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Category: promotion
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London Test: Parts #1-4
Tracking the myriad but rewarding tasks & challenges of mounting our play, RETROSPECTIVE, in London
“If you can provide a keyhole into some world that nobody has ever seen, that’s the play that will get you the notice you finally deserve.”
Marsha NormanAs previously noted in our other blog, Testing: A Personal History, everything can be thought of as a test; “That by which the existence, quality, or genuineness of anything is or may be determined” as the Oxford English Dictionary definition runs certainly fits our UK premiere of this existential comedy. Dr. Samuel Johnson, however, may have described more closely the reality of production when his dictionary set a test as a ‘means of trial’.
Post # 1: Taking RETROSPECTIVE to the Pub
Post # 2: Getting Technical
Post #3: This IS a Dress Rehearsal
Post #4: What happens on Opening Day?
We’ll keep you ‘posted’ on the ‘test’ results. Tune in daily at our Substack or periodically here at KWT.
And we’ve just been added to London Pub Theatre’s Top Picks for May!!!
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RETROSPECTIVE by T.J. Elliott: Bringing the text to life
The actors’ art and the director’s craft combine in the rehearsal rooms to make theatre live
[Read London Pub Theatre magazine’s interviews here with Playwright T.J. Elliott and Director Liviu Monsted on the making of the play and more]
The question puzzling famous painter, Rory McGrory, in Retrospective is ‘Asleep or Afterlife? Rory, who may or may not be dreaming, encounters his first wife and two other frenemies from his past amidst what they claim is a show of his work, a retrospective, but all Rory can see are blank canvases. This mischievous menage claim they just want to help him get to next while he just wants to wake up. Which will it be In this rollicking reunion — a wild dream to recount or going down for the count?
That’s the world our company is busy creating in London at Barons Court Theatre. The photos offer a glimpse into their work but only attending live May-14th – 23 will convey the magic being mixed by Noah Huntley, Sarah Pearcy, Jasmine Dorothy Haefner, and Benjamin Parsons directed by Liviu Monsted
Select the performance to attend here
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We also asked these fine actors why they care & commit to #maketheaterlive
Part II
Lucky to have this pair making theater live in the UK premiere of RETROSPECTIVE Here’s what our Jasmine Dorothy Haefner(Z) & Benjamin Parsons(Clint Belinsky) said
How lucky are we to have in the cast for our upcoming UK production of RETROSPECTIVE, friends and colleagues, old and new, who want to make theatre live. Jasmine Dorothy Haefner who plays Z, an acerbic critic, in this magical mystery tour of a comedy first worked with KWT in 2020. Here’s why Jasmine makes theatre:
Why make theatre? Because it’s fun! We only met Benjamin Parsons at casting for this production, and yet already feel we have gained a stalwart companion and kindred spirit as he becomes Clint Belinsky, the rogue painter and laid-back lover in RETROSPECTIVE’s ‘menage a quatre‘. Here’s his thoughtful take on why making theatre matters to him:
Benji like many of us in theatre is there for the storytelling In our previous post featuring the other half of this quirky quartet, Noah Huntley and Sarah Pearcy, we shared how the pandemic’s shuttering of theaters stirred our commitment at Knowledge Workings Theater company to #maketheatrelive. We needed that rush of creation and power of performance even if the work went into pixels before it got to people. Felicitously, many theatre artists joined that cause first in our Zoom productions Grudges in that crazy Spring of 2020 followed that autumn by Within The Context Of No Context by George W S Trow, and the Swedish screwball comedy, Keeping Right.
Happily and gratefully, thanks to a co-production with the pioneering and innovative Broom Street Theater in Madison WI in November 2021, we got back to making theater on an actual stage with our third play, Genealogy before a live, laughing, sighing, and physically present right before us audience . This ‘making’ then continued through our Off-Broadway productions of The Oracle (2022) at THEATRE FOR THE NEW CITY, The Jester’s Wife (2023) at The Chain Theatre, HONOR (2024) at Gene Frankel Theatre, and now Retrospective, which debuted at the Broadway Bound Theatre festival at the AMT Theatre on West 45th St. in Manhattan August 2025.
Now UK theater lovers can enjoy Jasmine and Benji along with Sarah and Noah in the shadowy bantering world of RETROSPECTIVE at Barons Court Theatre May 14-23 by clicking on the button below
Want to know more about the comedy that New York critics called “ more complicated and more multidirectional than one first assumes“?
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May Porch On Windy Hill Run Forever
What Off-Broadway Should Be
& What Many of Us Need
TORA NOGAMI ALEXANDER, MORGAN MORSE, and DAVID M. LUTKEN picking up our spirits in this theatre Blessings upon Charles Isherwood and the Wall Street Journal for recognizing a paragon of compelling and entertaining theater over on 30th Street at Urban Stages: The Porch on Windy Hill. I missed the first run of this production last year, but determined to catch it this time around even before that glowing review in the WSJ appeared. Commendations to Frances Hill for bringing it back to New York and recommendations to all the powers that be including those of us who make up
OOB audiences to keep TPOWH up on stage by going and getting others to go to the show.
MORGAN MORSE and TORA NOGAMI ALEXANDER unleashing talents that blew me away Why? Because this is a work that refreshes the age-old tale of reconciliation between generations with superb acting and astonishing musical virtuosity. Everything about this production sparkled from the direction by Sherry Stregack Lutken to the writing by a quartet that includes her, two of the current performers, Morgan Morse and David M Lutken, and Lisa Helmi Johansson. I was particularly impressed with the technical aspects of the show overseen on a daily basis by production stage manager Leigh Selting and superbly conceived by Andrew Robinson, Grace Geo, Sun Hee Kil, and John Salutz for respectively scenic, costume, sound and lighting design.
Terrence Rattigan, a damn fine playwright once cautioned that, “A novelist may lose his readers for a few pages; a playwright never dares lose his audience for a minute.” Well, that commandment doesn’t just apply to the writer; everyone involved in the production must muster and then maintain the magic. That’s part of what stoked my enthusiasm for this piece: the rollicking rhythms of the Bluegrass music weave with actors showing us the complications of family stories in such a way that we cannot help but stay fixed to what unfolds before us. The astonishing artistry of actors and musicians TORA NOGAMI ALEXANDER, DAVID M. LUTKEN, and MORGAN MORSE takes us there.
Trying recently to convey the excitement of collaborating with an Australian director (Liviu Monsted) and a London theater producer (Leo Bencica) for our upcoming production of Retrospective this May at Barons Court Theatre, I employed a Marsha Norman quote that always inspired me: “If you can provide a keyhole into some world that nobody has ever seen, that’s the play that will get you the notice you finally deserve.”
But I now see a paradox in that good advice: the most compelling theater IS that in which there is the ’keyhole into a world that we have never seen’, but that play can simultaneously provide entry into a dynamic that we recognize — such as how families fudge it up with words said and unsaid, realities denied and diverted. That’s true with The Porch On Windy Hill. Go see and listen and laugh and learn for yourself. Let’s get so many people in there that it can’t close on February 22nd. New York needs a good long run of such fine work.
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The Dead Speak Up for RETROSPECTIVE
Click on Mr. Williams or even do The Rose Tattoo on the cake to buy your tix
Take a plunge: click on Monroe and Miller for your tickets
Click on Anton and buy Tix for you and your Three Sisters
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Sixty Seconds on RETROSPECTIVE
Here’s something that I learned over the years that used to be called ‘the elevator pitch’, the spiel for a product or in this case new 90 minute comedy, RETROSPECTIVE, delivered in under 1 minute. Did this one work? I’ll find out by how many tickets we sell. Oh BTW, the link for tix is below; message me for the discount code, or if you need a complimentary ticket. These 3 performances — August 13th (8PM), August 15th (5PM) and August 16th (2PM) are prelude to what we hope will be a longer run and we’re looking for backers or co-producing theaters. Feel free to apply https://broadwayboundtheatrefestival.ludus.com/index.php?show_id=200484720
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Exploring Reinvention on Unlocked With Madelyn Blair
Televised discussion on YouTube What a great pleasure and privilege to talk to Madelyn Blair about reinvention on her intriguing and insightful video program, UNLOCKED (https://lnkd.in/eicbTx3K) . We ranged from our common interest in knowledge sharing to the ways in which any of us can create a new reality in our lives. And thanks to Madelyn for giving me another chance to talk about my latest play, HONOR, with just four performances left at the Gene Frankel Theatre in lower Manhattan: October 3-5 at 7 PM and Sunday, October 6th at 1 PM. Tix at our.show/honor
The program is available now on YouTube
https://lnkd.in/eMi4i6w9
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John Blaylock Defends Superbly in HONOR
Photos by Bill Wadman: John Blaylock as Ludwig along with Alinca Hamilton as Ronnee and Ed Altman as Don
“Theatre isn’t real. It’s a refraction of reality, containing feelings and thoughts that are put forth, first, in a primary text, which the actor interprets—an interpretation that the director supports or edits, in an attempt to help build, in a made-up world, an atmosphere of verisimilitude.”
Hilton AlsHilton Als, longtime critic at The New Yorker magazine, describes above the theatrical experience pithily and — to our thinking — near perfectly: he puts the actor at the heart of the creation. That centrality explains why we adore John Blaylock as Ludwig in HONOR. He built a character — the diligent, conservative General Counsel of a big company — from the foundation of the text giving him a reality that makes lawyers in our audience ask where John studied law. Spoiler: he didn’t. John is just a fine actor who loves to work so hard to put his person into a compelling story. He creates that ‘made-up world’, that atmosphere of verisimilitude. John makes you believe.
We are entering our final week of this run and tickets are available at our.show/honor If you’ve ever worked in a business, HONOR will speak to you as it presents the complexities and ambiguities of trying to do the right thing by each other in that world. Don’t miss John’s stirring electric performance and this story. See you at the Gene Frankel Theatre for seventy minutes of riveting theatre.
Don’t just take our word for it. Read what others have said:
“Honor, by , T.J. Elliott… If you’ve ever navigated the corporate world, you’ll immediately recognize the intricacies of the system – power dynamics, conflict, and behind-the-scenes negotiations that can lead to major frustrations. You might even spot a few familiar personalities from your own workplace! What stood out was the play’s comedic edge, using sharp humor to make the often stressful corporate environment feel both relatable and amusing (although, let’s be honest, it’s a lot less funny when you’re actually living it ). The play invites you to reflect on the nuances of leadership and influence, making you think about just how complex and layered these interactions truly are.”
Ruby Chan
Buy Your HONOR TIX HereExcellent show! I very much enjoyed it yesterday afternoon.
Marina Daiman
Buy Your HONOR TIX Here“The play masterfully takes what appears to be an apparent disagreement over a value interpretation of an issue to a place that reveals the complexity of not only the interpretation of the issue but also each of the participant’s values. The ending provides an excellent explication of the complexity of human character in the interpretation of what constitutes personal honor, leaving one with intriguing ideas to contemplate.”
Scotty Bennett, TheaterScene.Net
Buy Your HONOR TIX Here“Eloquently and dramatically skewers the current business culture… provocative entertainment.” “Elliott also directed and his physical staging is crisp, well-paced and contains momentum. The personable and talented cast of Ed Altman as Don, and Alinca Hamilton and John Blaylock, as the lawyers, all deliver energetic and authentic performances. This trio shines in the concluding sequence… “
Darryl Reilly, Encore!Share this:
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In HONOR, “Alinca Hamilton Takes Full Advantage…”
Ronnee (Alinca Hamilton) turns the tables on Don (Ed Altman) in HONOR FULL ADVANTAGE!
“Alinca Hamilton takes full advantage of this space and, acting with her body and face as well as with her words, letting the audience see her reactions, is quite funny…, showing us the ridiculousness of the situation.”
Roberta Pikser, Theater-Wire.NetWe knew that about Alinca as Ronnee Emerson but seeing Roberta Pikser’s review of HONOR in Theater-Wire.Net proved a gratifying confirmation and commendation of our colleague’s superb talent. Come to the Gene Frankel Theatre in lively NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan and see for yourself but you’ll have to do so before October 6th when this run where Alinca is joined by her two partners in corporate comedy, John Blaylock and Ed Altman ends.
“The play suggests that such a thing as honor is all but impossible, at least in a corporate setting, or perhaps that the concept is totally subjective, that no one really knows what it is. White male privilege is touched upon as one aspect of the elusiveness of the concept. Perhaps, as suggested by the insistence of the two men not to listen to each other, but to try to prevail, the idea of honor comes down to dominance. “
You have to see HONOR the play that Andrew Cortes of
Stage Whisper Podcast called ‘FANTASTIC! ’
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