Jacqueline E. Lawton
  • Home
  • Info
    • Artistic Statement
    • Bio
    • Awards and Fellowships
    • Affiliations
  • Writing
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
    • Plays
    • Productions
    • Commissions
    • Award Ceremonies
    • Publications
  • Dramaturgy
    • New Play Development
    • Production Dramaturgy
    • Dramaturgy and Script Consultation
    • Additional Resources
  • Advocacy
    • Appearances
    • Facilitation, Workshops, and Trainings
    • Gender Equity
    • Theatre Action >
      • After Orlando
      • Climate Change
      • Every 28 Hour Plays
    • Testimonials
  • Teaching
    • Qualifications
    • Curriculum Development, Theatre Arts Integration and Teaching Artist Training
    • Philosophy
    • Experience
  • Producing
    • ARDEO
    • On Stage with the Migration Series
    • Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign
  • Media
    • Gallery
    • Good Ink
    • Media Coverage
    • Interviews
    • Press Releases
    • Podcast & Video
  • Blog
  • Contact

44 Plays for 44 Presidents - dog & pony dc

10/24/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Photo credit - C. Stanley Photography
Picture
Photo credit - C. Stanley Photography
Picture
Photo credit - C. Stanley Photography
Ahead of the 44 Plays for 44 Presidents event on Monday, October 29th, I had a chance to connect with dog & pony Ringleader, Lorraine Ressegger. Here's our conversation:

Jacqueline Lawton: How did your company form and how long have you been presenting work in D.C.?
Lorraine Ressegger: dog & pony dc was the vision of Wykcham Avery, Rachel, Grossman, and myself. We had met and worked together as teaching artists at the Shakespeare Theatre Company and were very interested in working together artistically. We launched in 2008 with the hope of building and developing an ensemble of artists.

JL: What impact do you hope to make in the D.C. theatre community?
LR:
d&pdc creates theatrical productions from inception to production as an ensemble.  Our approach engages artists and audiences as a cohesive team,  “conspiring”  as integral participants in the creation of each performance. With every production d&pdc challenges itself and the DC theatre community to explore the elastic relationship between performer and audience through its “audience integration” approach.

JL: Is political theatre important to you?
LR:
Absolutely. Forgive me for quoting Vaclev Havel, but he so beautifully articulates why politics in theatre (no necessarily political theatre) is important.

“Action shown on stage always radiates a broader message, without necessarily being expressed in words. It is a fragment of life organized in a way meant to say something about life as a whole. The collective nature of a theatrical experience is no less important: theatre always presupposes the presence of a community – actors and audience – who experience it together.”

JL: Why did you decide to participate in 44 Plays for 44 Presidents?
LR:
We were honored to have been approached to represent DC in the Plays for Presidents Festival, a national collaboration of theatre and educational artists. d&pdc is a long-time fan of the Neo-Futurists approach to creating work that draws on artists’ personal experiences to create immediate and visceral performances that connect to audiences’ in unique, compelling ways. As an ensemble based company, we saw this as an opportunity to form a momentary ensemble of DC theatre companies and artists, DC’s performance of 44 Presidents for the festival is a mini-festival within itself.

JL: Which president are you featuring? What’s his political affiliation and campaign slogan?
LR:
Herbert Hoover, Republican – A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.

JL: What’s something interesting we should know about him?
LR:
He was a mining engineer and worked for a private corporation in China where he was during the Boxer Rebellion.

JL: Did he support the arts while in office? If so, how?
LR:
I could not find any information on whether or not he supported the arts. I believe he was so mired in the depression which broke out soon after he took office that all of his focus was on rescuing America from poverty.

JL: If he was running for office this year, would you vote for him? Why or why not?
LR:
No, because of his inflexibility and refusal to change course even when things were clearly wrong.

JL: In addition to 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, what’s next for your company?
LR:
A Killing Game, inspired by Eugene Ionesco's play Killing Game, Orson Welles' infamous War of the Worlds 1938 radio broadcast, and Fluxx, the card game with ever-changing rules.

A Killing Game is a series of scenes that journey the audience through the frenzied phases of a public health emergency. In a highly playful, game-filled environment, the show explores how we get caught up in chaos and hysteria during times of crisis.

November 28 - December  22
WED - SAT | 7:30PM
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
ONLINE TICKETS: $17*
AT THE DOOR TICKETS: Play-for-Your-Price ($5 - 40)*
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    My Blog

    Picture
    I'm a playwright, dramaturg, and teaching artist. It is here where you'll find my queries and musings on life, theater and the world. My posts advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity in the American Theatre and updates on my own work. Please enjoy!
    Tweets by @dulcia25

    Categories

    All
    Advocates For Youth
    ARDEO
    Blackbirds
    Dance Exchange
    Dc Theatre
    Diversity And Inclusion
    Dramatist Guild
    Gender Parity
    Intelligence
    Lions Of Industry
    LoTT
    Love Brothers Serenade
    Mothers Of Invention
    Musings
    Nnpn
    Noms De Guerre
    Nso
    Our Man Beverly Snow
    Plays For Two
    TCG
    Theatre Education
    Theatre For Social Change
    The Hampton Years
    The Inferior Sex
    Triangle Theatre
    Wizard Of Oz
    Women Artistic Directors
    Women Directors
    Women Dramaturgs
    Women Playwrights
    Women Stage Managers
    Women Theatre Critics
    Xx Playlab Festival

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012

    Reading List
    2am Theatre
    American Theatre Wing

    Americans for the Arts
    The Atlantic
    Black Girl Dangerous
    Colorlines
    Feminist Crunk Collective
    Feminist Spectator

    The Good Men Project
    Guardian: Theatre
    Guernica
    HowlRound
    Media Diversified
    The Nation
    NEA Art Works
    NPR Arts and Life
    NYTimes: Arts

    Opine Season
    The New Yorker
    The Paris Review

    Salon
    Theater Talks
    Think Progress
    WaPo: Theatre
    Works by Women

    Vox

  • Home
  • Info
    • Artistic Statement
    • Bio
    • Awards and Fellowships
    • Affiliations
  • Writing
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
    • Plays
    • Productions
    • Commissions
    • Award Ceremonies
    • Publications
  • Dramaturgy
    • New Play Development
    • Production Dramaturgy
    • Dramaturgy and Script Consultation
    • Additional Resources
  • Advocacy
    • Appearances
    • Facilitation, Workshops, and Trainings
    • Gender Equity
    • Theatre Action >
      • After Orlando
      • Climate Change
      • Every 28 Hour Plays
    • Testimonials
  • Teaching
    • Qualifications
    • Curriculum Development, Theatre Arts Integration and Teaching Artist Training
    • Philosophy
    • Experience
  • Producing
    • ARDEO
    • On Stage with the Migration Series
    • Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign
  • Media
    • Gallery
    • Good Ink
    • Media Coverage
    • Interviews
    • Press Releases
    • Podcast & Video
  • Blog
  • Contact