Anthro-Fab and Tobacco Bar Theatre Company (NYC) presentBy John Patrick Shanley Directed by Dana Panepinto
Sunday May 13, 8pm
Monday May 14, 8pm
Tuesday May 15, 8pmUnder St. Marks94 St Marks Place (1st and A)
Tix $10 advance/ $15 doorLog on to www.smarttix.com or call (212) 868-4444
A fresh take on Shanley's luminous script using moving bodies and sharp tongues. A riveting look at the "big funk" that is the modern condition. Can the power of compassion and faith triumph over it? Omar throws knives for a living and muses about the state of the world. His understanding wife, Fifi, suddenly pregnant with twins, acts as a rudder for him, and often for his friend, Austin, an out of work actor, who believes the world would be a better place if everyone would do something, even one small act of kindness. He follows his own advice when he comes upon Jill, a young woman sitting in a bar...covered with grease.
featuringColleen Britt Deanna McGovern Ellen Hauck Michael Schantz Toby Knops Jesse Soursourian
The Director of this piece (Dana Panepinto) is one of my fave gals from my Grad school days at USM. She's a tremendously talented, delicious DIVA and if any of you are in the NYC area, or know someone who is, tell 'em to check this out. Wish I could be there, Dana!
Sooo...based on the title of said Shanley piece, what exactly IS the "Big Funk" we're living in now, and what has contributed to it? Go nuts, people!
20 comments:
What puts me in The Big Funk is the trivialization of our daily lives...in our news, our entertainment, our manners and civility, and the absolute loss of passion about stuff.
I mean we are now dealing with an administration that has stipped us of more civil liberties than any foreign threat out there (which makes them to me a bigger threat than any terrorist entity out there)and is more corrupt than Grant's administration, Harding's administration, and Nixon's administration. It's a rare combination of corruption and incompetence and an utter disregard for facts, evidence, and truth.
Where's the outrage?
Clinton was impeached for a blow job? Nobody died when he lied.
What has contributed this unprecendent era of entitlement, self-absorption, the demand for instant gratification, and navel-gazing to the exclusion of anything other than how it affects "me, me, me"?
I think it began somewhere with the age of the self-indulgent baby boomer (I'm one, so I can say this) who was coddled by parents who came out of WWII and the depression and thought my children will never want.
Despite that, we were somehow the last ones who were taught manners, the good ole Puritan work ethic, delayed gratification...but I think in our generation were planted the incipent seeds of entitlement and the subtle shift of the American Dream from "I will work hard and my efforts will pay off with a good job, good life, etc." to "I am owed a good life and I shouldn't have to expend much energy toward it." And with each subsequent generation they have bloomed like weeds.
The inability to amuse ourselves and the inundation of technical gizmos and whirlagigs have further expanded our egos, our isolation from community, and severely lowered our attention spans, comprehension skills, and education and knowledge. There used to be only one TV (two at the most) and people watched as a family...which meant kids watched what their parents watched. I know it helped my awareness and knowledge of things outside my own generational touchstones. A show like Ed Sullivan can no longer exist today where you might see on one programme an excerpt from a Broadway show, a guy twirling plates, a comedian, and a rock group like The Beatles.
Now kids are sequestered in their rooms with their computers, their i-pods, their TVs, their cell phones, their DVDs. There are no communal family activities and often these devices are even used by the parents as babysitters.
There is a book about the infusion of media in our lives called AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH. It's true. We have so many diversions and entertainments to anesthesize and shield us from the real world...Are the sordid details of a druken, drugged-out stupid loser like Anna Nicole Smith or mediocrities like Britney Spears or Sanjaya really more important than the Administration saying they will no longer be training, Iraq troops and police but just letting our over-extended boys go and die doing the job the Iraqis should be doing? That little news item may have slipped under the radar because we had to have 24/7 coverage of the lunatic in Virginia as though no other news happened during the week.
It's getting closer to bread and circuses time.
And the biggest contributing factor is nobody reads anymore. We're becoming functionally illiterate. Information is more prized than knowledge. The Arrogance of Ignorance. There are those who take pride in what they don't know. They can tell you all about the latest CSI episode or who got voted off American Idol or what new comics or movies came out this week, but they can't tell you who is Vice-president.
Boy, don't I sound like a geezer. I'm just going to hole up in my library from now on and read all those books (mostly by dead guys) that I've been collecting all those years.
Apres moi, le deluge!
It may sound "Geezer-ish" Chuck, but I think you've hit the nail on the head (I'm in particular agreement with this part- "I think it began somewhere with the age of the self-indulgent baby boomer" ) As always, well articulated and thoughtful post!
Somebody top that!
One thing I forgot in my rant, Tim! Over-scheduling our young children's lives with play-dates, classes for this and that, athletic activities...They are so programmed, they never have any time to just slow down (neither do the parents carting them everywhere) to just explore life and their own interests. Sit in their room and read a comic-book, just play an unstructured game of backyard baseball or touch football with the neighbourhood kids, swing on a vine in the woods. I used to be able to amuse myself for hours with a buck bag of plastic cowboys and indians. Whatever became of idle pleasure? Howcum everything has to be scheduled and structured and supervised?
Damn..not to be a total downer..but what is putting me in a BIG FUNKIN FUNK these days is that my Dad (who has always been a big AGL patron)..is seriously dying of cancer. I 've had bad news this weekend concerning him... my infertility and possible surgery as a result...stupid Ft. Misery , FL...and GW.
In a nutshell.
George Clinton, Funkadelic, and early Chili's put me in the big funk.
Oh, that isn't what you meant.
Thinkin' of you, lou.
There's a lot of Bad stuff out there, I guess. Reality TV, rap music, video games, Republicans, Democrats, marijuana (gasp!), terrorists, "the Economy", Bill O'Reilly, Fyarl demons, trans fats, fluoride in the water, illegal immigrants, unwelcome/unexpected prostate exams, Broadway musicals...
Of all this and any others you can list, do you know what puts this world in a funk? None of it. Not a damn thing in this world can do that unless the (Wo)Man in the Mirror says it's ok.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Why does everyone have to have someone or something else to blame for their funk. Is it easier somehow to be able to point toward an external source of our woes? I don't think so. If the source of our pain is outside our control, how helpless does that make us?
And maybe that's my answer to the question posed: Lack of Personal Responsibility puts us in our funk. Because it makes us feel helpless, out of control. Sure, we now have a point of blame, an excuse for our moods, a villain to indict. Hell, let's get some Reparations- some payback while we're at it!
Bad stuff happens, do doubt about it. But Responsibility demands that each of us takes ownership of our reactions, our responses. Our funk is our own mix of the beat we are dealt. We can whine and blame, or we can hold our own and grow.
(On the other hand, if we were simply generating lists of things we think suck, I'd like to throw Justin Timberlake in the hat. So long as the hat is at the bottom of a cliff!)
Laurie, I am so sorry for your news about your father..I have been dealing with parental aging issues but, nothing like your news...I am so sorry for your personal news as well...thoughts and prayers with you...
Our thoughts and prayers are with you in the Davis casa, L-
btw- Mikey, don't really disagree with you, I guess I was just thinking of society as a whole, as opposed to "personal" type funks. However, upon reflection, perhaps those two DO go hand in hand...
Michael Lee! Was that Broadway Musical jab just for me, you turd??
Laurie - I'm so sorry to hear about your problems right now. We'll keep you in our thoughts.
I agree with my husband (except for the musicals comment) but am also of the mind that sometimes things get you in a funk whether you want them to or not. Do we personally pull ourselves out of them? Yes, definitely. We can. But, dammit, sometimes things just get us down.
For me, it's having to work so hard to survive, pay bills, etc. I love life but think we should actually have more time to enjoy it with the ones we care about and love.
That's just where I am today. It may change tomorrow.
I agree about personal responsibility. We've become a nation of blame-shifters, whiners, and perpetual victims. The example, of course, is set by our government (look no further than Alberto Gonzales) and our celebrity culture (I'm going into rehab, aren't you proud of me?...Uhhh..no, you loser. if you'd had any self-discipline and resonsibility and self-esteem, you wouldn't have been shoving the shit up your nose or down your gullet in the first place and the fact is two weeks in a plush,pricey rehab center isn't going to be enough to cure what ails you.) And the culture of victimhood( Pay us reparations because the government enslaved my ancestors 200 hundred years ago...Uh, no, it's one thing paying reparations to actual victims of a wrong that happened to them personally and they are still alive, but I ain't paying reparations to some third or fourth generation ancestors because of something that happened where all the principals...both victims and persecutors...have all been long dead, I don't think so. And I don't feel obligated to apoligize for slavery, the Crusades, or anything else that happened long before I crept out of the womb. I ain't responsible for the "sins" of my father and all those incidents that happened long ago that you now claim ruined your life and you deserve an apology or a handout for...tough, that's called history, get over it! The fact is if that history hadn't happened and your great-great-great-greats didn't meet on that slave ship or out in the desert during the Crusades or if Columbus hadn't come to America, you might not even be here...It's history, people. All the people who made it are dead and descendants of all those people who made it ain't responsible for it. So quit griping, get over it, and get on with it.)
So, senor Pogue, kind of hit it.
THE WAR. is a big fuckin' FUNK.
The whole damn administration.
The whole damn congress and senate.
Overbearing, noncollaborative, stubborn, close minded, uncreative, fundamentalist, hypocritical, arrogant, I can't think the list is so, BIG and FUNKY a**holes!!!!!
But I love lyou guys.
Peace,
d$
I think people feel insignificant and helpless. We get so bogged down with the day to day and overwhelmed with useless information that we just feel paralyzed.
The world is now at our backdoors but instead of feeling like we are part of something we feel threatened. The more "they" have, the less "we" get. Like there isnt enough to go around.
Its sad that we live in a time where we are more connected to the world thru communication and information but we are more DISconnected from each other.
I wont point fingers. Everything important starts at home.
That is the big funk.
Human Beings.
"You break this, I’ll break all that
You break my balls with all your crap
Spread your disease like lemmings breeding
That’s what makes us humans being"
...Sam Hagar -Poet Lauriette of Cabo, Mexico
Perhaps "funk" can be "frustration". The state of a good man or woman who would fight the good fight, but has nowhere to aim a punch. This damned war is indeed a good example. Hate it though you may, where does the buck stop? It's easy to figure out who is to *blame*, but who takes responsibility for fixing the problem? An administration that refuses to even say the words "civil war"? Prodded by an ignorant populace that equates blind following with troop support? What's a good man to do? We get to watch it all play out vicariously with color commentary provided by Olbermann and O'Reilly.
That kind of frustration can be brought on by wanting to do something, anything - but being so removed from any reasonable possibility of affecting change. This could be something national, like the damned war. It could be something personal, like watching a loved one struggle with illness. I guess there are two kinds of "funk": the Eeyore response of those who would never fight; and the furrowed-brow, maddening frustration of those who would, but can't *see* the damned target.
If I'm gonna be in a funk, let me be the latter. The former is a lifelong disease. The latter is a temporary respite before the ass-whipping can start.
Hang in there Laurie. All our vibes and energy with you, hon.
Yes, in the sentiments and actually the community spirit of this site. I must send out all of my positive energy to you Laurie. That is one of the ways to change the negatives of the Big Funk is to enact the collective soul of positive thought. I received my share from the people on this blog and it gave me confidence. So, god vibes comin' at ya!!!
On a theatrical note. I open the Fantasticks tonight. It is my last here at Mulerider Academy.
Break a leg, Bro mulerider!
One of the things that seems to really bring us down as a society is apathy. If we could find ways to fight this, it would truly benefit us all. Most folks(young and older) seem so damned provencial these days- they can't see anything beyond their four walls, and furthermore, they could care less about anything beyond said walls...Everyone seems so damned cynical these days, as well. I got into it with a fellow on a music chat site I go to occasionally about Bono. He was throwing around all this "Fuck Bono! He hides behind his so called charity work, and all the while lines his pockets, blah blah blah..." bullshit and I went off on the fellow (He's a big Neo-con a-hole anyhoo, so I felt fairly justified in doing so!) But this is the crap that drives me bananas! A man tries to actually use his celebrity for ...I dunno...some GOOD in the world, and he's crucified for it. All that is is this guy saying "Well, If I was in his position, I know I'D just be a greedy bastard...so Fuck him! He's no better than I am! He must be a big fake!"
That's a big part of our funk. And when the hell did everyone get so cynical? What gives us the right to bitch and moan so much? How did we beome a society that can't at least TRY and look for some goodness and light in the world? Do we have it SO bad in America? Our our lives THAT screwed up that we can't see anything but negative in anyone's motives? And you know what the hell of it is? That I find myself doing the same damned thing...bummer huh?
X, those who do good in the world are often crucified. Imagine if Bono, just once, cured a blind man. He'd be dead in about three years.
I think America is so apathetic and cynical because we are in the middle of a perfect storm of Affluence and Ignorance. We make enough to bitch about gas prices. But can still pay 'em. We hear enough to know there's a war out there, we started it and that mothers and fathers are dying for nothing. But we trust that our system could not *possibly* be actually screwing us and the world *that* badly. I mean, there are checks/balances/oversight. Right?
Affluence and Ignorance, brother.
Here's a Bono line for ya (with a Tut word substitution)...
"I don't believe in G.W.
His type is like a curse.
Instant Karma's gonna get him
If I don't get him first."
I hate it when you screw-up, admit you've screwed-up, you want to fix it, you want to move on and...nothing, nothing in return...you have acknowledged what happened, you want to correct it and bam, nothing, nothing in return...that really does put you in a funk...especially when even worse things have been done to you and you are willing to shake it off and move on...I like to fix things, grow and move on..move on...ahhhh Bono
I used to love The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," but now when I hear it (The Johnson Brothers totally rip it up, by the way), it just makes me sad and ashamed. We HAVE been fooled again, and we're so used to it now, we just feel powerless. Watched a 'sixties documentary on The Summer of Love on KET last week, and...I just feel like we Boomers blew whatever promise for socio-political change we thought we brought to the table. All that pot and LSD, I guess. Now it's gourmet food, wine, cosmetic surgery, carpooling, and endless media drivel.
Thanks, X. Now I'm feeling extra funky. In the bad way.
Laurie, so sorry about your dad's illness. My best friend here in Lex is fighting cancer, too. And I lost a good friend last year to it. Oh, gosh, here comes the funk again.
Man...
Sorry I lacked the energy (from the funk...I imagine) to say thank you to all of u. Your resonses in the BIG FUNK were very lovely. It is much appreciated. And D$ was right it has given me a burst of positivity.
Gracias again, my darlings
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