MeFi Projects

I started a theatre company! But it's a really hard time to be a theatre company! So we're kicking off with a weekly podcast since it isn't safe to perform in person yet. PTAC's Audio Drama series is a weekly podcast that is a cross between an old timey-radio show and an audiobook.
posted by firei on Oct 9, 2020 - 1 comment

My newsletter about the most outre, experimental, and interesting art, film, music, performance and other expressions of culture I can find. Published several times per week. [more inside]
posted by maxsparber on Nov 10, 2019 - 3 comments

"The Art of Python" was a miniature arts festival on Friday, May 3rd, at PyCon North America 2019, focusing on narrative, performance, and visual art "that helps us share our emotionally charged experiences of programming (particularly in Python)." It featured 4 short plays, a song, and a video remix. I started and chaired the festival. Then I wrote up a retrospective with photos, discussing why I started "The Art of Python", what led up to it, and how I feel about its future. Since I cannot be one of the co-organizers for "The Art of Python" at PyCon North America in 2020, I’ve also prepared a HOWTO guide for people who want to do this sort of thing in the future. [more inside]
posted by brainwane on Nov 4, 2019 - 0 comments

At the PyGotham 2018 tech conference, Jason Owen and I presented "Python Grab Bag: A Set of Short Plays", inspired by the Neo-Futurists' show "The Infinite Wrench". The 40-minute video is up on YouTube and my blog post links to the script and slides, credits the crew and cast, deep-links to the specific timecodes for individual plays, and gives citations for the references we made. [more inside]
posted by brainwane on Mar 29, 2019 - 1 comment

Your team’s code review practices cause ripple effects far into the future. In this play, see several ways a single code review can go, then fast-forward and rewind to see the effects – on codebase and culture – of different code review approaches. Video recording of a 22-minute play about code review, mentorship, tech management, and regret. Premiered on October 6th, 2017 at PyGotham in New York City. Announcement blog post ("it's Run Lola Run but about code review") and wrapup post (audience responses included "I used to be that reviewer and I'm trying not to be anymore" and "I don't code at all but this is a marvelous management parable").
posted by brainwane on Nov 20, 2017 - 2 comments

I've been working with this Toronto-based theatre company for nearly seven years now, and it has always been a pipe dream to bring our creations to NYC. And now it's finally happening! [more inside]
posted by stray on Jun 21, 2017 - 0 comments

This year, I continued my tradition of producing a festival of holiday plays by new authors, and as the producer, I'm also able to add my own play to the list. This year's play is my attempt at a (short) farce, complete with Santa, some light sexual innuendo, and a squirrel!
posted by xingcat on Jan 6, 2016 - 0 comments

12 Awesome Women of the Stage (You've Never Heard Of) is published as the third in a series for 10-13 year olds. It is the third in a series which highlights the achievements and legacies of women that young people may never have heard of. It takes a look at the lives and careers of women both on the stage and behind the curtain. JumpMag (the publisher) is an advertising free, girl-positive environment, which aims to create opportunities for young people and provide role models for young women. [more inside]
posted by Augenblick on Nov 16, 2015 - 0 comments

My original 10-minute short play, "Closet," premiered at Acme Theater of Maynard's New Works Winter Festival and won the audience choice award (called the "Charlie"). I am exceptionally proud of this one, especially the performances given by my two leads. Recording is from our technical rehearsal, so you will see and hear a photographer taking publicity shots and there are a couple of edits to remove technical issues. [more inside]
posted by xingcat on Jan 17, 2015 - 2 comments

A short play I wrote for a holiday-themed new works festival. Some of the video quality is a bit shaky, but the whole play is there!
posted by xingcat on Dec 7, 2014 - 0 comments

A history of a once-famous, now-mostly-forgotten character from Civil War-era New York. Mose the Fireboy was a Bowery B'hoy, volunteer fireman, and butcher who appeared in a series of plays starring Frank Chafrau, and ended up being one of the iconic characters of the era, as well as one of the inspirations for Bill the Butcher in "Gangs of New York." [more inside]
posted by maxsparber on Nov 6, 2014 - 0 comments

My look at the early days of Omaha theater, back when it was a frontier town, its amusements were questionable, and vice was rampant, with occasional forays into more recent performing arts misbehavior. [more inside]
posted by Bunny Ultramod on Jun 2, 2014 - 0 comments

My NYC-based theatre company will be producing Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in April, and I've decided to post my notes about the process online. If you'd like to read from the beginning, start here. [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Feb 3, 2013 - 0 comments

A couple argues in a bomb shelter over a dog puzzle. A man gets an unexpected visit from Intergalactic Salvage. CERN scientists experience the romance of multi-verses. “An Evening of Apocalyptic Theatre” debuts nine original short plays including new works by Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author James Patrick Kelly and best selling author of The Great Typo Hunt, Jeff Deck. BONUS: On opening night, 45 apocalyptic plays, illustrations, and companion music will be released under a Creative Commons license, and it is all for charity! [more inside]
posted by john.c.herman on Feb 20, 2012 - 0 comments

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Connectivity Database cross-indexes all 199 experiments (inclusive of the KTMA years and the movie) and their 3707 actors, sorted by strength of connectivity within the MST3k canon. At last, the common relational path from Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell to Lassie: The Painted Hills can be traced! Witness the inescapable Isle of Kaiju! Quake at the Old-Fashioned Nightmare Fuel of the Mexican Archipelago! Most of all, Keep Traversing the Nodes.
posted by lx on Aug 29, 2011 - 7 comments

Oahu Mefites, if you're interested in seeing a circus-themed interbellum all-girl rhyming verse burlesque performance art musical based loosely on medieval morality plays, this weekend and next are your opportunity to do so.
posted by kyrademon on Apr 7, 2011 - 2 comments

Agents of Queen Victoria search for a secret weapon on the outer reaches of space. A disgruntled robot gets family counseling. A mad scientist aims to destroy the world with the help of a cyber-head and time traveling brothers. It's “An Evening of Steampunk and Robot Theatre." Nine plays, six directors, and robots galore... for charity! Bonus: opening night my blog will reveal a link to a steampunk and robot web anthology with original music, comic book art, and eight more plays.
posted by john.c.herman on Sep 10, 2010 - 0 comments

"The Last Dreams of Helene Weigel or How to Get Rid of the Feminism Once and for All" - The Voice hated us, but I love it. I, under my non-Metafilter name Tom Swirly, am playing Berthold Brecht. Four more performances at Surreal Estate in Bushwick, come and see! You can pre-purchase tickets online...
posted by lupus_yonderboy on Jul 28, 2010 - 0 comments

Murder. Revenge. Suicide. Cannibalism. The new Tarantino movie? No, it's Shakespeare! A riotous romp through the canon that asks, "How many characters can you kill in one hour?" Coming soon to the Minnesota Fringe Festival! [more inside]
posted by starvingartist on Jul 21, 2010 - 3 comments

Max Sparber, AKA Astro Zombie on MetaFilter, offers downloadable copies of all of his scripts, as well as reference material for other playwrights and various musings on theater. [more inside]
posted by Astro Zombie on Jul 15, 2010 - 11 comments