Austin Theatre vs Theater

Experimental

Rude Mechanicals

Rude Mechanicals is a local theater company that produces mostly new, experimental works. Created by six friends and UT graduates, it has been around since 1995 and has received over 150 local and national awards and nominations. The company is hotter than ever right now and gaining popularity nationwide. Two of the six artistic directors, Madge Darlington and Kirk Lynn spoke about the inner workings of Rude Mechs.

Q: How did the Rude Mechanical's company begin?

Madge Darlington: A lot of us met in 1993 through a summer program the University of Texas offered. Some left and tried to do theater in New York, but realized it was difficult to keep up with expensive rental space and to move set pieces through the subway system. Those of us back in Austin were making theater everywhere—in bank lobby's, basements, anywhere we were allowed. By 1995 we came together and decided to create our own company in Austin.

Q: Why is modern theater so important to Rude Mech's?

Kirk Lynn: In every time period a contemporary piece is important because it speaks to the issues of the time. Modern theater is not more important now than it has ever been, but we think it is a great time to use new techniques and old references in scripts when performing.  We can present a literature collage and a culture of sampling in a way that would not have made sense long ago but that can work now.

Q: How does Rude Mechs go about choosing which shows to produce?

KL: Since we make all original works, we basically decide which show to work on. We have six artistic directors who do everything on a consensus. Generally, about once a year the artistic directors will get out of town for a weekend and stay in a cabin or elsewhere and discuss what, at that time, we feel is speaking to us. We'll talk about movies we like, music we are digging, books we've read to what's the best political story we've heard. From these conversations, we start to agree on a set of ideas and build on that. For instance, a piece beginning with the idea of Helen Keller grew into a science fiction story. From that idea we researched Thomas Edison where we got to Nikola Tesla. The play ended up being a science fiction piece about Nikola Tesla. It doesn't necessarily end up where we start, but everyone agrees by the end.

Q: The company's latest piece is called The Method Gun, tell us a little about that.

KL: It tells the story of a theater company who is completing their nine-year long rehearsal process for A Streetcar Named Desire. There is also a tiger in the show, that is very important.

Q: A real tiger?

KL: We wish! The tiger may think he's real, but no, it's an actor. The tiger runs through and mentions how he thinks all shows would be better if a tiger were in them. For example, he talks about how Death of a Salesman would be more exciting if a tiger were in the show.

Q: Any advice for students trying to break into professional theater?

MD: Don't wait around to be cast, don't wait around for someone else's idea, grab the people around you and start making theater. Don't be afraid to find people willing to mentor and help you. Stop and take time to set your intentions and set goals and dreams.

KL: Also, write your own scripts, make up your own material. Ask people for set pieces', just get the experience no matter what. The greatest lesson I've ever learning in life, love, sex, money and everything else is to ask for what you want. If you start telling people, "this is what I want," you'd be surprised how many people will give you what you want. And if they can't give it to you, they will probably give you something else that can get you there.

Traditional

Palindrome Theater Company

Palindrome Theater Company is fresh on the Austin theater scene and focuses on reinventing traditional productions. Created in summer 2009, the company has one successful production under its belt and many more on the way. Co-creator and recent St. Edward's graduate, Nigel O'Hearn shared information on his company and the importance of classical theater.

Q: When did your production company start?

Nigel O'Hearn: My friend and co-creator, Kate Eminger and I decided to start the company in June of 2009 after graduating from St. Edwards. We had worked together throughout college and had similar visions and wanted to continue to grow the theater industry in Austin.

Q: Why does Palindrome focus on classical theater?

NO: We want to set the foundation for modern works. We want to take traditional works down from their pedestal and interact with them because a lot of older plays are rich with history and almost pure genius. We feel that because they can still be applied to life today, that that really means something. You have to know where you're coming from to know where you're going and how you want to get there. We are interested in producing new works, but first want to inform and familiarize the most people possible with theaters' foundation, we need that anchor for people to grasp onto it and see something important in it today.

Q: Why is traditional theater so important today?

NO: At one time all traditional work was new and different from any era that it came immediately before. Shakespeare and the Elizabethans were reacting to the structure of the Greeks and of the passion plays they saw. Responding to that the neo-classics came about, and responding to the neo-classics came Shakespeare. All of these works that seem tired or antiquated are still very fresh and exciting plays that have sustained such an amount of time because they don't speak to that time period. They speak to something very human that can speak to any time period.

Q: How do you go about in casting for your shows?