Time: Sat, 01-Dec-2001 02:25:28 GMT     IP: 64.12.104.173

I'll get the order for 11.16.01 up soon.

Last week was absurdist night at No Shame Theatre.

1) Ristau--"Stockton Davies"  Short play

2) Johnston--"Than To"  Play

3) Westbrook-- "Time Served" Short play about mental illness

4) Moyer--"Freaks" Character Study in Monologue 

5) Allison--"Are You Sure?"  Monologue

6) Johnston--"Coltrane" Monologue

7) Ristau--"Mac Wellman Excercise #1"

Time: Sat, 01-Dec-2001 02:53:12 GMT     IP: 64.12.104.181

his order worked much better than the previous night--and wow, 
what a show! Oversold oversold oversold!!

Neato


1.Preshow--Clinton and Dan doing pairs, Justin on Saw 
  2."announcements" Hello and welcome to No Shame! 
  3.Todd Ristau-Memoir Piece 
  4.Sal Milione-How Could I know? (or whatever sal wants to call 
it now) 
  5.Clinton Johnston-Everything you feel is wrong (confirmed) 
  6.Justin Wolf-Public Service Announcement 
  7.Greg Hays-Republican Shopping network (confirmed) 
  8.Amanda French-Habitrail 
  9.Dan Best-Tomato #1 (confirmed) 
10.BK Marcus-After the End (confirmed) 
11.James Parr-The Envelope (confirmed) 
12.Lea Marshall-Nine Foot Sway (confirmed) 
13.Clinton Johnston-UVA Girls (confirmed) 
     INTERMISSION
14.Sean Nichtman-Personal Soundtrack (confirmed) 
15.Jane Jones- Uncouth (confirmed) 
16.Lee Moyer-Toyotathon (confirmed) 
17.Clinton Johnston-A Poem (confirmed) 
18.Bremen Donovan-Unity 
19.Todd Ristau-green man(confirmed) 
20.Greg Hays-Acceptance Speech 
21.Sal Milione-The Christmas Song (confirmed) 
22.Todd Ristau-Mortichi Krabel 
23.Clinton Johnston-Last $5 (confirmed) 
24.(floater, not in order) Dempsy-Dinosaur (confirmed) 

Time: Sat, 01-Dec-2001 02:59:12 GMT     IP: 64.12.104.181

The regular no shame after Best Of--nothing pre-empts no shame, 
not even no shame!

1) Ristau--Puberty Shriek, Episode 8--Candy is killed by 
werewolves and two deputies find her body.  Ick.

2) Unterman and Mingtsu-"I don't like Kathy Lee", comparative 
dissonance song (and dang wonderful it was, too.)

3) Moyer--"Delicious" Monologue

4) Silet and Johnston--Church oriented Audience Generated Script

5) Music with Guitar and Flute

6) Best--Fishing Scene (Dan and Todd)

7) Milione-"Here I Go Again" Song

8) Moyer--"Owning Up" Monologue

9) Johnston--"Judith Priest IV"  Monologue

Time: Sat, 01-Dec-2001 16:37:03 GMT     IP: 152.163.188.4

Last night was a really great night--too bad the audience wasn't 
larger, the ones who missed it missed a lot!

10, count them 10 original three to five minute pieces of 
theatre!

Prop given away as door prize was a geological survey map of 
Omaha, Nebraska.  

1) Ristau--Puberty Shriek Episode 10 (nine will be next week)
Sheriff's Deputy comes to talk to John MacFaddin--the same one 
that Mary was calling Carl--who is drawing a protection circle 
and occult charms in salt on the ground.  He seems alarmed to 
find out that there has been a murder on his property.

This piece went really well, I thought, even with a screaming 
deer jumping up and starting to prance across the stage because 
the deer thought the first piece was the second piece.  Greg 
Hays is the master of the dead pan, and if I was making him 
break up like Harvey Korman, I must have been doing something 
right.  The second can of Morton's Salt seemed to get a pretty 
big laugh.

2) Good Housekeeper Schweik--An absurdist attempt to distract 
the audience while getting the salt off the stage from the first 
piece.  Here, three audience members put on antlers and were 
supposed to move around through the audience and on the stage 
acting like deer--pawing and (in my imagination) maybe trying to 
nibble bark off people in the seats.  We hear a vacuum cleaner 
start and a guy in a German WW1 uniform comes out and sweeps up 
the salt while the deer continue being deer.  Then when the salt 
is swept up, the deer race off stage and the soldier says "Ze 
Deeer ist Terrrrible today!"  and black out.

Several things might have improved the piece.  Like explaining 
it better to all involved.  :)  The deer didn't seem to really 
know what was going on, and two of them seemed frightened of the 
deer that had gotten up and started making a sound like a 
wounded fox during the preceeding scene.  Then that fox deer 
started doing a Nazi salute to the soldier doing the cleaning, 
which I guess was probably mild compared to what Fox Deer had 
wanted to do when I told him that he had to just act like a deer 
and not do any comedy improv during the scene.  I also should 
have realized that two cans of Morton's Salt is about the size 
of a full vacuum cleaner bag and maybe should have put a new bag 
in before the piece...oh, well, most of the salt got swept up, 
but it took a lot longer than anyone could have wanted.  And the 
soldier said the wrong line, though what he said was certainly 
true--"Ze Deeeer is acting very strange today!"

Anyway--it was weird and kind of funny to watch.  More funny 
than just coming out with a broom and dust pan after the first 
piece, and I got someone else to clean up my mess, which was the 
whole point, I guess...that and get my genuine WW1 German helmet 
on stage.

3) Nichtman--"Discount Bob" monologue about genetic engineering 
and the neat new pet, the chickenpussy.  HI-larious.  Sean, you 
are really coming into your own here!  And as far as I know we 
are the only No Shame in the country that is the favorite 
Father/Son activity of any family.  You and Justin should do 
more stuff together.  Well, I know he wasn't in this piece, but 
I couldn't help thinking of "Personal Soundtrack".

4) Moyer--"Substitute Preacher Monologue", What was it, Rev. Lew 
Isifer?  What a wonderful send up of the Johnston "Praise 
Judith" pieces!  Lee, you were very very solid in this piece, 
and your timing and performance were great.  You played the 
audinece like a pro, got very responsive interaction in the 
audience participation--really really good, though I'm probably 
going to hell for saying so...

5) Best--"Empty Box" improv  Dan, your zen like improvs are 
always great, and get people thinking out side the box of what 
people can do on the stage.  I love the joy in your face while 
you are doing your thing!

6) Wolf--"Smoocher Monologue"  Thanks for the "Homage" to the 
memoir pieces--glad I didn't do one last night!  A really good 
piece, Justin, but you seemed a bit nervous--though that lent to 
the effectiveness of getting caught kissing your fist.

7) Hollenbeck--"The Way It All Works pt.2"  A really smart 
monologue about the higher self.  I liked that though there 
clearly was a script there was real eye contact and intimacy 
with the audience--its hard to do, but these things always work 
best when you can manage to make the audince, as big and as far 
away as they are, feel like they are just on the other side of a 
table with a drink in their hands.  And of course, the theme is 
funny because its true...

8) Kathryn Stolzenbach--"WWOD #1"
   Hard for me to review since I was on stage doing it, but the 
audience seemed to like it.  And I got salt all over my butt.  
The candlesticks and the framed picture of Oprah got a good gasp 
and laugh.  Wish Kathryn could have been here to see it.

9) Clinton Johnston--"Parking Lot Attack" Play, great send up of 
the Fox News Channel.  Hey--guess I'm the only member of the 
playwright's lab who didn't take my own challenge about a 
newspaper story dramatized on stage.  Next week, I promise.

10)Millione -- "George Harrison Prayer" Tribute in word and 
guitar playing.  Sal, always wonderful--looking forward to 
Acoustic Charlottesville tonight!

Time: Mon, 03-Dec-2001 20:05:41 GMT     IP: 64.12.103.178

Here is the final version of the playwriting contest and format 
for the February Festival of Short Plays:

WHAT: Short original plays of 12 pages or less.
WHEN: Deadlind for Submissions December 31st, 2001.  
      Winners produced in Festival running February 21-23, 2002.
WHY: Why the heck not?
PRIZES: 3rd Prize 3 month free membership to Live Arts 
          Playwright's Lab
        2nd Prize 6 month free membership to Live Arts
          Playwright's Lab.
        6 First Prize winners receive production, 6 months free
          membership to Live Arts Playwright's Lab, AND
          6 month No Shame Pass! 
(at $5 a week, that's some prize!)

Submit your 10 minute play to:

TEN MINUTE PLAY CONTEST
c/o Live Arts
609 East Market St.
Charlottesville, VA 22902

All submmissions MUST BE RECEIVED BY DECEMBER 31st.  E-mail me 
for more info.

1) The only restrictions on scripts are the regular rules and 
restrictions applying to the lab space (like at No Shame), 
emphasis on small casts, minimal sets, and avoiding any special 
lighting requirements.  Plays should be no more than 12 pages in 
length, have no open flames, break no laws, be original, and 
risk the life and limb of neither audience nor actors.

2) All who submit scripts to the contest are invited to become 
members of the Live Arts Playwrights Lab, all who are chosen 
will be expected to become members in order to participate in 
the festival.  Dues for the Playwright's Lab are normally $50 
per 6 month membership, BUT anyone who submits to the contest 
will be eligible to win a 3rd prize of THREE MONTHS FREE 
MEMBERSHIP to the Playwright's Lab.  Finalists not selected will 
receive a full term of SIX MONTHS FREE MEMBERSHIP.  The 6 first 
prize winners will receive, in addition to their production, SIZ 
MONTHS FREEEEE MEMBERSHIP in the Live Arts Playwright's Lab, and 
a NO SHAME THEATRE PASS for the duration of the 6 month term of 
membership!  Zowie--that's SIX FREE MONTHS OF NO SHAME! (non-
transferrable, not valid where inhibitions apply)

3) Deadline for reciept of submissions will be December 31st, 
postmarked no later than December 28th.

4) The Programming Committee will announce the contest winners 
on January 4th.  

5) The 6 grand prize winning writers will then come to the 
regular meeting of the Playwright's Lab on January 6th for a 
reading of the winning plays, to which we will invite a handful 
of good cold readers (if the writers don't have readers of their 
own on such short notice) and interested director.  After the 
readings, directors are invited to stay and to talk about the 
various plays with the member playwrights.  They will leave 
contact information and then the workshop will have a short 
meeting to dicuss how to choose a director.

6) On Jan. 13th we will have a festival production meeting with 
the writers and their directors.

7) On Jan 20th, the writers and directors will come with their 
designers and we will have another production meeting and 
discuss how re-writes are coming, as well as do some discussion 
on casting.

8) Auditions will be held on January 26th in the afternoon, and 
the 27th in the evening.  Auditions will be cattle call style 
with all writers and directors watching.  

9)  The writers and directors will be free to set up their own 
call backs as desired over the course of the last week of 
January. 

10) At the regular meeting of the playwrights Lab on the 3rd of 
Februrary, the winning festival writers and their directors will 
hammer out the cast lists, which will be announced (hopefully 
with much fan fare) on the 4th.  The plays will then contact 
actors and begin rehearsals.

11) On the 10th of Februrary we have another production meeting 
with the various play staffs and do any problem solving which is 
necessary.

12) On the 17th of Februrary we have a public "staged reading" 
of all the plays in the order they will be peformed.  

13) 18th is dry tech and cue to cue for all shows.

14) 19th is first dress.

15) 20th is final dress.

16) The shows run 21st - 24th.

For more information email Todd Ristau at labco@livearts.org, or 
contact Live Arts at 434-977-4177

Time: Wed, 05-Dec-2001 02:49:00 GMT     IP: 64.4.115.157

Good heavens Todd, get some sleep. Weren't the schedules of past 
No Shames supposed to go to Jeff?

Thanks for your kind words vis last No Shame.

There was a lot to like, and if the Absurdist Vaccuuming piece 
kind of sucked, well that was it's job. I keep being stunned at 
the twisted beauty of Puberty Shriek. This week's was my favorite 
so far (while that could be solely due to Greg's smile, I think it 
was the second Satanically-inclined Morton's Salt girl that put it 
over the top).

I've posted my 1st Church of Judith Piece in the archives, and 
would urge all my No Shame colleagues to do the same (Kudos to 
Amanda, BK, and Justin for their excellent additions). The name of 
the guest-pastor in question is Lou Cipher. So what if they used 
it in Angel Heart?

Having taken the 1st Church of Judith on, I've got to say I'm 
looking around at other possible No Shame franchises... I'm not 
sure I want to touch the Chicken Pussy with a ten foot pole, but 
Joggers for Jesus is tempting indeed.

Looking forward to this Friday when I'll attempt a serious 
monologue with the goal of not sucking. And then my backlog of 
unperformed pieces will be as nothing once again.

Cheers,
       Lee

Time: Wed, 05-Dec-2001 21:33:31 GMT     IP: 64.12.103.162

Jeff gets these posts automatically, so since I wanted to post 
orders this was a fast way for him and the no shamers themselves 
to get the orders...

I want to get the puberty shriek scripts up on the script library 
too, in order to help people who miss to see what is going on.

We have had a tragedy, however, Alice, the acress playing Mary is 
having to drop out--or at the very least will not be in this 
week's episode--

So, Lee, we are postponing episode 10 (which was really episode 
9) until next week when we hope Alice's draconian director will 
let her out in time to play her role in OUR show.

Guess what episode 11 is?

Time to dust off the grey beard and wig, and get dust all over 
the tuxedo.  I'll bring the silver bullet mold.

Todd

Time: Sun, 09-Dec-2001 22:38:31 GMT     IP: 64.12.103.157

1) Fucci XXV- "OSAMA TV"  (monologue)
2) Jones- Sarah Beth (monologue)
3) Fowler and Moneymaker
4) Best- "Skippy's Here and Now Monologue"
5) Marcus- "Royro" Scene
6) Downing "Girls of the Grasshopper Palace"
7) Davis- "Sunbeam" (poem)
8) Milione- "Mountain Song"
9) Nichtman- "My Lawn" by Dave the Angry Suburban Poet
10) Capron- "Lady Blue" sung poem
11) Wolf- "Boredom" Music
12) Devere- "Guitar Pick" Door prize monologue
13) Moyer- "A Feeling of Death" monologue
14) Ristau- "Abandon the Theatre, for it is going to BURN!"

Please correct me if I got things spelled wrong or mistook.  

Great evening, special thanks again to Fran Smith for sending 
her poetry people our way!