online evolution

Over at the Guardian's Wimbledon liveblog, I think we're witnessing the birth of the internet's version of long-form journalism -- with a healthy dash of Hunter S. Thompson mixed in.

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut's history-making multi-day match spurred Xan Brooks' unbelieveable, epic, and hilarious account yesterday that mined the depths of one journalist's sanity (spoiler alert: he was tapped out by the end and quite mad):

6pm: The score stands at 34-34. In order to stay upright and keep their strength, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut have now started eating members of the audience. They trudge back to the baseline, gnawing on thigh-bones and sucking intestines. They have decided that they will stay on Court 18 until every spectator is eaten. Only then, they say, will they consider ending their contest.

Today's effort by Paolo Bandini deserves its own set of sports commentators who can analyze his attempt to take up Brooks' baton with the Zombie Tennis Apocalypse Meme while looking to put his own stamp on it. Clearly, a live accounting of the match is of secondary concern to continuing Brooks' masterpiece.

(What would make this a truly watershed in internet history would be a cleverer set of commenters. One of them already noted their ranks are depleted by the concurrent World Cup. It's a damn shame.)

war crimes production photos

Now that you've run out of chances to see it (and the cast has their copies), I guess we can show you production pics from War Crimes, which closed Sunday night at the Robert Moss Theater as part of the Planet Connections Festivity. (This post links to a couple reviews we got.) [All pictures are by the incomparable Karen Sieber.]

Sarah Hartmann as Martha

Timothy Roselle (hand) as John and Mariam Habib as Salha

Roselle, David Nelson as Pieter Schaghen, and Alexis MacDonald as Pascal

Hugh Sinclair (screen) as the President and Nelson

Laura Piquado as Thomasina More and MacDonald

BoCoCa Arts Festival profiles

In all the bustle of closing down our show in the Planet Connections Festivity (only 8 days left!), we forgot to shout break a leg at our producing brethren (and, er, sistren) in the BoCoCa Arts Festival, which got underway in Brooklyn on June 18.

To celebrate and introduce them to you, we've posted a podcast episode (live now) that profiles three of the productions [you can see all of the productions listed here] --

The playwright/producer and director behind Alice [opening Wednesday, 6/23 @ the Archip Gallery Theater]

The playwright, director, and producer of The Interrogation Room [playing through Thursday, 6/24 @ Ceol Irish Pub]

The playwright behind The Purple Plays [although going through Thursday @ Ceol]

Go over to [conflicttheater.podomatic.com] and hear them describe their shows -- better yet, just use the links to pick up some tickets now.

solution for an evening dilemma

For those of you who have already seen War Crimes [tickets are still on sale, by the way], you might be at a loss of things to do tomorrow night -- after all, we're all tied up with closing out the show.

Well, you're in luck.

Our pals over at Thesia Arts are hosting what sounds like an incredible evening -- a wine tasting and auction to benefit their Fringe-bound production of Passchendaele.

June 17, 7.30p
Central Park Place [Reception Room and Rooftop Terrace]
301 West 57th Street, 6th Floor (NYC)
$20 Admission -- rsvp@passchendaele.org

Items on auction include

• Lunch for two at Sardis with FELA! star Kevin Mambo
• Westchester Weekend with a stay at Crabtree Kittlehouse
• English High Tea for Eight at the Alexander Hamilton House
• John Singer Sargent art books from Abbeville Press

And BOOZE. That's definitely something War Crimes doesn't have.

it's a little strange...

...that I like the ambivalent parts of our reviews the most. I know they're not pull quote material, but I want them to be. if we learned one thing between last summer and this one, it's that live theater is better with booze -- especially if the main take-away of your play is that everyone dies.

without booze, theatre is easy's review of War Crimes is all "meh":

If you're looking for a pick me up, this is not the show for you, however if this subject matter interests you in the slightest, you should see for yourself the story concocted here. It is sure to leave you with much to think about.

but the easy favorite is nytheatre.com's write up. they liked it, but you can clearly tell the reviewer is annoyed that she does:

We're left wanting more, but more of what?

Who the hell knows? Come see for yourself.

the COI podcast goes live this month

Hey! Look at this! We have the lineup for the live COI podcasts as part of the BoCoCa Arts Festival!

We'll be presenting at the Archip Gallery Theater, 498 Court Street, Brooklyn. Buy your tickets here (they're cheaper in advance...)

We'll have a more detailed description of each program, but here's the whole thing at once:

Wed (6/23) @ 8.00p | Looking When You Have to Look

How to Get Run Over by a Truck by Katie McKenna (performed by the author)
Featherbugs by Chandler Rosenthal (performed by the author)
Passower by Kayla Hertz (performed by the author)
The Boy from the Mountain Movie by Kayla Hertz (performed by the author)

The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke (performed by James Shapiro)

The Question by Stanley Ellin (performed by James Bentley)

Thurs (6/24) @ 6.00p | Spouses and Other Monsters

The Sausage by Friedrich Durrenmatt (performed by Jason Updike)
Corinthians by Sam Schreiber (performed by Tatiana Gomberg)
Eumenides in the Fourth Floor Lavoratory by Orson Scott Card (performed by Sergei Burbank)

Friday (6/25) @ 9.00p | Looking When You Don't Want to Look

Doll Baby by C.H. Sherman (performed by Jessica McVea)
My Name is Immaculee by Immaculee Ilibagiza (performed by Iriemimen Oniha)
Seeing Them by Darrell Schweitzer (performed by Sergei Burbank)

Saturday (6/26) @ 5.30p | How to Say Goodbye

Janet and Keith by Wendy Merrick Burbank (performed by the author)
Poetry by Wendy Merrick Burbank (performed by the poet)
The Incredible Appearing Man by Deborah Galyan (performed by Iriemimen Oniha)
Eeries by Kayla Hertz (performed by the author)
The Eggplant by Chandler Rosenthal (performed by the author)

Poetry by Diane Havens (performed by the poet)

100 reasons why you should buy tickets to war crimes [10-1]

Tickets are on sale now for our June production of War Crimes. You should buy some. Here are some reasons why:

10. Because you have even more chances to see us -- two show dates have been added to our run
9. Because since it's our podcast, we can't record a hilarious show preview like the one released this week for Ossa, Bonvissuto & Co
8. Because you want to be able to brag about going to the Planet Connections Festivity in “the good old days”
7. Because for the love of Pete, how prescient can one script be?!
6. Because you'll want to brag about seeing these actors before they hit it big
5. Because with all the hard labor that's gone into mounting this production, it's so worth it
4. Because it's a stage, film, and radio drama all rolled into one
3. Because free t-shirts [Note: there are no free t-shirts associated with this production]
2. Because surely Cake is sold out by now, and I am the intellectual bastard child of Felipe Ossa
1. And because we open tonight.

That's it. I have no more reasons for you: buy your tickets right now.

A new episode is ready for download. Something a little different this time, as we chat with Leah Bonvissuto, Felipe Ossa, and Erin Leigh Schmoyer, three of the forces behind Cake, which opens on June 5th at 45 Bleecker, and is part of the Planet Connections Festivity.

This episode's got everything:

• Veiled references to sado-masochism
• Not-so-veiled threats for Ann Coulter
• A music preview from A Silent C, performing later this month at the BoCoCa Arts Festival

As always, there are three ways to listen:

(1) Stream the episode below

(2) Visit our podcast page and listen online: conflicttheater.podOmatic.com

(3) iTunes users can click this link

countdown

One day until War Crimes. [tickets]

Three weeks until live COI podcasts as part of BoCoCa. [tickets]

[Do you miss my rants about things other than upcoming shows? Well I miss sleep. We all have to make sacrifices.]