Story Archives of 'Theater'

Tonight, high school students in Lexington, Massachusetts are debuting a play they’ve written themselves. It's called "With the Needle that Sings in her Heart," and it’s about Anne Frank’s final months at the Bergen-Belsen death camp in Germany. Faced with horror and brutality, she escapes into a world where prisoners and Nazi officers suddenly become circus performers.

The play came together with the help of musician Amanda Palmer, a Lexington High alum who acted in several plays under the guidance of theater director Steven Bogart. Palmer went on to form The Dresden Dolls, a band she describes as “Brechtian punk cabaret.”

The play was inspired by the underground rock album “In the Aeroplane Over The Sea,” released in 1998 by a then-little known band called Neutral Milk Hotel. The group was part of a collective of musicians living in Athens, Georgia and trying to sound like nothing else out there. Strange, dreamlike lyrics reference a two-headed boy, the king of carrot flowers, and Anne Frank, though never by name. The students spent several weeks with the music, creating sculptures and drawings inspired by the lyrics, and then began improvising scenes. It’s a surreal production about the power of imagination and the transformative process of creation. Word of Mouth producer Avishay Artsy visited the rehearsals, and brings us this report.

Watch Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" (live):

At the Bedford Youth Performing Company, young people explore theater arts, music, production and communication skills. For Nicholas Piccola, walking through their doors was a life-changing event.

Portsmouth's New Hampshire Theatre Project is stepping way off the beaten path this month.

Theatre goers get to see a production of the seldom-seen 60's musical Celebration.

NHPR theatre critic Kevin Gardner has this review.

Portsmouth's Seacoast Repertory Theatre is celebrating the holidays with a revival of the old MGM musical Meet Me In St. Louis.

Theater-goers know the routine: You make sure you have your tickets before you leave the house, or you pick them up at the box office. You hand them to the usher, who pilots you to your seats. You speak in hushed tones under the soft glow of the house lights as you wait for the performance to start. Then eventually the lights dim, the curtains part, and the actors take over.

Nothing wrong with the traditional theater experience, of course. But don’t expect that scene if you’re headed to Dartmouth this weekend to see “Etiquette”. This is not your typical performance. Your first tip might be that the venue is a bookshop, not a theater. And that’s just the beginning. In “Etiquette”, there is no audience, aside from yourself. And there are no actors, aside from you and a partner.

“Etiquette” is the brainchild of Ant Hampton and Silvia Mercuriali. They’re the two core members of the art collective Rotozaza, and they’re bringing “Etiquette” to the Dartmouth Bookstore from November 8-16 (more info). Co-creator Ant Hampstom joins Word of Mouth to describe the experience. We also hear from someone who’s participated in “Etiquette”, New York Times reporter Melena Ryzik. She tried it out at the Under the Radar Theater Festival in New York in January, and she produced a segment about it for Urban Eye, the paper’s online video series. Click here to watch Melena’s video about her experience with "Etiquette."

(Photo courtesy of Ant Hampton)