Austin to arrange a meeting to convey to Austin ensembles the information they need to apply to Round 2.

Yale Rep

Then off to Yale University's No Boundaries Festival!! We fly in on Monday slightly freaked 'cause we open Wednesday night. We go from airport, drop off bags at apartments, get weeks' worth of groceries, and then head straight to the theater to find Sunder Ganglani in his pretty blue hardhat on stage loading in our show. Turns out the world is that stupid small. Sunder was our spotlight operator on Lipstick Traces in 2001 at the Ohio Theater in NYC. And of course Jake and Andrew from Orchard Project and Anne Erbe who we know from those same Lipstick Traces days... so in brief, we had a lot of friends there and they couldn't have made us feel more welcome. Frankly, there's not one single thing they could have done better - from the contract to the marketing to the travel to the housing to the load-in to the house management to the talkback moderating to the master class organizing... we were blown away by our crew - super skilled, funny, on top of it - seriously well done, and done with grace and a smile. Can't stress enough what a smile will buy you with this group of people. For reelz.

And then we somehow managed to come close to filling that big beautiful old mess of a 400 seat theater on our last night - we had super healthy and enthusiastic audience the whole run, and had a blast restaging the play to work in that space, which used to be a big beautiful church.

Massive thanks to Suzanne Appel for being a producorial and organizational genius, to Jennifer Kiger and James Bundy for the hosting us and feting us, and to everyone on the crew for killin' it.

Thanks also to David Chambers and Liz Diamond for bringing great students to play with at our class, and for offering their help. Hopefully we can take you up on it before the semester is out.

Amazing Crew at Yale - yay!!!

Gratitude to the evolutionary biologists for the coming to the show and then proving you don't have to be a theatre artist to appreciate it, and for the behind the scenes tour some of us were privy to, and we hope we can find a way to work with you all!

Overall, Yale - we hope we'll see you again soon. That was well done and loads of fun.

We do all very much still blame you for Bush, just fyi.

Off to DTW.

What? Fifteen Years of Outstanding Contribution to Theatre Arts!

2010-10-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

Friends and Lovers!!
Rude Mechs is thrilled to announce an award from the Board of Directors of the Greater Austin Creative Alliance:

RUDE MECHS WILL RECEIVE SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR OUR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO AUSTIN THEATRE AND PERFORMING ARTS.

DONATE TO RUDE MECHS TODAY! We think this is the right time to ask because someone besides us - a really credible group of people - the Board of GACA - has told you we are worth the investment. So as you are considering your end-of-year or top-of-year donations, we hope you will keep Rude Mechs in mind. That's right - No sassy print mailing this winter asking for your fantastically reliable annual gifts (thank you!), just this simple email letting you know we are in it for the long haul and hoping you can pick up where the City of Austin hotel/motel bed tax fell short. (Every arts group in the city saw a dramatic cut. Our funding was cut by roughly $20,000 this year - that's one staff salary.)

You can make your tax-deductible contribution by clicking on the button below. The site will stay open through January 31, 2011, and we'll probably give you at least one more reminder between now and then.

ABOUT THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS

We put together a little slideshow on flickr to remind you of many of the things we've done over the years. In addition to creating 21 original full-length works for the stage that saw 34,500 butts in seats, we have presented 21 touring productions, co-presented another 24 touring shows, co-produced 12 second-stage / Rude Fusion productions, taught close to 200 young women in Grrl Action, transformed a feed store into a modest black box theatre, created a shiny new classroom/rehearsal space, toured five productions to seventeen venues at home and abroad, and helped countless theatre, music and dance groups by providing our space at some of the cheapest rates in town.

ABOUT THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS

While you gawk at how young we all were in 1996, think about the Rude future. We recently were awarded (as one of six companies in the country) a prestigious play development award from the New England Foundation for the Arts for our new play, CL1000P (working title) - we will send an invitation for you to view our work-in-progress showing this December. We will present a full-length workshop version of I've Never Been So Happy at Arena Stage (D.C.), and then premiere it in Austin with our first-ever commissioning funding from Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles). We will continue our national tour of The Method Gun at Yale, Dance Theatre Workshop (NYC), and Center Theatre Group throughout the Spring/Summer. We are already planning Decameron Day 3: Revolution! so you can look forward to new episodes of our original soap opera Harbor Cove. We acquired more of the warehouse complex this year, and will soon begin planning our dream performance arts complex with two spaces, a bar/cafe, rehearsal space and room for everyone!

THANK YOU

We are lucky to live in Austin. We are lucky to live in a city where the press engages the arts in ways that are deep and supportive.

We are lucky to live in a community this creative and hard working and confident and intelligent. All this new work and all these open minds. We are lucky to live in a community where artists support one another, rather than compete with one another – where we lift each other up instead of trying to tear each other down.

We are lucky to live in a city that is full of bands and reads a lot of books and likes the outdoors and knows that a creative community isn’t just the money-generating ‘movers and shakers’ but also the teenage punk rockers and the quirky artist who builds spaces from trash and the hippies with their butterfly bicycles and the students making films and plays and music and their own new thing, whatever the new form will be.

We are always asked why we chose to live in Austin, so far from the artistic meccas on the coasts. Why would we have chosen anywhere else? Here we have friends and colleagues who know the value of a life lived making art with comrades and taking time to relax on the patio and share a beer and not get all het up about ‘making it’ because ‘making it’ isn’t how much money is in your bank account or how famous you are, or how ‘respected’ or ‘hot’. But how rich the hours in your day are, surrounded by people you love and admire, in a beautiful place that is both a safety net and the trapeze high above it.

We could never have made it without every single member of our Board of Directors and every single member of our company. We are deeply grateful that even when people leave the company and Board they remain a part of the family, and we all cheer each other on. And a special thanks goes to former Artistic Directors Kirsten Kern and Kathryn Blackbird, along with Gavin Mundy - all three of whom helped shape this company's identity from the get-go.

Rude Mechs Time at Arts Emerson and Wexner Center for the Arts

2010-10-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

Again with the brief as possible recap. First - we had an excellent time. Second - the audiences had an excellent time. Third - the Boston critics think we are kinda silly and aren't really risking enough what with the industrial lights swinging at our heads. But that's cool - Time Out Chicago dug it, and probably someone in Columbus did - but we can't find any writing on the show.

This time we wholesale failed to take any pictures except these - which just kinda prove we actually went, and that Tiger made an appearance as well:

The Method Gun presented by Arts Emerson in Boston

Tiger monkeying with the light board, which explains so much!

Ohio State University - we were there!!

Ultimately good times were had by all. Some of us came away literally bruised and battered, but it was from the bars, not the theaters. We should send a round apology to that last bar we were in on Sunday night in Columbus, and probably the doorman at the hotel, and definitely to the very sweet volunteer drivers at the Wexner for grossing them out every single day. Sorry! We had a blast!

Here's some of the press and what some of the critics thought:

Favorite review of the Boston run was from Time Out Chicago.

We got a "slap/tickle" but overall kinda good kinda bad review in the Boston Herald, but we have to pay to get it, and that's too hard. And then anyone else in Boston that wrote about it (see Critics Circle and some blogger) totally copied the Herald review.

We were interviewed by The New York Times for the run we will do at Dance Theatre Workshop in March. Looking forward to that article because she was very cool.

Favorite review title: "The Rude Mechs Have a Nutty Method" by Ed Siegel of The Boston Phoenix. As you can guess, while he says it's "not to be dismissed", he didn't really dig it. He wrote this about the ending pendulum sequence: "The actors leave you with the sense that you're watching a riddle wrapped inside an enigma. Can the payoff be profound if there is no payoff? Can excellence be rewarding if no one (you included) sees the endeavor as anything but silly?" He also called us Austinians.

Shawn and Lana did a radio interview for Blast Magazine, and a 2-minute TV interview for Good Morning Emerson, which features the "Rude Mechanics" at around minute 18.5, shows (without crediting) a video montage of the show, and lasts for 2 minutes, but it's kinda worth taking in the whole episode. For reelz.

Okay - that's it. We'd like to thank Rob Orchard for opening his new space with The Method Gun, and Weston - thank you! And Chuck Helm, Andy, Scott, Sonia and all those driving volunteers - very fun week. We'd also like to thank the woman that owns Surly Girl, Betty's, Dirty Franks - awesome food. And Jeni's ice cream - well, Amy should worry if Jeni ever moves to Austin.

We're working on CL1000P (working title) for the month, then taking I've Never Been So Happy up to Arena Stage in DC in January for a full-length concert reading/staging. Then The Method Gun Yale and DTW are next in Feb/March! Bizzy good times.

You are Invited to Sign Up for The Oyster Club!

2010-08-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

JOIN THE OYSTER CLUB!

WE WANT TO PARTY WITH YOU!

Registration is open for the 2010/2011 Oyster Club Season!!

With two years of smashing success under its belt, last season's Oyster Club saw the best off-beat art in Central Texas. From the outrageous opening party with fresh oysters from the Gulf Coast (worth five times the price of admission alone) to KLRU's Painted Churches Tour, the Oyster Club saw the best off-beat art in Central Texas. And this year is going to be even bigger and even better!

Meeting once in every month whose name contains an "r" (September-April), the Oyster Club is a new way to find pearls of art, architecture, music, film, food, and performance in the oceans of culture in Austin and Central Texas. Rude Mechs will lead this off-beat culture club to backstage access, private tours, secret after-parties, and once-in-a-lifetime spectacles. And once again this year, Edible Austin Magazine will partner with Rude Mechs to showcase the best of Austin's local food scene at every event! The Oyster Club will keep you active without making you busy.

Membership in Rude Mechanicals' Oyster Club includes access to a members-only website where you can sign up for events taking place throughout the year in months that contain the letter "R" (there's eight of 'em). The Oyster Club’s name is based on the popular misconception that oysters are only safe to eat in those months. (This may have once been a good guide before modern refrigeration made it safe to eat oysters all-year round; its ongoing validity is now hotly debated.)

"Last night was the second Oyster Club event of the year. It was a tour of the Charles Moore house, an amazing architectural work filled to the brim with trinkets and doodads and stuff. It also had the scariest chair I have ever seen. [ ] really enjoyed the short discussion on Charles Moore’s architectural style and perspective. I really enjoyed the food. There were apple pie cupcakes from Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop. Holy. Cow. A delicious vanilla cupcake with spiced apples in the center and topped with cinnamon buttercream. The Tipsy Texans wowed us with Moore House punch, a concoction of fresh citrus juices, two kinds of rum and Pimento Liqueur that they created just for this event… and an insanely good Tom & Jerry, an old-fashioned drink made with a batter of eggs, sugar and spices, rum, brandy and hot water; the Tipsy Texans substituted local Zhi Tea for the hot water. There was live music, cool people, and good times all around. Seriously, the Oyster Club has been one of the best investments we’ve ever made." -- Oyster Club Member Blog, 2009

This year Rude Mechs will kick off the season on September 19th with their traditional party at The Plant at Kyle, an AIA award-winning architectural landmark incorporating parts of the former Alamo Cement Plant. Designed by Lake|Flato , this unique structure is nestled in a hill-country setting ~40 minutes drive from downtown Austin. And Edible Austin Magazine will reprise last year's memorable Oyster feast including outstanding Texas local, gulf seafood. This is a party you won't want to miss!

CHECK OUT SOME OF THE PAST OYSTER CLUB EVENTS (or check them all out here)

WHEN:

Events occur monthly September 2010 - April 2011

WHERE:

Fabulous venues in Austin and the surrounding areas

COST OF MEMBERSHIP:

$200 Individuals, $300 Pairs

Membership dues are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law, and all proceeds benefit Rude Mechs and everything that goes on at their theater, The Off Center.

MEMBERSHIP SIGN UP:

Sign up now through September 1st at Eventbrite! http://oysterclub10.eventbrite.com/

Only 100 Memberships available!

And of course, don't forget to get your tickets now to our annual fundraiser party,

The AYE EYE BALL, on August 21st!

Coming Up This Year from Rude Mechs!

2010-08-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

RUDE MECHS ANNOUNCES ITS FIFTEENTH SEASON OF NEW WORKS FOR THE STAGE

Rude Mechs is proud to announce the following plans for their fifteenth season of creating, premiering and touring new works for the stage. This upcoming year includes tours of The Method Gun to five national venues; the creation of a new piece CL1000P (working title); a lark of a holiday show featuring egg-nog and Rude Mechs performing The Nutcracker As Best We Can; and the world premiere production of I've Never Been So Happy, our new transmedia musical performance party. I've Never Been So Happy will also tour to the American Voices New Play Institute festival at Arena Stage. And of course, our annual programming will include Grrl Action - our year-round arts mentoring program for teenaged girls; Rude Fusion - our co-production series to support local arts groups; and The Oyster Club (sign up now!) - our members-only culture club celebrating music, dance, food, art, architecture and oddities in Austin and the surrounding areas. We need your help to support this astoundingly full year - come to the Aye Eye Ball - or if you can't, go to the event page and donate!

THE METHOD GUN - National Tour!

written by Kirk Lynn | directed by Shawn Sides | created by Rude Mechs

Fresh from the 34th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, Rude Mechs will tour The Method Gun in 2010/2011 to five prestigious national venues. The Method Gun explores the life and techniques of Stella Burden, actor-training guru of the 60s and 70s. Ms. Burden’s training technique, The Approach (often referred to as “the most dangerous acting technique in the world”), fused Western acting methods with risk-based rituals in order to infuse even the smallest role with sex, death and violence. The Method Gun re-enacts the final months of her company’s rehearsals for their nine-years-in-the-making production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Visceral and visually haunting, The Method Gun is a play about the ecstasy and excesses of performing, the dangers of public intimacy, and the incompatibility of truth on stage and sanity in real life.

Tour Schedule for The Method Gun

October 13-17, 2010: Emerson College (Boston, MA)
October 21-24, 2010: Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus OH)
February 23-26, 2011: Yale Repertory Theatre and World Performance Project at Yale (New Haven CT)
March 2-12, 2011: Dance Theatre Workshop (New York, NY)
June 14-26, 2011: Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles CA)

“charming... gorgeously rendered... both stunning and haunting.” - American Theatre Magazine

“If you only have time to see one show, make it The Method Gun. It is an honest, brave and often hilarious exploration of the creative process…as absurd and awe-inspiring as it can be.” - Louisville Courier-Journal

Download high-res production stills for The Method Gun here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudemechs/sets/72157623794005685/

The Method Gun has received support from Creative Capital Foundation, MAP Fund, The Orchard Project, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Humanities Institute and The Harry Ransom Center.

I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY - World Premiere and National Tour!

a new musical transmedia performance party, and then some from Rude Mechs!
book and lyrics by Kirk Lynn | music and lyrics by Peter Stopschinski | directed/curated by Lana Lesley & Thomas Graves

World Premiere Production: April 2011
at The Off Center, Austin, TX

After two workshop productions at The Off Center in Austin, TX (2008 and 2009), and residencies with The Orchard Project and The Musical Theatre Initiative at The University of Texas, I've Never Been So Happy, will see its world premiere at The Off Center in Austin, TX in April 2011. Co-directors Graves and Lesley are pleased to announce the addition of Dayna Hanson, experimental stage artist, filmmaker and 2006 Guggenheim Fellow in choreography; award-winning animator designer and artist Miwa Matreyek, and internationally acclaimed designer Brian Scott (SITI Company) to the production team.

I've Never Been So Happy, with music and lyrics by Austin Experimental Punk Grand Wizard Peter Stopschinski (Brown Whornet, Golden Hornet Project), and book and lyrics by Austin Experimental Theatre Mascot Kirk Lynn, fluctuates freely between high art and Hee-Haw, treating both with respect. The music pits a "Grand Ole Opry" style West against an "El Topo" style West. The writing butts lyric poetry up against bar jokes with finesse. The evening challenges what it means to "go to the theater" in the 21st century.

National Tour: January 2011
Arena Stage, Washington DC

The American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage will feature full-length presentations and readings from the seven inaugural selections of the National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development Program. I've Never Been So Happy was one of five productions selected for the Distinguished New Play Development Program in the first-round, 2008. Rude Mechs will present work-in-progress selections from the production.

"The Rudes continue to deepen their creative process and challenge themselves in new ways. And that results in smart, terrific theater that takes us some place new." - Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin-American Statesman review of December 2008 workshop production.

"BEST INVESTIGATION OF THE WEST: The Rude Mechs' funny, well-informed multimedia performance was a refreshingly queer interrogation of the West. Moreover, I’ve Never Been So Happy felt like a Brechtian extravaganza for art and theater geeks, evoking everything from WOW Café camp to Bruce Nauman’s post-minimal studio practice..." - Claire Ruud, ...might be good (Fluent-Collaborative's contemporary arts e-journal Best of 2008)

Download high-res production stills for I've Never Been So Happy here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudemechs/sets/72157622372086808/

I've Never Been So Happy has received support from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, The NEA Distinguished New Play Development Program hosted by Arena Stage, The Orchard Project, The University of Texas Musical Theatre Initiative, and Center Theatre Group.

CL1000P (working title) - work-in-progress showing
November 18-19, 2010 at The Off Center

The MAP Fund supported exploration of public secrets and games we play to keep the powers that be happy will span the city as we invite audience to participate as we break the code of the way things are to reveal the secrets of what could be. We are so early in the process we have almost nothing to say about it yet, but it will be very cool. We will rehearse a few weeks in November to kick off the project and share what we know on those two very scary days.

THE NUTCRACKER AS BEST WE CAN - World Premiere
December 9 - 19, 2010 at The Off Center

We've done some pretty serious work over the last three years during the holiday season, and this year we thought we'd get into the holiday spirit with our version of the world's favorite holiday show, The Nutcracker. We can only promise that Rude Mechs along with hordes of Austin theatre folks will do our level-best to perform The Nutcracker. There will be libations, and the audience will surely be allowed to jump in and perform as much as they can remember from their childhood. More details will come as we know them!

THE AYE EYE BALL - Annual Fundraiser

Our annual fundraiser to support all of the artistic activities in the 20010/11 season. The Eye Ball (named for our logo - a flaming eyeball) is our annual fundraiser to support our artistic activities. As we kick off our 15th year of making work together, we aim to launch another 15 years by giving a nau(gh)tical theme to this year's event The Aye Eye Ball, hosted by diva mistress Rebecca Havemeyer.

date: August 21, 2010
time: 7:00pm to midnight
location: The Off Center
tickets: $70 (pairs); $40 (individuals)
reservations: http://ayeeyeball.eventbrite.com/

THE OYSTER CLUB - Members-Only Culture Club

Rude Mechs announces registration is

Publish Post

open to its annual members-only culture club, The Oyster Club. With two years of smashing success under its belt, last season's Oyster Club saw the best off-beat art in Central Texas. And this year is going to be even bigger and even better! Meeting once in every month whose name contains an "r" (September-April), the Oyster Club is a new way to find pearls of art, architecture, music, film, food, and performance in the oceans of culture in Austin and Central Texas. Rude Mechs will lead this off-beat culture club to backstage access, private tours, secret after-parties, and once-in-a-lifetime spectacles. And once again this year, Edible Austin Magazine will partner with Rude Mechs to showcase the best of Austin's local food scene at every event! The Oyster Club will keep you active without making you busy.

tickets: $300 (pairs); $200 (individuals)
reservations: http://oysterclub10-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

Grrl Action Summer Performances and the Aye Eye Ball!

2010-07-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest Rude News e-blast here:

Grrl Action Summer Performances and the Aye Eye Ball!

Rude Mechs in Fusebox Festival - Quest for the West!

2010-04-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dear SCAVENGERS!

QUEST FOR THE WEST is an attempt to take the research for our show I've Never Been So Happy into your life! We are launching it at The Off Center at 10 am on Saturday the 24th (see KEEP READING! below)

Throughout the festival a series of quests will be presented on the Fusebox website, and those brave enough to dive in will be ridiculously rewarded!

Quests may or may not include: Writing and recording a Country and Western Song! Out drawing your enemy in a crowded saloon! Catching a Mountain Lion by the tail! Starting April 24th, check the Fusebox website often to download daily tasks, upload proof of completion, or simply take a gander at the folly or yer fellows! Then you will join us on Saturday, May 1st at 10pm for a special awards ceremony. Trust us: it ends with a BANG!

KEEP READING! We are kicking this Quest off with a special, old-world SCAVENGER HUNT created by the two funniest adventure-seekers we know. JOIN US ON SATURDAY the 24th at 10AM at the OFF CENTER.

We will convene in front of The Off Center at 10 am for instructions/rules, and the hunt will commence shortly thereafter, ending back at The Off Center at 12:30pm for prizes!!

When: Saturday, April 24th from 10am to 12:30pm

Location: The Off Center is located at 2211-A Hidalgo @ Robert Martinez Jr. St. AVOID 7TH STREET IF YOU CAN - CONSTRUCTION MADNESS.

Parking: Please only park on the street! Joe's Bakery will be busy with their own customers and not available for Off Center parking.

Time: Instructions and rules at 10 am, teams will return by 12:30pm for judging and prizes!

Cost: Free

Prizes: Yes there will be

Transportation: The hunt will require visiting various locations around the beautiful city of Austin, so come prepared to have an adventure! These adventures are 100% bike-friendly. Extra points to those who hunt on horseback.

Team size: It's up to you! There can only be 20 teams total, so some folks may choose to join forces!

Event listing: on Fusebox website Directions: The Off Center: http://www.rudemechs.com/off_center/index.htm Badass Art Credit: Aron Taylor

Rude Mechs Time at Humana Festival

2010-03-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

QUICK RECAP

Ooohh - it was a good and busy few weeks for Rude Mechs and now we are up and running at Humana! We have been blown away by the unbelievably generous volunteers got us set up in our apartments, our most excellent production team that has generously fulfilled every production desire we've had. Thank you, Dot & Cyndil and all the volunteers!!! Thank you Adrien-Alice, Zach and Zach, Rachel, Marissa, Kathleen, Alexis, Rob, Paul, Gretchen, Philip - seriously the list just goes on and on and every single person has just been amazingly cool and awesome at what they do. And thank you, Marc, and Sean and Jennifer, for inviting us here and making us feel so at home.

We spent the first three weeks in rehearsal six days a week / 8 hours a day. The phenom for us is to have this kind of time to work on a play with a script in hand. Ultimately it means we can go with the 5th or 6th idea instead of the 1st or 2nd. Luxury! True to form, we reworked every moment - tightening, loosening, replacing scenes wholesale. It is said to be 10% sadder. And we ratcheted up the final performance of the Burden Company. You'll have to see it to find out how.

We performed 16 shows in 12 days! We had houses full of industry professionals and press, and also plenty plenty of Louisville locals and ATL subscribers. We enjoyed really nice houses, about 6 walkouts, and very generous audiences. Every second we had just a crazy amount of fun.

Big giant love to Mark & Dana, Stephanie & Michael, and Vicky Boone and Mari Marchbanks for coming to town and supporting us. That meant the world. We are also in love with Thomas' parents and Hannah's parents. We were fed and loved and doted on as if we were all their own.

The first performance week ended with Live Band Karaoke night at Freddie's which was ASTOUNDINGLY FUN. Our hometown boy Michael Raiford killed it with pitch-perfect and super slick rendition of 3 Dog Night's "One", and then took a turn at the drums and again SLAYED. Thank god he was there, because Austin was next represented by Lowell, Lana and Jason delivering "Saved by Zero", without practice... well, Lowell has pictures somewhere.

The second week we were stoked to hang out with Alice Tuan - we don't see her enough. Shanghai is on the horizon, though. We were also overwhelmed by the love from all of the Baylor grad students who came in to see the show. Dang y'all!

The second performance week ended with tears, basically. Nobody wanted to leave. We made really great friends with many of the artists and staff there, and as soon as we actually had time to hang out, it was time to go. Booooooo. We haven't told Ron Berry yet, but we've invited all of them to perform in Fusebox. We hope he has that whole artist housing & transportation thing worked out, cause it's gonna be a madhouse!

GOOD REVIEWS

Well, the press didn't show up in droves this year, unless they were within driving distance. Seriously, ask Faires. Aside from him and somebody from the Wall Street Journal, the rest of the press corps stayed home this year. The New York Times just couldn't spare anyone this year. We're told more reviews will come in, but here's what we've dug up so far.

We got an amazing and awesomely written legit review of The Method Gun from Erin Keane at the Louisville Courier-Journal. This might be our first ever "run, don't walk" review: "If you only have time to see one show between now and March 28, make it The Rude Mechanicals' 'The Method Gun.'" Suhweet.

This just in: a really lovely write up of Humana Festival and thoughts on The Method Gun from our own Robert Faires of The Austin Chronicle. He spent three days there and we spent every free second we had hanging out in the bar with him, sharing stories, and getting blown away by his passion for theatre. Our nights with him definitely count among our top bar nights. We came away sooo grateful that he took the time to come out to the festival, and above all else, that we have a great writer and friend in our corner. He has observed our company since its inception, and has seen damn near all of our plays. So, Robert, thank you - having open friendly and ongoing critical dialogue can only result in better and deeper work, and friendship.

MISSING and MEH REVIEWS

These will be forwarded to me later by the extraordinary ATL staff, but the following blurbs and reviews trickled by while we were there, and then I lost them online.

The Louisville Leo (their weekly)– Rude Mechanicals cultivate a stunning virtuosity that... is essential viewing for anyone interested in theater. Pretty sure this reviewer also used the phrase "cloyingly sentimental" at some point... and "droll." Will post link when found.

Remember seeing The Cincinnati Enquirer and Minneapolis City Pages go by. Think they had meh mentions for us, but I can't find them now. Don't feel like digging them up.

Chicago Sun-Times' Lewis Lazare reviews the festival and blurbs The Method Gun here. "It’s both fascinating and terrifying, in a bizarre sort of way."

RADIO PRESS

Fun spot on BBC's "The Strand" where Aron Posner says we suck, and then says Method Gun is not a play, but rather a "performance event." He was kidding on both counts, of course. We know this because he called us fabulous too.

The local NPR station posted this uncut / unedited interview we did with Elizabeth Kramer for a national NPR story featuring The Method Gun and Fissures about collaborative playmaking. Here is The Method Gun interview for 27 minutes of listening pleasure or pain, depending on your outlook.

And the national NPR story, "Ensemble Theatre at the Humana Festival", aired today, 4/1/10. It's an interview with Rude Mechs and former Jeune Lune members at Humana with their show Fissures.

CITIZEN BLOG REVIEWS

Dan Buck loved it!: On March 26th, the Rude Mechs gave me my first transcendent theatrical experience as an audience member. That's grace. And for that they have my sincerest gratitude.

Bill Felty dug it!: a daring,unexpected, thrill.

Pam Harbaugh dug it!: Especially surprising was the quirky "The Method Gun."

Larry hated it!: Fortunately, these ensemble events almost always are short. Unfortunately, they never have intermissions. So, a word to the wise: unless you are the sort of theatergoer who actually likes this kind of theatre, be sure to ask for a seat near the exit door, so you can ditch unobtrusively. [Side note - think he ran out as soon as helium balloon moment happened.]

Sherry Deatrick: seemed to like it but maybe didn't see the ending? Or at least she didn't buy it: The show lures us with talk of Burden's “dangerous” theatre method. But in the end, the company never confronts that danger, or does so only in a superficial manner.

We're fairly certain this was the woman who hopped up and ran backstage (yes, backstage, not out of the theater) about two seconds before pendulum started, then panicked and tried to climb up a ladder to the deck Lowell was calling cues from, then scrambled down the ladder and further backstage and almost went out a fire door exit to the roof before our back stage manager, Zach, grabbed her and put her in the parking garage. She had to pee, she said.

IN CLOSING
Production photos by Alan Simmons

Rude News

Great Review and Discount for NOW NOW OH NOW

NOW NOW OH NOW

Rude News - A Few Things to do This Spring, Starting Tonight!

Austin Film Festival presents

A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL part of their Made in Texas: Adaptations Series

Rubber Repertory presents

JUBILEE

Dance Umbrella and Fusebox Festival present

GLORIA'S CAUSE

Tell the nearest Grrl to apply to Grrl Action Summer Workshop!

A Rude update seems in order

An Intern's Perspective #5

An Intern's Perspective #4 (CL1000P HAS OPENED, Y'ALL)

An Intern's Perspective #3

An Intern's Perspective #2

An Intern's Perspective #1

2011 Went Like This, Mostly

Give the Gift of RUDEness! Oyster Club on the Half Shell is Here!

Give an awesome gift that supports the arts!

Dionysus in '69 and The Method Gun on tour

Rude Summer - Time to update!

Grrl Wrap

a celebration of the new works by the participants of Year-Round Grrl Action

Grrl Action Summer Workshop 2011

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS NOW! Grrl Action is a three-week summer workshop in which teenaged girls envision, create, publish, and perform original works for the stage based on their own life experiences. Girls between the ages of 13-16 are eligible.

I've Never Been So Happy - April 2011 Production Stills

Announcing I've Never Been So Happy World Premiere!

OPENING NIGHT GALA!

The Method Gun at Dance Theater Workshop

Rude Mechs Feature in The New York Times

Many Methods to Collaborative Madness

By JOAN ANDERMAN

Published: February 22, 2011

A version of this article appeared in print on February 27, 2011, on page AR4 of the New York edition.

Rudes Off Center to Arena Stage to Yale!!!

What? Fifteen Years of Outstanding Contribution to Theatre Arts!

Rude Mechs Time at Arts Emerson and Wexner Center for the Arts

You are Invited to Sign Up for The Oyster Club!

Coming Up This Year from Rude Mechs!

Grrl Action Summer Performances and the Aye Eye Ball!

Rude Mechs in Fusebox Festival - Quest for the West!

Rude Mechs Time at Humana Festival

A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL
part of their Made in Texas: Adaptations Series

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS NOW!

Grrl Action is a three-week summer workshop in which teenaged girls envision, create, publish, and perform original works for the stage based on their own life experiences. Girls between the ages of 13-16 are eligible.