Playwright
Mac Rogers-penned podcast The Message (GE Podcast Theatre Presents The Message / GE / via BBDO New York) joined branded content from Red Bull, Ford Motor Co and Microsoft in winning The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity’s Gold Lions.
Here’s a list of all the winners.
Alexis Soloski of The New York Times wrote a lovely piece about Mac Rogers, his sci-fi/genre plays and the 2016 production of Universal Robots, which is at The Sheen Center in NYC through June 26th.
“His works are deeply philosophical and often surprisingly moving. Beneath the carapace of popcorn genre writing is a sensitive intelligence.”
Read the article HERE.
Photo: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
The Honeycomb Trilogy received a glowing review by Alexis Soloski of the New York Times, and has been named a New York Times Critics’ Pick. Here are a few of her bon mots:
“Mac Rogers’s “The Honeycomb Trilogy,” an exhilarating D.I.Y. saga at the Gym at Judson, imagines an Earth subjugated by an apian race.”
“His vision of human relationships (and maybe nonhuman ones) is nuanced, and there’s a probing moral consciousness underlying the geeky whiz-bang.”
” A wedding scene had the audience in floods of tears, men and women alike, and you could hear sniffling throughout the final minutes of “Sovereign.”
For the full review, click here.
The Honeycomb Trilogy has taken over The Gym at Judson in downtown Manhattan. All three plays have been remounted in rep. This past weekend, audiences could enjoy all three in one day. Here are some preview articles for the play along with a terrific review from HiLoBrow.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-honeycomb-trilogy-offers-a-ticket-for-binge-watchers-1444600720
CHELSEA NOW: http://chelseanow.com/2015/10/honeycomb-trilogy-chronicles-an-alien-invasion/
NEW YORK TIMES: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/theater/theater-listings-for-oct-9-15.html?smid=tw-nytimestheater&smtyp=cur&_r=1
HILOBROW: http://hilobrow.com/2015/10/19/out-of-control/
For tickets and information on The Honeycomb Trilogy, which runs through November 14th in NYC, visit www.gideonth.com.
American Theatre Magazine features a new article–How to Write Sci-Fi for the Stage, 7 Easy Steps–by Mac Rogers just in time for the return of his The Honeycomb Trilogy at The Gym at Judson in New York City on October 13th.
Produced by Gideon Productions and directed by Jordana Williams, The Honeycomb Trilogy focuses on a family that is fractured during an alien invasion. When it premiered in 2012, this powerful trio of plays won awards and received critical accolades, including New York Times Critic’s Picks.
Photo credit: Deborah Alexander
Mac Rogers’ critically acclaimed, award-winning The Honeycomb Trilogy returns to New York for a rep run. Here is a Q&A to answer all your questions about this triple-the-fun production, opening October 13th. And a preview video too.
Q. WTF is The Honeycomb Trilogy?
A. The Honeycomb Trilogy is a 3 part sci-fi epic by Mac Rogers that premiered over 6 months in 2012 and earned two rave New York Times reviews, eight critic’s picks, and one NYIT Award for Outstanding Premiere Production.
Q. If you already did these plays, why are you doing them again?
A. We have dreamed about running the Trilogy in rep since 2012, but couldn’t find the right space for it until the amazing folks at The Gym at Judson reached out to us. The Trilogy began with readings upstairs in the Judson Memorial Church Choir Loft, so this feels like coming home.
Q. HOLY CRAP! WHEN CAN I SEE THESE SHOWS?
A. Performances begin October 13, 2015.
Q. How is this whole “rep” thing going to work?
A. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights at 8pm, you can see individual plays from the Trilogy, with performance nights rotating from week to week. On Saturdays and Sundays, you can see the entire Trilogy in one day! Advance Man at 2pm, Blast Radius at 5pm, and Sovereign at 8:30pm.
Q. Are you people freaking crazy?
A. Probably a little. But we’ve road tested all three parts of The Honeycomb Trilogy and we know they work. Now we’ve just got to put it all together–and figure out how to transform the set from a 21st Century living room to a war zone to a ramshackle reconstruction courthouse, all in one day!
Q. OMG, this is going to be like that one time I binge-watched Battlestar Galactica!
A. Exactly. Except we hope to make you less angry with the ending.
Q. I get very hungry. Will there be things for me to eat at the theater?
A. We do too! Our concessions will include the finest in binge-watching snacks, and we plan to partner with a boxed meal caterer to make it easy for you to eat dinner between parts 2 & 3!
Q. Will it be the same as last time? What will be different?
A. As of now, the vast majority of the original cast plans to return. The scripts aren’t changing tremendously, but Mac has a few tricks up his sleeve. So figure it’ll be about 20% more awesome than last time.
On April 9, 2015, Eric Piepenberg of the New York Times wrote about New York City playwrights and their favorite places to write. Mac Rogers was in good company with Laura Eason, Kristoffer Diaz, Michael Weller and more. Learn where these amazing playwrights’ secret writing hideaways are.
Reviews from Moving Arts and Bootleg Theater’s production of Mac Rogers’ VIRAL are coming in. The production continues through January 31st at the Bootleg, 2220 Beverly Blvd. (west of Alvarado), in Los Angeles.
From KCRW: “Playwright Mac Rogers has an ear for the worlds he’s trafficking in and as bizarre as the premise seems you’re willing to go along for the ride.”
From TheatreGhost: “Viral is an intelligent, fast-moving comedy that reaches well into the depths.”
From The World Through Night-Tinted Glasses: “Such a scenario should make one’s skin crawl. It certainly shocked, although not too much because the whole play eases the audience into realization. More, by then we’ve found ourselves liking these characters, or at least wishing them well. No small feat.”
For more info, visit http://www.bootlegtheater.org/.
In the photo: Alicia Adams, Daniel Dorr (photo: Justin Zsebe)
