Featured Associate Artist: Marsha Stephanie Blake

Meet our October Featured Associate Artist, Marsha Stephanie Blake! She is working with us this month teaching a course about investigative theater at the Brooklyn High School for the Arts. The kids are conducting interviews around Brooklyn asking, Why do you vote? Marsha Stephanie has also performed with us in a few different projects... read on to hear from her!

Name: Marsha Stephanie Blake
Year Joined The Civilians: 2006/2007ish
Where you’re from: Clarendon, Jamaica
What City You’re Living In: Brooklyn, New York

How did you first get involved with The Civilians?
Coleman Domingo, an actor who has now faded off into obscurity and meaninglessness (just kidding, he's an award-winning superstar) had to drop out of The "Evangelical Project" which later became "This Beautiful City." I happened to already be in Colorado when they called in desperation for someone to go help interview people in Colorado Springs. So it was kismet.

What have you done with us, both in terms of investigating and performing?
"This Beautiful City" and the investigation and first version of what would later become "In The Footprint"

Tell us about something that surprised you, either in an interview, in using the investigative method, or in a rehearsal process.
I was accused of being a lesbian and also of coercing some teenagers into giving interviews. Neither was true. But it was surprising.

Why has it been interesting to work in this way?
It is always interesting to hear people's stories, no matter where they come from or what they believe. I love that people trust me with their lives and I'm honored to represent each and every one of them onstage.

What is the last project you worked on outside of The Civilians?
"Bullet for Adolf," a comedy co-written and directed by Woody Harrelson. Talk about interesting.

What artist has had the biggest impact on you?
Beyoncé.

What’s the last play you saw?
"Triassic Park," a musical about dinosaurs. Excellent entertainment.

What’s your favorite bad movie?
"The New Guy."

Do you like sports? (… which ones/what team?)
I like dominoes. Whatever team I'm on.

Question from Last Month’s Featured Associate Artist, Aysan Celik: What book do you re-read?
Angela's Ashes.

What question would you like us to ask our next Featured Associate Artist?
How many times has Michael Friedman made you cry in rehearsal?

This Beautiful City: The Podcast Episode

Our artists spent time in Colorado Springs (home to many national Evangelical Organizations, including Focus on the Family and New Life Church) investigating the shifting lines between church and state, viewing the city as a microcosm for many issues still present in America. The verbatim interviews were used in our play, This Beautiful City. You are about to hear some of our favorite interviews that didn't make it into the play: Emily Ackerman playing an elderly pro-life protester, Colleen Werthmann playing an Anabaptist/thespian/activist, and Matt Dellapina as a Evangelical cadet. This episode also features a song from the show by Michael Friedman "End Times" with lyrics crafted from interviews, performed by Alison Weller.

TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU PODCAST SERIES ON ITUNES, PLEASE CLICK HERE!

LET ME ASCERTAIN YOU: BEST OF...!

Last weekend, The Civilians took over The Living Room in the Lower East Side for an afternoon of performances of some of the best interviews from our archives. Much like Disney, we cracked open our vaults and brought some great monologues to the stage. We had some great characters, including a Remote Viewer, a facialist, an Evangelical Christian in the air force, and the founder of Hot Nude Yoga, If you missed it, don't worry - all of these will be released on our podcast series (launching this fall). Here are couple of choice quotes from the event:

"...the pendulum swings, we talk about the pendulum at the academy, and just swingin’ from y’know too strict to too loose and that kinda thing,. I think the pendulum swung way the other way, to where it’s just getting ridiculous, you got cases where, uh, the protes – or the uh Inner-Faith council, you’ve got people complaining on the inner-faith council cause there were Easter Bunnies, on the tables on Easter, and saying well, Christian’s are tryin’ to evangelize, everybody’s getting an Easter bunny, well Christians, don’t like the Easter bunny. Y’know, we don’t like Santa Claus." - an Evangelical Christian

"Don’t get me started on Bush. And people say he’ll get re-elected. He can’t get re-elected, he was never elected in the first place. The Supreme Court handed him the presidency. Iraq, that war was fought for Halliburton. Don’t get me started on that. It’s a fact. It’s been all over the place. It’s a fact. Cheney worked for them years ago, and now he says he doesn’t – then why is he getting paid one million dollars a year by them? They have a contract to reconstruct Iraq." - A facialist 

And lastly, here is a photo of Emily Ackerman playing a 70 year-old lady who Emily interviewed for This Beautiful City, who said:

"And then I started picketing at Planned Parenthood.  And there were women who would come down there and have their children in strollers, and we would hold signs, but nothing really active... It’s just that killing those babies is just killing babies.  For no reason.  And they think there’s a reason.  And I dug that thing out, the thing I wrote, a few years ago, and I said Jeepers!  I wrote that?  I did a pretty good job on that!  It was the first thing I had done on my own, that I had written, and I could pick my own subject.  I’ve just been an activist from that time."

 

BENEFIT X Success!

Things went great on May 2 at (le) poisson rouge! We met all of our goals, which puts us in a wonderful position for launching our eleventh season, and we're so grateful for all of your support. The performance was lovely with our special guests, Ana Gasteyer and Marc Kudisch. We also had some really special guests: past interviewees saying hello! Here are some awesome videos that we played at the event!


From Nancy-Jo, the real Christian T-Girl from THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY


From Carol, the real Chaneler/Entity from (I AM) NOBODY'S LUNCH

Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this event such a fabulous evening!

The Civilians at the Humana Festival!

Civilians' artists are all up in The Humana Festival for New American Plays this year (where This Beautiful City premiered in 2008)!

Artistic Director Steve Cosson is directing Anne Washburn (playwright of Mr. Burns - which was recently named a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize!)'s new play, A DEVIL AT NOON - more info HERE!

Also, Maple and Vine will be receiving its world premiere at Humana this year. This new play by Jordan Harrison is based on an investigation by Civilians' artists into communities resistant to modern technologies - more info HERE!

The festival starts in two weeks!

Ted Haggard: Back in the News - Found in connection with THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY

Ted Haggard is back in Colorado Springs! He started a new church and is working on re-integrating himself into the fabric of the city.

Here are a few great excerpts from a recent revealing feature about him in GQ HERE:

On family:
'"Our lives have returned to normal," [Ted] declares, sliding a marshmallow onto a skewer. "We're starting to do the things we did before, because we're getting a grip on life again."
Elliott, a high school junior with moppish hair and the quiet confidence of a cool-crowd kid, rolls his eyes in a Dad, come onnnnn way. "I don't think our family has a normal anymore," he says.
"Yeah," Ted says, laughing. "It's a pretty dynamic situation."'

On New Life Church:
'Ted obediently signed the agreement, but he now believes it was excessively harsh treatment for a family in the midst of a major crisis—especially since, well, isn't providing mercy for sinners sort of the entire point of Christianity?
"I used to think the church was the light of the world," Ted says. "But I've completely lost my faith in it."
Ted's complaints about New Life are old news to anyone who's been following his saga, but tonight, when I ask him if he really means to say completely, he stops and looks at the sky already starting to lighten.
"You've got to understand, Kevin, people are, at their cores, hateful," he says, rising to stamp out the fire's embers and go to bed. "I don't want to believe that, but the facts have prevailed over my idealism."'

and last but not least, On Sexuality: -
'"Here's where I really am on this issue," [Ted] half whispers. "I think that probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual." After a weekend of Ted trying to convince me of his unambiguous devotion to his wife and kids, I'm at first too surprised to say anything.'

HERE is a reaction from CO Springs in the Denver Post.

For even more info, Ted Haggard has a one-hour documentary airing on TLC. 

And HERE is a link to This Beautiful City at Colorado College. If you go to 1:15:34, you'll hear the performance of the letter of resignation referenced in the GQ article. Take a listen!