July 31, 2011

Theater in Madison: "The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker."

At the Broom Street Theater:
The script itself is breathtaking -- rapid-fire wordplay, a laugh-out-loud moment in nearly every line, and a startling idea density for a play with so many dick jokes. I was moved to tears on four separate occasions.
Through art, Madison is working through the trauma of having Republicans in office.

55 comments:

traditionalguy said...

Let the flood of therapists begin.

Perhaps knitting or handicrafts will calm them down some. Time will heal their wounds.

rhhardin said...

I assume it paid union scale.

Michael Haz said...

Had Tom Barrett been elected governor, an entire industry of multi-format protests in Madison would be fully without work.

A serious question: Do those who protest, stalk and ridicule Scott Walker have any real reason for doing so, other than Walkers' membership in the Republican Party?

Curious George said...

"One of the story's strongest moments is a quiet night under the Capitol rotunda, two protesters huddled in sleeping bags just moments before the bill passes the assembly. "I hate their movement based on hate," cries one, exasperated. "This Capitol is our house."

The other points out: "Is it not their house, too?"

Wow.

garage mahal said...

Jason Bourne is for recalling Walker. Didn't know he was on the case!

Anonymous said...

Since when is it hateful to spend the taxpayers money wisely? What's hateful is for public employee unions to think they own the public and can work them as slaves for their direct benefit.

SGT Ted said...

walker Derangement Syndrome.

Bruce Rheinstein said...

Jason Bourne is for recalling Walker. Didn't know he was on the case!

Matt Damon is now your source of wisdom?

virgil xenophon said...

Poor dears..all those nasty Elephants now that the Dark Side has taken over..

Mark O said...

Purile.

Curious George said...

"August 20th is "Solidarity Saturday". Show a union card or state employee ID, and you can get one friend in for free. September 2nd is TGIF. "Thou Gettest In Free" - again, show a union card or state employee ID and get one friend in free with one full-price admission"

They know their audience. How about "fuck the taxpayers Tuesday". Jack up the price 20%, allow us to only see the play if we also pay for a state worker, have only one door open so we have to wait in line for hours, only to be left wanting by a dismal performance.

Titus said...

There is nothing at the linky winky Helen.

Trixie said...

Always a pleasure to see a slew of comments all in agreement with each other, all by people who have no knowledge of that thing which they comment upon other than one reposted review. Bravo, "Intelligentsia - that herd of independent minds." (George F. Will)

Carol_Herman said...

Be prepared. It's Hamlet.

Mark Twain once did a riff on Hamlet. He said he didn't believe in ghosts. And, he didn't believe that in our culture a father can send his adult son out to get revenge.

Of course, Shakespeare's lyrical. You suspend judgement. And, then you add that "perhaps at the time Hamlet was written" people believed in ghosts, too?

I don't. The whole play falls apart.

Of course, Carl Reiner, before he got to a Show of Shows, and worked as both a writer and a performer with Sid Caesar; talked about performing live on stage. And, forgetting his lines. What this does is create havoc backstage. Because the next actor due in ... needs to hear his CUE. His cue is the line you no longer remember.

But you know what? If you're in costume, and even in panic. you can jump about the stage and say stuff that "sounds like Shakespeare." "Herewith," and all that.

The CUE doesn't come out. So you linger on stage while you're sweating puddles.

In Shakespeare's time ... a midget had his head in a box, above the stage. And, he could prompt actors to say their "cue" words.

This could be funny.

But to me this Walker delight sounds very boring.

Wasn't Lyle Lovitt married, once, to somebody famous? Who? And, what happened there?

Lucius said...

Where's the bad art tag?

edutcher said...

Maybe they should follow Alec Baldwin and George Lopez and move to Canada.

PS It was Julia Roberts, Carol, if she qualifies as famous. Lasted about a year, then she went out and bought the husband she wanted - from his current wife.

Also the "wit" who said you find Republican in the dictionary between reptile and repugnant

Another principled, brilliant Lefty.

WV "bratess" Julia Roberts.

Curious George said...

@ Trixie:

What's a blog critic make these days?

Anonymous said...

I'm the Artistic Director of Broom Street Theater and we support free speech. We are an entirely volunteer organization. Our policy is to give the space to artists of merit and allow playwrights and directors to create with out interference or censorship.

We especially stand behind any work that is as well conceived and crafted as The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker by Doug Reed.
You'll find that out if you attend. Ann, would you like two comp tickets to see to the show and make the judgment yourself?
Contact me at ad@bstonline.org and we can arrange it.

DADvocate said...

So many dick jokes? Yeah, that's original and clever. Seems we have a maturity problem here.

DADvocate said...

We especially stand behind any work that is as well conceived and crafted as The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker by Doug Reed.

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!

We're in second grade, again.

The Crack Emcee said...

This is like the reaction to this.

It's just "Bad Art Day" on the Althouse.

Another thing:

You'll notice that none of it is art for art's sake. It's all propaganda.

Bound to be worthless.

Oshbgosh said...

More proof that Walker's jobs agenda is working, even for the left.

David said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DADvocate said...

Broom Street Theater claims to be a 501(c)3 (non-profit) organization. According to IRS regulationts:

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Emphasis added.

It would appear Broom Street Theater is walking a thin line. While Walker may not be a candidate at the moment, there are other candidates that would be affected by this play, which is fully supported by the Broom Street Theater. Of course, following the law, like paying taxes, is for the little man.

Curious George said...

"92472ef2-bb85-11e0-8727-000bcdcb471e said...

I'm the Artistic Director of Broom Street Theater and we support free speech."

What a fucking load. I love this from your FB page:

"To show solidarity with working men and women of Wisconsin, BST Presents: The Lamentable Tragedie Of Scott Walker is doing two special promotional nights. August 20th is "Solidarity Saturday" Show a union card or state employee ID, and you can get one friend in for free. September 2nd is TGIF "Thou Gettest In Free" again. Show a union card or state employee ID and get one friend in free with one full-price admission"

How do you explain that Ms. Art Director? Only union or state workers are "working men and women of Wisconsin"?

I find it doubtful that an organization that couches a position in a lie has any true interest in free speech other than their own.

Curious George said...

Listen to the trailer of "TLTofSW" here

Pretty clear its objective. But also of note is the narrator sounds like...wait for it...Morgan Freeman!

Look out BST, the left is going to go ape shit over this! Or maybe this is what you were referring to by "free speech"

chickelit said...

Hockey Bum said to garage mahal: Matt Damon is now your source of wisdom?

Yep, ever since Sean Penn spurned garage he's been trying to get them jealous of each other.

chickelit said...

@garage: Anyways, Broom Street Theater has been nothing but a little feather duster since Joel Gersmann died.
R.I.P.

ricpic said...

From a $3 billion deficit to a &300 million surplus. Yeah, what a tragedie Walker has been for Wisconsin.

Wally Kalbacken said...

Joel Gersmann died? I didn't even know he was sick!

jacksonjay said...

"So many dick jokes!" How perfectly charming! I live in Texas and we appreciate good fart jokes! They are just as sophisticated as the dick jokes, but not quite as sexist.

Fen said...

"My parents paid $120,000 for my liberal arts degree and all I got out of it was dick jokes."

ajcjw said...

According to the BST mission statement their aim is:

"challenging the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our audiences through unique and diverse productions" but if they were honest they would have said "reinforcing the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our audiences........".

Joe said...

92472ef2-bb85-11e0-8727-000bcdcb471e is for freedom of speech, if by that you mean saying what he/she agrees with.

It's about time we get rid of non-profits entirely. All of them, including religions. They are rife with corruption and a waste of taxpayer money. Let's see how long they embrace some of the highest corporate taxation in the world.

FedkaTheConvict said...

We especially stand behind any work that is as well conceived and crafted as The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker by Doug Reed.
You'll find that out if you attend. Ann, would you like two comp tickets to see to the show and make the judgment yourself?
Contact me at ad@bstonline.org and we can arrange it.



Don't do it dude. It didnt' end well for the last person who offered. Ann savaged them anyway...

Carol_Herman said...

Isn't "ART" in Artsy-Tartsy?

Art and Tart. A recipe with shaving cream in the plate. And, a moment for Wendi Deng to show ya how you can rise out of your seat and deliver a whallop to a pie thrower's head.

I'd spend money to see that one! Wouldn't you?

Walker-Talker ... on the other hand ... Sounds like two kids. Where the parents use two empty cans ... attached to each other by a string ... And, tell them to play while standing in two different rooms.

You need to memorize lines?

Kids do this stuff off the cuff.

(Then, later ... they learn they can write answers on the backs of their ties. And, get some help answering a teacher's quiz.)

Unfortunately, school kids wearing ties has gone out of style.

Perhaps Boehner can bring this fashion back?

Why put a good crisis to waste?

Chip Ahoy said...

Also the "wit" who said you find Republican in the dictionary between reptile and repugnant

Oh! How terribly amusing because it leaves out so many intervening words. Here, let me try one: you can find Democrat in the dictionary between delinquent and demonic.

Rick67 said...

No offense to Ann and Meade but is Madison full of emotional infants?

madAsHell said...

Who in the hell spells tragedy with an ie??

Oh....I see. More hippin' punching. You can't possibly be one of us if you don't understand the difference between tragedie, and tragedy.

madAsHell said...

Oh! Oh! Can I play??

Democrat between demented, and dumbshit!

I feel sooooo clever!

Michael Haz said...

@ OpenID 92472ef2-bb85-11e0-8727-000bcdcb471e:

Perhaps you should have made your offer of free admission to Ms. Althouse via the privacy of an email.

richard mcenroe said...

" I was moved to tears on four separate occasions."

And I was moved to defund the NEA.

richard mcenroe said...

"Of course, Shakespeare's lyrical. You suspend judgement. And, then you add that "perhaps at the time Hamlet was written" people believed in ghosts, too?

I don't. The whole play falls apart."

It works much better if you retitle the whole thing 'Horatio' and make in about a guy whom comes home and finds everyone he knows dead.

None of your business who I played.

Fen said...

Also the "wit" who said you find Republican in the dictionary between reptile and repugnant

And these are the people who insist they are tolerant, enlightened, sophisticated...

"challenging the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our audiences through unique and diverse productions"

*snicker*

Huge blind spot. Huge.

Curious George said...

"ajcjw said...
According to the BST mission statement their aim is:

"challenging the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our audiences through unique and diverse productions" but if they were honest they would have said "reinforcing the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our audiences........"."

No shit. Look at their past productions. The sad thing is that actually really really believe they do bacause their life is lived in an echo chamber. Their idea of diversity is the nuance between opinions of people that believe exactly as they do.

Gene said...

Garage Mahal: Jason Bourne is for recalling Walker. Didn't know he was on the case!

I doubt he is in any heartfelt way but he does know what side his bread is buttered on.

Fen said...

challenging the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our audiences through unique and diverse productions: Republicans aren't stupid, they are evil."

Beldar said...

I never realized there was a positive correlation between "art" and "dick jokes."

Palladian said...

I'm sure this brilliant farce will hold up well.

Chuck66 said...

The rest of Wisconsin has to deal with the truma of having Madwackistan in the state.

purplepenquin said...

I never realized there was a positive correlation between "art" and "dick jokes."

Drew Carey's book has a whole chapter on dick jokes. I think it was done it a very artful manner, but I can totally understand how a prudish person wouldn't find anything funny nor artistic about dick jokes.

That said, it always makes me a lil' sad when people get this worked up over something they haven't even seen. Reminds me of my atheist friends that rip on the Bible even tho they haven't ever read it themselves...

Peter said...

“'m the Artistic Director of Broom Street Theater and we support free speech."

“Our policy is to give the space to artists of merit …”

See, you of false consciousness just don’t understand. We support free speech. AND we decide which speech has “merit.”

Which goes to show, some speech is perhaps just a little freer to us than other speech. It all depends on what has “merit.”

And (of course) on who decides which has merit, and which does not.

Rob Matsushita said...

Curious George said: How about "fuck the taxpayers Tuesday". Jack up the price 20%, allow us to only see the play if we also pay for a state worker, have only one door open so we have to wait in line for hours, only to be left wanting by a dismal performance.

That's actually the deal I've been doing for my shows.

Ann Althouse said...

Just seeing this:

"We especially stand behind any work that is as well conceived and crafted as The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker by Doug Reed. You'll find that out if you attend. Ann, would you like two comp tickets to see to the show and make the judgment yourself?"

Thanks for the offer, but we probably don't have time to attend, and we'd like to show up more or less incognito if we did.

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