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INSTALLMENT

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Issue 6. . . Dec 2002

AUDACITY AT THE FRONTERA FEST !

On January 22, 2003 Audacity will make its first appearance at the largest theatre festival in the Southwest, the Frontera Fest! We're taking a collection of short works by Artistic Director Brad McEntire under the title LOST, FOUND & IN-BETWEEN. The pieces all center around the dichotomy of confusion and revelation, discovery and ignorance, and, of course, the lost and the found. The performers will include Mr. Will Harper, Ms. Kathryn Hackett, and Mr. McEntire himself. The show will premiere at the Hyde Park Theatre in Austin.

2002: Year In Review !

Where the hell does all the time go? Audacity has had a tremendously productive time this past year.

Starting out last January, Audacity presented TWO ROOMS AND A BIG PLACE, a triptych of hard-hitting one-acts exploring the nature of friendship and rivalry. The evening of plays: ELEPHANT ROOM by Plano's Jason Stuart, THE FRONTIER by Steve Spehar, and Michael Allegra's COFFEE ROOM garned critical and audience raves. Lawson Taitte of the Dallas Morning News wrote: "Conflict. Conflict. Conflict. That's what teachers tell budding playwrights to build their plots around. The three writers whose one-acts make up TWO ROOMS & A BIG PLACE have obviously taken the advice."

In March Audacity presented the Regional Premiere of Mickle Maher's devious re-telling of the Faust legend AN APOLOGY FOR THE COURSE AND OUTCOME OF CERTAIN EVENTS DELIVERED BY DOCTOR JOHN FAUSTUS ON THIS HIS FINAL EVENING. Playing opening weekend at Addison Water Tower Theatre's First Annual Out of the Loop Festival, the production continued its run at the Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas, bolstered by curtain-opening acts The Mild Dementia Continuous-Play Variety Hour as well as Rover Dramawerks hilarious one-act presentation THE WHOLE SHEBANG. Tom Sime of the Dallas Morning News wrote: "Brad McEntire plays Faustus, who has sold his soul and is about to make his final descent into hell. Mr. McEntire's performance is fine…"

The Out Of The Loop Fest was awarded "Best Inaugural Arts Festival" in D Magazine last August. The Mild Dementia Continuous-Play Variety Hour also participated in Out of The Loop, offering its own brand of late-night cabaret. Keeping with the festival aesthetic, Audacity was invited for the first time to participate in Dallas' own Festival of Independent Theatres (FIT) last July. The piece MINT JULEPS by New York-based writer James Pinkowski, a complex work centering on a woman having a cryptic conversation with a deceased best friend, caused waves with audiences (some of which loved it, some which left baffled and upset) and critics alike. Either way, it was a strong entry with superb performances by Ms. Laurel Whitsett, Actors Equity Actress Amy Seale Moore, and Brendan Ahern. The FIT was also featured n D Magazine's Best of Dallas issue as the "Best Cultural Buffet."

Following on the heels behind the FIT was a collaboration between Audacity and Rover Dramawerks ONE (MORE) DAY ONLY! This incredibly successful follow-up to the 2000 ONE DAY ONLY! 24 Hour short play festival was presented August 17th and brought together fifty actors, writers and directors as they created seven original plays from scratch in one day's time.

Plays included Kim Smith's IT'S A ZOO OUT THERE, TRYIN' TO GET THAT HOLY FEELIN' by Jimmi Wright, FOUR CHAIRS by Donald Barbee, THE PITCH by Jason Rice, MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE by Duane Jones and Kelli Elandis, TGIF or VAMPIRA by Matt Roberts and TWO BUBBLES by Austin's own Greg Romero. A quite eventful day-long span ultimately successful presentation of these seven works. And everyone seemed to have a great time, audiences and participants alike. Tiffany Kellerman, Carol Rice and Brad McEntire produced the event.

This past fall saw the return of Audacity to the outdoors with a trademark minimal, raw and exciting adaptation of William Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at the suburban Carrollton Amphitheatre throughout September and October. Jason Heid of the Lewisville Leader wrote: "Audacity has provided lively theatre to a city starved for an arts landscape of its own."

November saw the culmination of THE SMALL CHANGE PROJECT, a staged play-reading at the Bath House Cultural Center of eight short works inspired by/ based on Tom Waits' 1976 album Small Change. Commissioned by Mr. McEntire from playwrights around the nation, the project was an exploration of one media being a basis for another.

Parallel to these productions, the ongoing Mild Dementia Continuous-Play Variety Hour has steadily performed all over the DFW Metroplex, presenting their own highly theatrical hybrid form of performance comedy.

Also, Audacity ventured into video production, with Jeff Hernandez's Fun With Wind Up Toys and Brad McEntire's Joe's Gnomes each receiving screenings at the North Texas Independent Film Showcase in November.

Not a bad twelve months! And all of this brought to you on a shoestring budget, with heaps of dedication, creativity and gustiness. Please join us in 2003 when we will top even the accomplishments of this year, and continue to bring you dynamic, intimate, original theatre.

ASK THE T-MAC*

* The opinions herein of Mr. T-Mac's advice columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Installment, Audacity Productions, or any and/or all of its staff and/or subsidiaries.

T-Mac,

I'm a man in my mid thirties, and I just started dating after a five-year relationship. The last three dates I've had have been with women on Terminator-style search-and-be-impregnated missions: "Has job! Does not live at home! Full head of hair! MATCH! MATCH! MATCH!" For these women, a successful date isn't "Gee, I kind of like you, let's hang out, get to know each other, and maybe have sex." It's more like "OK, you'll do: Let's buy a house and have kids, NOW." I'm not interested in being anyone's sperm donor at the moment. Nothing kills romance faster than reproductive desperation. Don't these dolls get it?

-Not Your Phat Daddy

Yo Phat,

What the hell is your problem (expletive). (Expletive), I should slap your silly dumb ass back to you mamma cause you don't deserve to be walking and talkin' with the rest of us. "Not interested in being anyone's sperm donor"? (Expletive), what the (expletive)? (Expletive), all you gotta do is get in there, bang that (expletive) home, and get out. Ain't no one saying you gotta marry the (expletive). Giver her the number to movie phone or some (expletive) like that, tell her it's your phone number. Don't give the (expletive) your real name. (Expletive) can't be too smart to tell you up front that she wanna get knocked up. "Don't these dolls get it?" (Expletive) you take the sweet ass where you can get it, you don't want the sweet ass, then get outta the game. (Expletive expletive. Expletive.)

-- T-Mac

Mild Dementia Gets an Overhaul

Audacity Production's companion performance troupe (co-produced with PXArts) the Mild Dementia Continuous-Play Variety Hour received a much-needed overhaul last August and is now at the top of its game. After a near-disbanding, the troupe was paired down to four performers (Vikas Adam, Brad McEntire, Audra Oakley, and Jeff Swearingen) and it's aesthetic was revamped. No longer a clumsily-large sketch comedy group, the troupe embraced a hybrid style of performance. Experimental. Outrageous. Highly theatrical. With structured improves, rants, songs, performance art, audience participatory segments and "product" give-a-ways, the new Mild dementia Continuous-Play Variety Hour produces each show as an event. Coming up January 3 & 5, 2003 Mild Dementia performs a split-bill with Austin's most progressive experimental improv troupe, Well Hung Jury. Bath House Cultural Center, 521 East Lawther Drive, in Dallas on White Rock Lake. 8 PM. Tickets $5/ $7 at the door.

Holiday Gift Shopping Guide:

HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY UNDER $30! by Jeff Hernandez

Being in the holiday spirit, We thought we'd help all you last minute shoppers. We've compiled a list of gifts that you can get everyone in your family for under $30.

"Wow, thanks Installment, that would have come in handy about a week ago." Is probably what you're saying right now. I'm fully aware that this issue probably reached your house after all the major gift giving holidays. Tough. Clip out this article and stick it on your refrigerator between your Pizza Hut magnet and that ugly drawing of a "giraffe" some kid drew. Or, just pretend this is a gift-giving guide for your friends and family's birthdays throughout the year.

Mom: We all know how hard it can be to shop for mom. Here's a tip. Mom hates home-made things. They clutter up her house. Here's something nice you can buy mom for under $30. A gift certificate for $29 to Target. Mom's everywhere love Target, and $29 is less than $30.

Dad: All dads love tools. Whether they ever get used or not is not the point, it's the thought that counts right? As long as the thought is under $30. Go to the Home Depot and get your dad a $29 gift certificate. He can get whatever he wants, nails, screws, whatever, and it won't cost you more than $30.

Sister: You hate your sister. Don't lie to me. She hates you too, and anything you try to get her, she's going to hate. So why try to find the "perfect gift" for her? Every girl loves clothes. A $29 gift certificate to the GAP. All girls love to fall into the GAP, and it won't even cost you $30.

Brother: This is a hard one. Brothers are a difficult lot. I'm getting my brother a $29 gift certificate to Sam Goody. That might only be enough for a down payment on a CD at Sam Goody, but that's not my problem. The article is gifts for under $30. He can come up with the rest of the money. Those are the big four… here are some other tips…

Grandma: $29 gift certificate at Walmart. My grandma loves Walmart, yours should too.

Grandpa: $29 gift certificate at Walmart. We all know who runs the household.

Cousins: $29 gift certificates to Borders. They're either smarter than you, which means they read… or they're dumber than you, which means they need to read.

Significant Others: $29 gift certificates to your favorite restaurant and sex. Co-workers: Right, you don't need to get those people anything, and if you're thinking about it… stop.

Jeff Hernandez: A big screen/ wide screen high definition television.

Brad McEntire: A fancy laptop and undying loyalty to his theatre endeavors. We hope that this has been an informative article, and we hope that you and yours get what you want for the holidays.

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