Up Next: The Barbarians

The Barbarians is coming to LaMama! Performances run February 14 - March 2.

Well here's the big news I've been teasing all this time.  I'm thrilled to officially announce that The Barbarians, a massive play I've been working on since 2016 (!) will receive its world premiere in February, 2025 at LaMama, on their gorgeous main stage, The Ellen Stewart Theater.  I'm wild, I'm chuffed, I'm beyond excited for this.  You can read the schmancy announcement here, and check out the great writeup we got in Vulture here.

As some of you may recall, I wrote this piece in the leadup to the 2016 election, a time that felt awash in horrible, painful, rhetoric.  For the first time, I saw how words, mere words, were affecting my friends, my communities, my body.  Everyone was exhausted, many were afraid.  Simple things became difficult.  All because of language, language made a weapon of control, of power.

Unfortunately, the rhetorical temperature has hardly cooled since then.  And in the intervening years, as I kept working on the play, with director Paul Lazar and several incredible teams of actors, I found the play's questions - about how language becomes a tool for power, about how leaders and demagogues alike rely on the creation of a shadowy "them" to define a manipulable "us" - have only grown more germane.

And now, after a COVID-cancelled 2020 production, we finally have the chance to stage this wild, anarchic piece, and to do so on a scale I've only ever dreamed of.  Just yesterday, at our production meeting, as I looked over the near-final designs for the set, I had to pinch myself at the sheer scale of this thing.  I've never made anything close to this size before.  I feel extremely lucky, and am thrilled to share it with you next year.

Look forward to seeing you at the show. This is gonna be a good one.

-Jerry

Some poems, a PRELUDE

Hi dears,

Some big news is coming in the coming weeks, but until then, a few little joys:

-My poem “dirt structure” was published in Second Factory, a wonderful zine series of experimental poetry from the incredible Ugly Duckling Presse. I’m tickled, I’m honored, I’m loving the other poems in the issue. You can buy a copy (cheap!) here.

-The PRELUDE Festival approaches! A yearly gathering of NY experimental theater weirdos, a necessary and stimulating few days of panels, talks, and works in progress, all for free at the CUNY Grad Center. I’ll be presenting a segment of my play The Barbarians, directed by Paul Lazar, on Saturday, October 19th. Come check it out!

-Two more poems published! How about that! Grist magazine has published “my ruins” online, and “morall fabillis” in their print journal. Check them out!

Ok, off to enjoy this beautiful fall weather.

-Jerry

Up Next: Mahinerator

tl;dr :: Mahinerator is coming to The Tank, Sept 28 - Oct 22.  Tickets and more info here. // Everything for Dawn is now fully streaming online.

Hello dears,

Change, movement, hope : dang it's hot, but good stuff's afoot.  The big piece of news I have for you all is that Mahinerator, a wackadoo monologue play I wrote for the brilliant Steve Mellor, will have a full-on run this fall at The Tank.  More details to come in the coming weeks, but mark your calendars: Sept 28 - Oct 22nd.

I love this play, and Steve is an inspiration.  Writing this for him has felt like designing an obstacle course for an acrobat - his facility with language is unlike anything I've ever seen.  The humor, clarity, and heart he brings to this near-nonsensical text is a sight to behold.  I can't wait to share it with you this fall.

Tickets and more info here.

Everything for Dawn, the video opera I wrote pieces of the libretto to, is now fully available online.  The whole team did a beautiful job - the music is thrilling, the singing is electric, and the video production is top-notch.  I wrote episodes 5 and 8, which can be watched alone, but the whole 10-episode series is deeply satisfying.  I hope you'll give it a watch.

Episode 5 - The Birdhouse
Episode 8 - Into a White Box

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These next few months find me in NYC again.  So many of you I haven't seen in so long.  If you're around, drop me a line - I'd love to hear from you.

Much love,
Jerry

Chapbook, a poem, a radio play, an opera

Lot's of news. tl;dr :: I've made a chapbook, I've published a poem, a radio play I wrote for the Lobbyists just went live, and the video opera Everything for Dawn will premiere on October 1. Details below.

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Hello dears,

As some of you know, I've been writing poems over these past few years, mostly concerning attention and relationships to place.

I'm happy to say that I'm ready to share some fruits of that work in the form of a chapbook - manual for reentering a home world.  The book contains four long poems, the result of a woods-wandering practice, following critter trails and curiosity.  I'm excited to share it with you.

The book was designed by, and contains visual elements from, artist / landscape architect Cecil Howell.  She's created a gorgeous object, small and tender.

The poems were written on Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican land, so if you'd like a copy, please donate to their Cultural Affairs Office.  They're currently raising money to build a new Tribal Cultural Center, which will house the Tribe’s archives as well as serve as a gathering place for cultural workshops, language classes, and more.  It's an extremely worthy cause - I hope you can join me in supporting it.

If you'd like a copy, please donate $15 or more (you can write "Tribal Cultural Center" in the "Description" box), email me your address, and I'll send you a book.

I'm also happy to share that another one of my poems, "Tu Fu wanders to the edge of Dragon's Gate, and I can't leave the bathroom," was just published in the Pamona Valley Review. Check it out, if you have a chance.
...
A while back, Will Turner asked me to write him a ghost story to perform for The Lobbyists' new radio-drama podcast, Around the Campfire. Will gives a gorgeous performance of the story, which is enmeshed within a spooky serial narrative. You can start listening from episode 1 if you want to get all caught up, (a pleasurable listen!) but the segment also stands alone.
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Lastly, the video opera I helped write the libretto to, Everything for Dawn, will have its premiere screening in NYC on October 1st at Anthology Film Archives. It'll also be available for streaming shortly thereafter - more info on that as it arises. I won't be at the screening (Arkansas is rather far away from New York, it turns out), but I wish I could see it in a movie theater with you. Let me know if you end up going.

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Here in Arkansas, the birds are molting - the crows flap hard, gaps in their wings and tails; the cardinals flit about the yard, awkward in mottled gray-brown-red, still missing their crests. I feel similarly, adjusting to this new place, this new season of life. One joy of this time of year: feathers, fallen in the grass.

Drop me a line if you have a moment. I'd love to hear from you.

Much love,
Jerry

Mahinerator (excerpt) @ The Brick, Nov 11 - 13

Hi friends,

I'm excited to invite you to a showing of Mahinerator at The Brick November 11-13. I wrote this piece for the great Steve Mellor (of Terminal Hip infamy, among other nonsenses), and it's been a joy to watch him sink his prodigious toothparts into this peculiar, delightful text.

We'll be trying out the first 30 minutes of the piece alongside a new work by Robert Marlborough. A spirit of play, experimentation, alterity, invites us back into communal space.

An extremely useful and accurate show description:

A monologue in quasi-English gobbledygook on evilations, banalations, and vacuumic compressulated ecocide.

Hrak! Tunely froth thine earliparts what for bespeaks Yours Trustly! He belone didst crackitate logisticals what puzzled onwards up! He belone didst solute up efficiencies mahinerated cleanly dawn! Him! Him! Now listens him for sprecht the records straighten.

It would be a delight to see you, at the show or otherwise.

Much love,

Jerry

Talk Flock Continues

We just finished up our third Talk Flock, and I’m really happy with how these are going. They’re challenging, engaging, stimulating - a wonderful way to spend an evening online.

To catch up on previous talks, you can check out the archive here.

And I sincerely hope you’ll consider joining us. We’re doing these every two weeks or so - I’d love to see you there. RSVP to TalkFlockTalk@gmail.com.

Stay safe. Stay involved. Stay engaged.

Much love,

Jerry

Talk Flock #1: June 4th, 2020

Amidst woods walks and warbler-watching, I've been daydreaming up a new project with my friend Anna Lublina: 

  Talk Flock: A Series of Talks  

The idea is simple.  We'll meet every few weeks.  At each meeting, two guests will give Talks, on topics of their choosing.  Then, we'll discuss.

The idea is to make an opportunity for encounter, serendipity, exposure to new ways of thinking and talking, together.  What possibilities lie in this form of digital togetherness?

We'll hear varying approaches to the form of Talk - performances / lectures; improvised / prepared; participatory / univocal, &c / &c; from varying disciplines and perspectives.  

We'll have some fun online with interesting folks.

If this all sounds intriguing to you, please email TalkFlockTalk@gmail.com, and I'll put you on the list for further updates.  Our first gathering will be Thursday, June 4th, at 8pm EST, and I think it's going to be a good one.  George Emilio Sanchez will talk about the legal justification for the stealing of Native lands in America, and Elena Rose Light will explore Zoom as a creative medium.  If you can't make that first meeting, but still would be on the list for further updates, send us an email anyway.

And if you think you'd like to give a talk in the future, let me know.  This is an open door.

I hope this finds you well, safe and stimulated, in good health and good spirits.

Much love,
Jerry

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INSCAPE // SOUNDSCAPE Postponed - Stay Well

Hey folks,

I hope this finds you taking good care of yourself.  This moment, from where I stand, feels thick with uncertainty and rapid change.  I find I have to continually remind myself to be kind to myself, and do what I need to feel centered and healthy.  Are you doing what you need?

INSCAPE // SOUNDSCAPE has been postponed.  I hope we'll have another chance to do the show soon.  In the meantime, I am starting to think about how we might be able to make a digital version to share in the coming weeks.  I, for one, would enjoy the chance to gather and be quiet, to open imagination in community.

My heart goes out right now to the gigging artists, front-of-house workers, backstage staff and small venues who are hit especially hard by these closures.  Helen Shaw, clear-eyed as ever, has written an assessment of how mass closures are affecting the independent theater world.  If you have the means to give, consider lending some support to The Brick, the vital, generous, artist-centered space who was hosting INSCAPE // SOUNDSCAPE — they could use your help.  Here are some words from them:

"It is no secret that a non-profit the size of The Brick relies on our audience to continue operating. There are many worthy places deserving of your attention and generosity but if you have the means and would consider making a tax deductible donation to The Brick to help us keep the lights on, we would be very grateful. This decision [to cancel shows for the foreseeable future] comes with a profound impact on our budget, our staff, and our artists. Every little bit helps. You can make a donation at bricktheater.com/support/donate"

Stay safe, stay well.

Much love,

Jerry

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INSCAPE // SOUNDSCAPE - 3/24 @ The Brick

Ticket Link Here

Hey folks,

On Tuesday, March 24 @ 8pm, we’ll have our first ever public performance of an excerpt of PERFORATED FIRMAMENT. The play is a sonic contemplation of emptiness, possibility, fragmentation, and love. Emma Meltzer, Catherine Brookman, Anna Lublina and I have been working on it in private for a long time now (Emma and I for over a year in just our living rooms), so it’s exciting to finally start bringing this piece into the world. Emma is delivering an extremely precise, soulful performance of this odd and fragmented text, Catherine is live scoring the whole thing (and singing! not to be missed), and Anna has been making a pretty extraordinarily inventive design concept - all in all I think it’s pretty beautiful, and unlike anything I’ve made before.

Theresa Buchheister at The Brick was nice enough to let me put together this whole evening, which I’m calling INSCAPE // SOUNDSCAPE - alongside the excerpt of Perforated Firmament, there will be a performance of a new solo dance piece by Justin Cabrillos, and some improvisatory saxophone investigations by Kate Mohanty. Both of them are dazzling performers, interested in interiority, contemplation, silence and time. I think the evening will be gorgeous - a quiet, introspective night of experimental performance.

Here’s that ticket link again. I hope to see you there.

-Jerry