Articulations

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Lipstick Treasures

In the July 22 edition of The New York Times, arts-critic-at-large Margo Jefferson posed the question that has been nagging stage artists for decades: "How might theatre, which was at the center of the culture for at least half of the last century, start to find its way back there?" In search of an answer, she went to see what was being done "by young (under or just over 30) writers and performers." She wrote: "I wanted new tales, new treatments of old tales, combinations of the old and new. And I wanted to think about how the stage served this work as no other medium could, and how it might draw in those who think theatre hasn't got much (or anything) to give them that they can't find somewhere else." Believe it or not, she found what she was looking for in Austin -- or at least part of Austin that was in New York this June: the Rude Mechs' "fabulous Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century," as she put it. "And that is 'fabulous' as in 'fable' and 'amazing.'" Lipstick Traces was one of three shows Jefferson cited as the kind that makes theatre matter again. In praising it, she said: "Shawn Sides, who conceived Lipstick Traces, and Kirk Lynn, who adapted it, got the fun of the thing. It has to feel like a zany improv as well as an intellectual spectacle. And Ms. Sides, who directed, is filled with talent. She moved so confidently between rhythms and genres (nihilist satire, variety show mania, ghost stories). She and her actors knew when to parody intellectual posing and star self-mythologizing. But they knew how to play it straight, too." Jefferson concluded with: "… the last word went to our American mistress of ceremonies, a woman in black leather called Dr. Narrator (Lana Lesley). She was smart, eager, overanxious at times -- she had a Ph.D. she assured us. But she was the one who kept reminding us that we have to make connections among art, history, politics, and our own lives. She was the one who said: 'We still need to get out of the 20th century. And we still have to get out of bed in the morning.' And when she spoke of the desire 'to live as if something actually depended on one's actions,' she could have been talking about theatre. To get into the 21st century, theatre must make us feel that our lives depend on it." Congratulations again, Rudes … and get ready, the rest of you, for the Rudes' next project, Big Love, Charles Mee's stunning new adaptation of Aeschylus' The Suppliants. It opens August 30 at the Off Center.

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Taking Over

They all laughed when we said that Austin theatre critics would eventually rule everything, but slowly and surely our Evil Scheme for World Domination® is taking root. Need proof? At the American Theatre Critics Association conference in Oregon in mid-July, my esteemed colleague (and partner in evil) Michael Barnes of the Austin American-Statesman was elected chair of the association's executive committee, a body on which I also happen to sit. That same week, a half-continent away in New Orleans, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies held its annual conference, at which two of the Alternative Newsweekly Awards for 2001 went to Austin theatre writers: A first-place award in Arts Feature writing went to Chronicle Politics Editor Michael King for an excellent story on playwright Edward Albee that he penned for The Texas Observer last year, and a second-place nod in Arts Criticism went to Yours Truly for three reviews published in this paper last year. My sincere congratulations to both Michaels and thanks to Louis Black and Nick Barbaro for their longtime -- and ongoing -- support of me and all the arts coverage here.