Last Life is the fightsical from Timothy Haskell (creator of Road House: The Stage Play) and Eric Sanders (The Wendigo), and stars Taimak (of the legendary fight film The Last Dragon).  The title is proving to be about as accurate a title as “Cher’s Final Farewell Tour” because this show has been revived more times than Britany Spear’s reputation  – and I couldn’t be happier for the whole creative team.

I was able to catch this show back in December when it played its completely sold-out run at the Brick Theatre’s Fight Fest (it went on to be one of the show that was extended) and it now returns for two weeks only at the Ohio Theatre  beginning March 4th.   Once again, I just have to mention how I was truly blown away by every aspect of this show … not only the flawless execution of the fight combat but just the remarkably unique development of every element.

Maggie McDonald and Jo-Anne Lee (photo by Ariella Goldstein)

See what other critics are saying: “If only theater producers intent on turning Broadway into a showcase for recycled movie ideas would have the nerve to hire director Timothy Haskell” –Village Voice “A deconstructed theatrical imagining of the action thriller in its purest form.  The glorious fighting and violence packs this fierce and beautiful production.” – InDigestmag.com “An R-Rated thrill.  Like watching ‘Kill Bill’ only live!” – iDanz Critix Corner On a side note, as Antonio reported recently, the Ohio Theatre will sadly be closing soon and New York City  will be losing one of its beloved theatre spaces.  But before it closes its doors the Ohio will ring with the smacks, punches and thwacks of Last Life, and I can’t imagine a finer salute.  So please, do yourself a favor and go see a terrfic show and pay tribute to this fine old landmark.  Doing so gives  the phrase “Last Life” a whole meta meaning … which I think is something that makes Timothy Haskell and Eric Sanders smile.  Or, knowing them … makes them roundhouse kick someone.  (Duck!)

Ohio Theatre (66 Wooster Street located between Spring and Broome) beginning March 4th and ending the 14th running Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. Tickets ($18) may be purchased online at www.smarttix.com or by calling 212.868.4444.  For more information please go to www.lastlifetheplay.com

Related Posts:

• Fight Fest: Wham, Bam, Thank You “Last Life”
• “Last Life” Gets In Two More Shots
• An Interview With Fight Fest Curator Timothy Haskell
• A Creation Story: An Interview With Eric Sanders And Dave Nuss – The Team Behind “Original Innocence”
• Creation Mythology, Rock Opera, BYOB – Just Another Night For Eric Sanders

The Ohio Theatre, a pillar of New York’s downtown theatre scene for 29 years, will close on August 31, 2010. The new landlord has issued official notice and no further negotiations are scheduled.

Located at 66 Wooster Street, The Ohio Theatre was one of Soho’s pioneering performance spaces and is now one of the last remaining. The not-for-profit theatre company Soho Think Tank runs the space under the direction of Artistic Director Robert Lyons. Lyons says, “It’s where Tony Kushner produced his first play out of college, where Philip Seymour Hoffman made his professional acting debut, where Eve Ensler performed Dicks in the Desert, a decade before writing The Vagina Monologues. The Ohio Theatre has been an incubator and platform for New York’s most exciting and innovative theatre artists for almost 30 years. Its closing emphatically punctuates the end of an era in Soho, and stands as a high profile casualty in the relentless decimation of the lower Manhattan theatre landscape.”

Robery Lyons | © Carl Skutsch

To mark this traumatic event, the Ohio Theatre will be providing a space on their website, http://www.SohoThinkTank.org, where artists and audience members will be able to post their thoughts, memories and experiences at the theatre. Robert Lyons goes on to say, “There will also be a place for artists who have performed at the Ohio Theatre to post production photos. We especially encourage those with pre-digital photos to take the time to scan and post them. Literally thousands of theatrical events have taken place at the Ohio over the last 29 years and we would like to have them ALL represented. We also encourage people to make a donation to help us through what promises to be a difficult transition.”

In the meantime, the current season continues, including preparation for Ice Factory 2010, as well as plans for a MAJOR dance party some time this summer.

Soho Think Tank’s short-term priority is to find a home for their signature programs: STT PRESENTS and the Obie award-winning ICE FACTORY Festival. Toward that end, they are currently in discussion with other downtown venues, including HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place, PS122 and The Public about their next season.

As for long-term goals, Soho Think Tank has begun discussions with some of the core theatre companies of the Ohio Theatre community about forming a coalition to secure a new space.

Robert Lyons explains, “For 29 years, the Ohio Theatre has embodied the living history of the neighborhood of Soho, continuing the spirit of community and cutting-edge artistic practice that once defined the area. It’s been a host to a generation of the finest, most exciting and widely recognized companies working in NYC in the last three decades and has cultivated a diverse and growing community of artists who are collectively changing the cultural landscape of New York and beyond.”

The critically acclaimed work of these artists and companies has garnered innumerable OBIES, Drama Desk nominations, Off-Broadway transfers, national and international tours, including multiple Edinburgh Fringe First Awards. In 2002, the Ohio Theatre received the Ross Wetzsteon OBIE Award, in recognition of its sustained artistic excellence and contributions to the theatre community.

Today, the Ohio Theatre is one of the last non-commercial arts centers remaining in Soho. It continues to foster an environment of generosity, dialogue and inspiration, where artists take risks and try out new ideas, bringing their work to a new level. One of the most beautiful venues in lower Manhattan, it remains a boon to emerging artists and the viability of experimental theatre in New York City. For this, the Ohio Theatre is widely recognized as an indispensable pillar of downtown Manhattan’s cultural life.

“This is a great loss for the city on many levels. It is the loss of a historic institution, the loss of a vibrant ongoing platform for new work. And it is yet another contribution to the loss of Manhattan’s cultural identity,” says Robert Lyons.

(press release via David Gibbs)

Related Posts:

• Last Life Just Won’t Die – And That’s A Good Thing
• “She Like Girls” – And That Wasn’t Allowed

Image by Kelly Syring

I’m not as concerned with the persistent presence of fear and ridicule as I am with the conspicuous absence of understanding and respect, particularly in communities of color.

– Chisa Hutchinson

Most of us wake up in the morning wondering if we’re going to do anything that day … or any day … that will leave an impression on others. For most of us it’s enough to just touch a few lives in a positive way, to give something or share something or even to just illuminate something for those we’re close to in order to raise consciousness a little bit, or a little bit more. However, at the age of 16 in the rough streets of Newark Sakia Gunn was probably thinking very little about making an impression and just was focusing on how to get through her day. Being young, black and gay in a rough urban community doesn’t leave much room for being different. And in Sakia’s case, there was no room at all.

Kia (Karen Eilbacher) and Marisol (Karen Sours)

Chisa Hutchinson heard the story of how Sakia Gunn was killed at a Newark bus stop for being a lesbian, and it moved her to write She Like Girls, the story of Kia Clark (Karen Eilbacher), her first love, Marisol Feliciano (Karen Sours) and the violence brought upon both of them in a community that doesn’t understand or accept homosexuality.  And in doing so, Ms. Hutchinson attempts to give Sakia Gunn’s last day a vibration that leave lasting impressions on all who see this play.

She Like Girls (directed by Jared Culverhouse) starts off in a dream and ends in a nightmare … what takes place between those two scenes is a story that’s been told since time began. The fact that this is a teen love story between two tentative girls only slightly skews the development; there is as much self absorption, awkwardness,  second guessing, longing, fantasy and romance as any story of first love, except these two lovers are living in a place where one small difference can alienate you and beat you down, and defeat you in the end.

Kia’s world is a place of conflict. Her mother (Amelia Fowler) and best friend Andre (Paul Notice II) constantly try to fit her into a girly-girl role, completely ignoring the fact that Kia dresses, talks, moves, acts and (thanks to the door we’re given into her mind) even thinks like a guy. When Kia goes to school she’s bombarded by her teachers with gender stereotypes. During Sex Ed she’s given a less-than-complete lesson by her Gym Teacher (Ashley Noel Jones):“This… is a penis… I know it’s really a banana, but just—just bear with me, alright? [...] Unless you’re planning on becoming a nun or something, you are going to encounter at least one of these in your lifetime.” The fact that someone in this gym teacher’s class could even be “or something” doesn’t even warrant a pause. Meanwhile in English class Kia’s gay teacher Mr. Keys (Adam Belvo) reads poetry by a lesbian poet, Adrienne Rich, and uses the class as a vehicle to explain “She allowed herself to be locked away inside a life that she did not want because society had her convinced that the feelings she was having were “monstrous,” “wrong,” something she should be ashamed of and keep hidden… “ while in biology her science teacher (Chaz Rose) speaks of a “gay gene” and the “exciting” possibility of isolating the undesirable genes … “you could have the option of eliminating the possibility that your child would be overweight or a serial killer or a homosexual…” (or a nail-biter, to quote Anita Bryant) … “so if you knew in advance that he or she was going to suffer from diabetes or mental retardation, wouldn’t you want to take advantage of the opportunity to change that?” No wonder Kia is confused. Throw the impossibly appealing Marisol into the mix and it makes sense that Kia would be one hell of a confused adolescent. Still … weren’t we all?  Sure.  But we didn’t all get beaten, taunted and killed because of it.

Regina (Amelia Fowler) and Kia (Karen Eilbacher)

The real tragedy here is not the end of the play – though the fact that Kia got killed for defending who she was is most definitely tragic.  But if we take a step back and say “how did it get to this?” we’d start seeing the real tragedies seeding themselves throughout Kia’s life in the lack of any real role models.  Certainly her teacher, Mr. Keys, who points her in the direction of a GLBT support group, is a mentor of sorts.  However he himself is a regular attendee of that support group … an almost stark realization that while this group may offer support, it may never leave members with the true tools they need to feel secure in the world.  In addition, while Mr. Keys and Kia may both be on the same side of the line that divides, they are of completely different classes, generations, and social backgrounds.  He is as much a peer to her as, say, Ellen DeGeneres might be.  And in fact, in an angry speech he gives after finding “faggot” spray painted onto his car, he reveals a type of prejudice against these inner city kids that proves how much disdain he has for them despite his supposed message of tolerance: ” … in five years when, as an ironic twist, you’re pumping gas into my new faggoty little car, or I’m watching you on Jerry Springer or Cops, I still won’t hold a grudge. You know why? Because I may be a faggot, but I’m a successful one. I have a job that’s honest and honorable with health benefits and a retirement plan and if I want to leave said job because I’m tired of being harassed by a bunch of ignorant children, I have skills that are employable elsewhere. I have a loving, supportive family and a partner of seven years whom I will never have to demean into giving me child support on national television because I have been taught how to love instead of just how to fuck, although from what I hear, I’m pretty successful at that, too.” This may be the proud anthem of the gay man who celebrates his life, but from where I sat, it was a lot of hate speak to hear in one big vomitorious streak.  Keys’ sexual orientation helps Kia’s situation about as much sharing the same skin color as her abusers helps her stay safe.  Meaning: not at all.

Roll back a little more in search of a role model … take a look a Kia’s mother Regina.  This woman could perhaps have them most in common with Kia … and all she can offer her daughter after it’s discovered that Marisol is gay is “If I found out you was… like that, I’d wanna beat yo’ ass, too…”. Comforting words, mom.

All of this makes Kia confused, angry, self-righteous.  She is, after all, a teenager.  So, when Kia’s story ends … and of course it must end in the saddest of ways, based as it is on the saddest of stories … there’s a moment when you want to shut her up, hold her tongue, tell her to not be so belligerent, to pick her battles, to choose her moments … but you know it’s already a pointless plea.  She’s hard-wired with this false bravado, and nothing in her brief life, not even the awakening love for another girl, can put the breaks on this reckless drive.

I can’t help wondering if there had been better role models for Kia, and Sakia, if she would still be alive today.  And it is here where I agree fully with Ms. Hutchinson – that fear and ridicule will always exist, but understanding and respect must grow in order to stem the tide.

~~~

Performances continue through Wednesday, December 29 with a holiday break the 24th-26th

Wed, Thur & Fri @ 8 pm / Sat @ 2 pm and 8 pm  / Sun @ 7 pm with an addition performance on Wed, Dec 23 @ 2 pm & Sun, Dec 27 @ 2 pm

 

 

Ohio Theatre

66 Wooster Street

New York, NY 10012

Directions and Map

Tickets are $25 and are now available online

To order tickets, click here or call (212) 352-3101

Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theatre’s box office ½ hour prior to showtime.

Related Posts:

• Last Life Just Won’t Die – And That’s A Good Thing
• The Ohio Theatre To Close August 31st (This Is Not A Drill)