"Ray Pinter has a problem," reads the mocked-up Infocom-esque box art to the live interactive-fiction hybrid
Brain Explode!"In sixty minutes, his brain is going to explode." His problem is our present, for the show -- written by Stephen Aubrey, Danny Bowes, and Richard Lovejoy -- is a lovingly (and painstakingly) crafted homage to both games and theater, a genuinely immersive experience that's leagues ahead of Sneaky Snake's previous foray into this field. (In geek theater parlance,
Brain Explode!is to
Adventure Questas the Wii is to the Nintendo Entertainment System. The original one.)
The "gimmick" -- though one hesitates to call it that, justified and critical as it is to the story -- is that after a
Tron-like accident at a life-changing game-design conference, Ray (Stephen Heskett), finds himself trapped within his own game, and it's up to the audience to guide him to the exit . . . before the chip implanted in his head causes his brai
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Listen in as Kristy Dodson, director of New Light Theater Project‘s production of Liza Birkenmeier’s The Hollower, along with co-producer Michael Aguirre and cast members Reyna de Courcy, Samuel Im, & ToniAnne DiFilippo, discuss script development, finding truth in the absurd, finding personal connections to your character (and having your character written to you), taking risks with form, and “how misogyny is passed down by women.”
“…I think the text is so brilliant, and this has been such a supportive and creative and inspiring process, that it’s this weird combination of the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, and being like rolling down a hill.”
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Posted inActors, Directors | TaggedAccess Theater, Actors, Directors, Kristy Dodson, Liza Birkenmeier, Mike Aguirre, Reyna de Courcy, Samuel Im, The H
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| Playwright Rebecca Gilman, an artistic associate at the Goodman where many of her plays have premiered, has written frequently about the complexities of male/female relationships—from the commonplace (Dollhouse, The Crowd You're In With) to the dark (Glory of Living, Boy Get Girl). With this world premiere play, she moves effectively into issue skådespel, taking on the topic of child welfare policy. Luna Gale is the name of an infant girl who comes to the attention of the Iowa state child and family services agency after her drugged-out teenage parents bring her dehydrated and undernourished to an emergency room. It's a given for Caroline (Mary Beth Fisher), the official assigned to the case, that Luna Gale will be taken from her parents, but the question fryst vatten to where? The mother's mom Cindy (Jordan Baker), divorced and devoutly religious, is the first choice and she is first seen to be a suitable caregiver, so custody is granted to her. Caroline be
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