You Know, For the Kids!

After finishing up work on Isabella, we thought we'd do a quick survey to learn a little bit more about our audience, thus enabling us to better tend to your experimental theatre needs. We learned a lot of interesting stuff, not least of which was this:

3. In which one of these age ranges do you fall?

Under 18		0.9%
18-24		15.3%
25-35		52.5%
36-44		12.7%
45-59		10.2%
60+		8.5%

Now, we won't lie - we make a lot of claims about ourselves having a youngish audience, but up until now, these have been primarily based on anecdotal evidence. As it turns out, over 2/3 of the folks who came to see Isabella were under 36 years old - a rarity in the ever-aging performing-arts world.

There's been a lot of talk recently about brain-drain and the role of culture in stopping it - to be less wonky about it, the question is: how do we keep the tens of thousands of college kids in the Philadelphia area from leaving after they graduate? Isn't culture - rock shows, contemporary art, and yes, cutting-edge, affordable theatre - one of the things that keeps the young folks around?

And - if that's true, which we think it is - can we humbly suggest that Pig Iron's model seems to be working? One of our favorite quotes from the open-response section of the survey was "I didn't like theater until I saw Pig Iron stuff"; we like the idea that experimental theater isn't just for the hard-core theater specialists - it works, too, for younger audience members who value the idea that theater doesn't have to rely on second-hand stagings and plotlines to tell its stories.

Pig Iron in NYC and Philly (This Time With 75% More Elk!)

Now THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is a heckuva postcard.

What it says is that Pig Iron's about to uncork an astounding "mini-project," a collaboration with the ridiculously talented Cynthia Hopkins on the Public Theater-curated 365 Days/365 Plays, the NYC branch of the largest collaborative theatre project in the history of our planet. And then we're bringing it to Philly! And it's 100% free!!!!*

OK. Let's rewind a little. In 2002 and 2003, Suzan-Lori Parks ("Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Topdog/Underdog) " - our press release) wrote one play per day for an entire year. The writing became a daily meditation, a prayer, celebrating the rich and strange process of an artistic life. This past year, an international festival has sprung up devoted to staging the plays everywhere from Westport, CT, to Nashville to Austin to Boulder, CO to San Francisco. It's the low-fi theatrical version of "Hands Across America."

Companies are allowed an exceptional degree of latitude in interpreting their 7 short plays, and Pig Iron's in the midst of creatings a cabaret of rites and wrongs, a mash-up of movement and music featuring original music and songs by Cynthia Hopkins ("imagine Lotte Lenya's kid sister shacking up in a cheap Atlanta hotel with Tom Waits," says Time Out New York), the creator of Accidental Nostalgia and Must Don't Whip 'Um.

WHERE: BROOKLYN: Brick Theatre, 575 Metropolitan Ave, PHILADELPHIA: The Latvian Society, 7^th and Spring Garden.

WHEN:
Brooklyn: November 2, 7 p.m.
Brooklyn: November 3, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Philadelphia: November 4, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia: November 5, 7 p.m.

WHO: Sarah Sanford/James Sugg/Dito van Reigersberg/Alex Torra/Hinako Arao/Cynthia Hopkins

TICKETS: (215) 627 1883 or at www.pigiron.org

*Pig Iron's Director of Development will now try to dampen your excitement by reminding you that it is NOT free to put this production together, and that you should definitely consider the suggested donation of $10 - you can donate here if you're not the sort that carries cash around. (But still, FREE!)

Pig Iron Bought Out By Philadelphia Media Holdings

Our fine young reporter and Pig Iron co-founder Dan Rothenberg has been selected (due, we're sure, to his fine work in this space) by the Inquirer to blog on the development process of ISABELLA and the overall madness of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. You can read Dan's blog here.

Pig Iron Guide to the Fringe (abbreviated version)

Someone asked us recently to trace out the various contributions Pig Iron Company Members and collaborators are offering up during the Live Arts Festival. More than happy to oblige!

The List:

Isabella - well, duh.

Car - Kate Watson-Wallace's new work-in-progress; a dance piece set in a car, featuring Love Unpunished performer Jaamil Kosoko. Get cozy.

Explanatorium - New piece from Headlong Dance Theater, whom Pig Iron has a major crush on. Features David Brick (Love Unpunished choreographer), Nichole Canuso (Flop), and Geoff Sobelle (everything.)

Strawberry Farm - another work in progress, this time from Love Unpunished dancer Makoto Hirano.

Wandering Alice - So - this is a free show, a one-night-only work in progress with a capacity of 24, from Nichole Canuso Dance Company; Mr. Sugg does sound design; Ms. Suli Holum is the co-director. I'd get there early, were I you.

BATCH: An American Batchlor/ette Party Spectacle - Just the usual sexydruggyfunnyweird business from New Paradise Labs, back after being much-missed during last year's Festival.

Hearts of Man - Hell Meets Henry Halfway author Adriano Shaplin brings his company to Philadelphia. Hide the kids.

The Word - All-around super guy Brian Osborne performs in an electrifying one-man show about a evangelist in the '80s. Also directed by Suli Holum.

Martha Graham Cracker - Late Night Cabaret, Friday, August 31. We think it's a bad, bad idea to miss this. It's Martha in her native habitat.

There are a whole slew of other shows in the Fringe that we'd recommend without a second thought: Green Chair Dance; Grace: Kingdom; Sweetie Pie; Fatboy - the list goes on for miles. We know: it's a demanding couple of weeks. Even so, we think you'll have a blast - this year's lineup is one of the finest in recent memory.

Mining for Meaning

Hey, How'd You Get That Funny Name?
by John K. Frisbee, Pig Iron Director of Development

If you’re ever in the mood for a confusing three or four minutes, try and get one of Pig Iron Theatre Company’s three co-founders to explain why they chose the name “Pig Iron.” After 11 years of living with the name, a “standard” line of reasoning hasn’t quite been established. You choose a name because you like the feel of it, like the way it runs together (a Southern-accented friend of ours once addressed a letter to “Pig Arn”), and you’ve explored some of the name’s historical connotations. There is a serious and considered process that goes into naming a company; it's by no means arbitrary. Even so, 11 years later you end up saying “Well, what did I mean back then?”

Firstly, “pig iron” has very little to do with pigs themselves. We’ve sometimes been known to use a swine-related pun or two at part of our annual fundraiser cabaret, but we occasionally lament the fact that we're so frequently associated with the world's third-smartest animal.

In any case, since you ask, pig iron is raw iron, the immediate product of smelting iron ore with coke and limestone in a blast furnace. The traditional mold makes a large runner with numerous attached ingots, creating a look similar to that of a bunch of piglets suckling on a sow. Pig iron’s pretty brittle, so it needs to be re-melted to alter the carbon content, after which it can get molded any which way (your cast-iron skillet, your Amish wagon wheel) into the formidably firm and heavy iron tools we know and love.

One of the reasons for naming a theatre company “Pig Iron” is that pig iron was often used as a counterweight for scenery or drops used in a production; it’s also referred to constantly and somewhat enigmatically in Mamet’s American Buffalo. In a way, pig iron is a kind of potential energy – it can be molded, re-formed, cast or discarded. It needs an artisan or an animating spirit to make it into something, but for the moment it has the potential to be almost anything. It works as a label for a company whose productions begin as a virtual tabula rasa – just a space, a director, some designers, some actors, and a lot of ideas.

We also love the idea of theatre as something that’s “handmade” – a singular work of artisanship, formed from rude materials, with a potential for surprise beyond that of your standard-issue cultural product. So many theatre productions are caught up in depicting an authentic reality; there’s an innate fear of letting the strings show too much. The elements that make up a production – the acting, the lighting, the sets – aren’t allowed to become works of art in and of themselves, instead becoming subsidiary tools used to create a simulation of human life. We try to use these elements to express rather than to tell, and we don’t try to hide them. Maybe this is another perspective on the Pig Iron name – letting the raw materials shine through, even as they’re subsumed within the larger artistic whole.

The company gets the odd call from folks who somehow miss the “Theatre” and mistake us from a smelting plant. Our managing director has a saved message of a confused – if still quite insistent – gentleman trying to convince us to go in on his scheme to sell pig iron to Egypt. Troublingly, a Phillies minor-league affiliate has recently been redesignated as the “Lehigh Valley IronPigs.” Somehow, we’ve been getting calls asking for baseball tickets, and we’ve generally failed at selling these people on experimental theatre as an alternative to hot dogs and domestic drafts. There’s also a British hard-rock group named Pig Irön...

...(question: how exactly did the umlaut become a signifier of rock-n-roll awesomeness?), but we’ve yet to have a run-in with them or their fans.

As quirky as a name sometimes seems, it inevitably returns to dictate certain particulars of your future. Our logo – the surrealist three-pulley system that’s featured on our t-shirts and our letterhead – alludes to the connection with simple theatrical processes. While some experimental ensembles are known for brash, technically brilliant, hyper-modern work, Pig Iron’s niche seems to be a middle ground between looking-forward and looking-back. While our work always tries to be formally innovative, it retains a connection to the earthiness of old-world theatre traditions.

(Ed. – In retrospect, the last sentence makes us sound a little more like a boutique coffee company than a performance ensemble. Oh, well.)

Returning to Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

Your Pigblog editor has been on vacation for a couple of weeks - over the next week, I'll be putting up more previews of the upcoming Isabella, exciting news about guest speakers at the Live Arts Festival, and more content from company members and Pig Iron staff.

"A Triple Capuccino Effect": An Interview with Anna Kiraly

Below is an excerpt from an interview I conducted with Anna Kiraly (PAY UP, CHEKHOV LIZARDBRAIN, the upcoming ISABELLA) shortly after the opening of CHEKHOV LIZARDBRAIN. A native of Hungary and a New York City resident, Anna has been involved with Pig Iron as a set and production designer for the last several years. I find her approach to design refreshing – Gabriel Quinn Bauriedel

GQB: It was explained to me once that there are two kinds of artists. There are those of us who try to push away all the clutter in order to focus our attention on one small thing: to see that thing by itself, unfettered. You can then see the whole world in that small gesture. Other artists try to put everything into the frame, in order to see all the world at once. I call them the Emily Dickinson vs. James Joyce approaches to art. Where are you on this continuum? Describe a process of creating a design where you whittled away or piled on.

AK: I wish I had a method like the above mentioned ones! I think it varies from project to project or mood to mood but if I really want to categorize I try to keep it maximally minimal. I like it best when the idea just arrives (ALMOST by itself!)- just like the axonometric box drawings on the outside of the rooms in PAY UP. We already had the concept of the white space when this idea “came” to me and I’ll never forget Dan’s puzzled expression and his “OK…?”. I like to drive the idea to the point or state where something will necessarily come to you because you are already so focused.

Anoxometric drawings on the wall, in case you were wondering.

GQB: When you begin imagining a design, what drives your creative impulses? Words, images, the audience's perspective? Where do you find the spark? Do you see each design as an isolated project or is "designing" part of a larger project that evolves with each discrete production?

AK: So many questions in one, Quinn. Let me see. Exclude the audience’s perspective. I cannot think of that, I’d be paralyzed. Words, images? I like to do some research but not too much- it tends to kill your creative brain. I don’t think I am too much inspired by words unless they are extremely visual. So it’d be images - a lot of them for me - related and totally unrelated ones from every field: photography, architecture, and pretty much anything. I used to think each project was an integral and isolated whole but more and more it’s becoming clear to me that there is an obsession that I try to express through them; one idea that takes on many forms. I am very happy when that idea coincides with what my collaborators think of the piece or when I can convince them. But it takes so much trust in each other and confidence in your own work!

GQB: What is your favorite space on the planet?

AK: It’s outdoors. Nature with an ocean or sea. No manmade space can recreate it.

I admire a lot of different architecture/spaces but ultimately it’s a spot on one of the Greek isles or the Caribbean… If it has to be a [man-made] space it would be that tiny Greek Orthodox church on Crete with all it’s interior walls painted or a Mayan pyramid or maybe one of the early roman churches in Burgundy - a sacred space in nature. All these spaces are magical.

GQB: You design sets and costumes? Do you see them as similar or different. What are your approaches to both?

AK: Sometimes I do both, sometimes I am (really) happy to just do one. For my puppet pieces I couldn’t think of separating them. Almost always it’s the space that comes first and then I try to imagine it inhabited. My approach to both? It’s my work… I don’t know how to explain it.

GQB: Has being a mom changed or evolved your ideas about space? Have you spent much time imagining space from Nikita's perspective? Can you fathom only being able to see 18 inches in front of one's face?

AK: Well, I clearly see our not-too-big apartment shrinking - if that’s what you mean!

I couldn’t really spend much time imagining how Nikita sees, first of all because it changes so fast and suddenly you know she sees things very far away and in color. She’s always one step ahead. But I think it’s a dialog. I try to tell her what and how I see and she “tells” me what she sees. We exchange “ideas”.

GQB: What public spaces do you like? What theatrical spaces inspire you?

AK: I don’t know. Lately, I really like some of the playgrounds… It’s a new discovery. Theatrical spaces? Black boxes are oppressive to me. Any space could be theatrical-that’s why I really like site-specific work.

GQB: What are the greatest and worst things you've heard said about your designs?

AK: I don’t think anybody ever said anything about my design that was terrible to me. Though criticism is not always welcome-I am especially vulnerable when still in the process of creating something-I often feel detached enough after it’s completed so that I can see what’s good and what’s weak about it. I am often surprised (and pleased) that people like it more than I thought they would (or should). See I am very critical.

GQB: It was so fascinating to watch you work on PAY UP. The design of that space was so beautiful and was so beautifully executed from the design phase through the build phase. Sometimes I wished we could pause the show so the audience could just admire all of the secret parts of that design. I loved the box designs on the outside of the white walls but I worried the audience blocked it from their own view. Is this annoying to you?

AK: Thanks for your words. You see? That’s what I meant. Though I loved it –it seemed imperfect. No, it didn’t annoy me that people were “blocking” the view. Of course I wish we could have had more space with more “air” around the boxes-but with more space available I’d have done something different, maybe…I was curious how the audience would take in the changes of perspective as they moved around, I loved that they had no choice but to be immersed in that visual experience. I thought it was a strong effect especially that their time in there was so limited. No time to linger- a triple cappuccino-effect.

The triple-cappuccino effect.

GQB: If you weren't a designer what would you be?

AK: An opera singer or a tango dancer.

GQB: Some people can only work with music on (Dito), others need total stillness and quiet (Quinn), still others must chew on pens as a way of thinking clearly (Dan). What quirks do you have when working?

AK: I am with you on that, Quinn. Total silence when working, lots of music when in a phase of seeking inspiration. Picking my nose or pulling my hair, when things get really difficult.

GQB: What project would you like to see Pig Iron undertake in the next few years?

AK: A film? A mock-film? Something about film? Something as grand as PAY UP (I think all-in-all scale does you good) and something that is very funny (that’s what you do best). I like the idea of little text, voice-over or prerecorded text as in PAY UP-it was an amazing experiment. I don’t have a play in my mind, probably it should be created by you.

We're Proud to Know This Man

See this guy? That's Quinn Bauriedel, co-founder of Pig Iron Theatre Company, a responsible, caring, adult human being. He enjoys classical music and fine cuisine. Oh, and he's wearing a neck brace for a hat.

This is because he's just about to premiere a new production of machines machines machines machines machines machines machines, a movement-theatre work that he's created with Rainpan 43 (including Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford of all wear bowlers fame.)

Originally shown (albeit in workshop form) at the 2002 Fringe Festival, the show takes you into the cramped, tiny home of three conspiracy-obsessed brothers who have created a wide array of Rube Goldberg-like contraptions to do small tasks for them. A biting send-up of the bunker mentality of modern-day America, as well as our obsession with the wonders of technology, machines promises to be hilarious, bizarre, and brilliant.

As with any show set in an out-of-the-way South Philly garage (map here), seating is limited, so get your tix pronto. The show runs from June 1-17, 2007.

Everything's Coming Up Pig Iron: Notes on Company Whereabouts

Hey friends,

Some quick notes on what Pig Iron company members and other pals are up to:

• Pig Iron co-founder Quinn Bauriedel, Company Member Geoff Sobelle, and Pig Iron in-law Trey Lyford - also the designer of our sweet new t-shirts - are re-creating their 2002 piece machines machines machines machines machines machines machines in the Alter(ed) Garage in South Philly (map here). Sound design is being done by behatted Chekhov Lizardbrain weirdo James Sugg. The play is an excellent example of truth in advertising, in that there are a lot of machines in it. We think it looks pretty darn worthwhile. More info here.
• Sarah Sanford's in Brecht's The Life of Galileo at the Wilma, which has been remarkably successful and has just been extended (which is good, because it's been almost entirely sold out up until now.)
  

Back soon with an interview with the awesome production designer Anna Kiraly (Pay Up, Chekhov Lizardbrain, the upcoming Isabella), a report on Managing Director Alex Grennan's excellent adventures in Minneapolis, and a little input from our far-flung company members.

We Have Often Found That Life Is Full of Regret

So. We understand. Life has been hectic. Laundry needs to be done, you have friends you haven't seen in months, you're overdue for a haircut. It's okay. Things get busy sometimes.

It's just that, well, it's the closing weekend of Chekhov Lizardbrain, and we don't want you to lie awake at night, wondering what could have been. If you're still on the fence about whether or not you're going, get a taste here. Tickets can be purchased here, or by calling the box office line at (215) 627-1883.

And please, get your tickets ahead of time - we don't want to see you on the wrong end of a sold-out show, sitting at the Latvian Society bar musing over life's ironies and missed opportunities. So call us, soon.













(That's you, on Monday, after you've missed Chekhov Lizardbrain.)

A Slight Omission...

I think we forgot to mention: the Latvian Society has a bar, which will be open before and after performances, starting 1 hour prior to show time. So - if you feel so compelled, get there early and make a few new friends, or stay after and buy that adorable Geoff Sobelle a giant Latvian beer.

Open Rehearsal Coming Up on 3/10

If you've never seen four multitalented thirtysomething male actors working through complex psychological material, possibly in long underwear, now's your chance. The second and final Open Rehearsal for Chekhov Lizardbrain will take place on March 10 (this Saturday) at 2 PM, at the Latvian Society of Philadelphia. Email johnf@pigiron.org or call (215) 873-0883 to RSVP.

Feeling Starved?

Yes, a new Pig Iron piece is coming in just over a month. We're psyched, and we hope you are, too. In the meantime, though, here are a couple of things to tide you over:

• PITC Company Member Sarah Sanford is onstage through this weekend at the Lantern Theater Company in La Ronde, the famously scandalous 1921 Arthur Schnitzler play, which the Lantern website describes as a set of "sexy duets." Ben Dibble plays Wyclef to Sarah's Shakira. Tickets can be found here.

• At a recent sit-down, one of our supporters said he liked Pig Iron's productions because they felt "handmade," which we all thought was really nice. We like the idea of theatre as a endlessly mutable craft project - something which retains the mark of its maker(s). Out on DVD this month is the totally brilliant and infuriating The Science of Sleep, French director Michel Gondry's remarkable and highly personal dismantling of the wall separating the conscious and unconscious. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the film exemplifies the "handmade" aesthetic as well as anything we can think of.

Rehearsals for CHEKHOV LIZARDBRAIN carry on, with some usual and unusual struggles and triumphs. We'll probably fill you in a little more at the end of the month.

As a Reward for Those of You Who Check in From Time to Time...

Call John Frisbee @ (215) 873-0883 or email johnf@pigiron.org if you'd like to come.

From the Stage of the Troc...

...to your personal computer. This is Martha Graham Cracker & Sarah Doherty's gender-bending version of "Glory of Love" from the Karate Kid soundtrack, complete with Nichole Canuso Mr. Miyagi-ing David Brick in the foreground. Many thanks to Jamie Moffett, who did a fantastic job filming this thing...

We've Got a Venue, Y'all

The top-secret, super-confidential performance location for the upcoming Pig Iron joint Chekhov Lizardbrain has been announced! We'll be performing March 28-April 15 at the wildly undersung Latvian Society of Philadelphia, located at 531 N. 7th Street (at 7th and Spring Garden.)

Read Generallissimo Rothenberg's earlier post for more info on the project.

The piece will feature the estimable Quinn Bauriedel, the incomparable Geoff Sobelle, the multifarious James Sugg, and the dragalicious Dito van Reigersberg. Anna Kiraly, the genius behind the Pay Up set, is overseeing the production design.

Tix go on sale soon...we'll keep you in the loop.