The Comeuppance of Man comes up again July 23rd, 8:00 pm at the NACL Catskill Festival of New Theatre in Highland Lake, New York. Reservations at 845.557.0694 or visit the NACL website. Read more about the performance HERE.
Open Mind Firmament: An Evening of W. B. Yeats
The Extra-Apothecary exploits of Mr. Keyser continue with Cleveland Public Theatre’s presentation of Open Mind Firmament through June 5, 2010.
Reviews: Cleveland Scene, Plain Dealer, Roy Berko
Independence 2010
Brett Keyser receives an Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts to work on the initial stage of a new performance EXILIO with Mexican and Canadian artists in Mexico City.
Rehearsal space at Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana
“Darwin’s Minstrel”
In November 2009 The Scientist captured Erasmus Rasmussen alive on the streets of Philadelphia celebrating the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species. Have a gander:
Self-Portrait in Sullivan County
photo: Ted Waddell for the Catskill Chronicle
Outside the Apothecary: The premiere of Mike Geither’s Self-Portrait at County Fair, directed by Brett Keyser, and featuring Ker Wells, Tannis Kowalchuk, Glenn Hall, and Sarah Dey Hirshan, plays at NACL (North American Cultural Laboratory) in Highland Lake, New York. October 2-11, 2009.
photo: Leni Santoro
Reviews
“…kept me mesmerized throughout, and the enthusiastic audience response confirmed that I was not alone… Emotional, visceral, unique and well crafted, this production has “wow” written all over it.” —Jonathan Fox, The River Reporter
“…one of a kind, unequaled and highly unusual.” —Cynthia O. Topps, The Times Herald-Record
“Bravo…” —Leni Santoro, The Catskill Chronicle
Darwinii October 2009
Following our sold out run at the Fringe, more Darwinii performances are scheduled for October 2009 at the APS Museum:
Friday & Saturday evenings October 16, 17, 23, 24 @ 6:30PM
Sunday matinees October 18 & 25 @ 3PM
Tickets and info are available online at the APS Museum website. Seating is limited, so reserve now. For performance information, see the main Darwinii page. Please be advised: there is no late seating for this performance.
PW Picks Darwinii
The Philadelphia Weekly’s J. Cooper Robb picks “Eleven shows you can’t miss at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe”.
“The Fringe boasts plenty of alternative venues but few are as curious or fascinating as the American Philosophical Society. A majestic building boasting all manner of bizarre oddities, APS is hosting the world premiere of Darwinii: The Comeuppance of Man (Sept. 4-12 and Oct. 16-25). Penned by acclaimed playwright Glen Berger ( Underneath the Lintel ) the comic exploration of Darwinism stars Brett Keyser, who gave an impressive performance a few years back in the quirky sleeper hit Horribus! Horribus!”
…though we still call it Horridus! Horridus! Thanks for remembering, J.
Darwinii—SOLD OUT—Philly Fringe
Join us for the World Premiere performances of Darwinii: The Comeuppance of Man at the 2009 Philly Fringe Festival, Fridays & Saturdays, September 4, 5, 11, & 12 SOLD OUT at 6:30 PM at the APS Museum, 104 S. 5th St. (between Chestnut and Walnut), Philadelphia, PA. Limited seating. Seriously. Tickets $10 on sale now at the Live Arts-Fringe website, or at the Fringe Box Office, 215-413-1318. Please plan to arrive early as the show begins promptly and 6:30 PM, and there will be NO LATE SEATING.
Images of Darwin, Rhea darwinii, and T. H. Huxley’s skeletons courtesy APS Museum
Created by Brett Keyser and New York playwright Glen Berger, this solo performance features Keyser in the role of Cristóbal, an Argentine man accused of various crimes, including stealing original Charles Darwin manuscripts from rare book libraries around the world. Why? Because he’s convinced he’s the great-great-great-etc… bastard-grandson of the father of Natural Selection. As part of his sentence he must deliver a public apology, during which he digresses, with flamboyant intensity and bawdy humor, into the story of his life, growing up as an orphan in Tierra del Fuego and inadvertently becoming an expert Darwinologist (not to mention an international criminal), exploiting every opportunity to prove his pedigree. The performance is a tango-tinged dance of life, a fresh take on some of Darwin’s ideas about the struggle for survival, sexual selection, the origin of species, and the descent of man.
Darwinii evolved from an initial workshop of improvisation and interplay between Keyser, Berger, and Canadian fellow traveller Ker Wells. The creative team also includes Tracy Broyles of Spiral Q Puppet Theatre on props and costumes, and Laylage Courie of Brooklyn-based Luminous Work, providing the voice of a renowned fictional Darwin scholar.
Darwinii was commissioned by the American Philosophical Society (APS) Museum, and supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
Sand Reckoning
Appearing at the State of the Nation Festival in New Orleans, 5pm Friday, March 20, 2009, a work-in-progress presentation of Sand Reckoning.
Sand Reckoning is a prose poem, spoken and sung, a saga of people and rivers, canals and bridges, levees and outlets, nitrogen, tailings, and coliform spume… a litany of modern “improvements” upon the oldest relationship in the civilized world. It’s a story of the infra-structurists, the genius architects of that vast inflexible network of transportation and commerce, who bent the natural features of the land to the service of unimaginable wealth and national power. Stumbling into the 21st century on the back of this rusted behemoth, Sand Reckoning asks whether we are reconciled to follow in the well-trodden path of least-resistance, or will we forge anew?
Lands End
Last chance to see TANN, HORNS, & DEAD DOGS. National Public Lands Day and Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day. Saturday, September 27th at 1PM. Independence National Historical Park between 3rd & 4th and Chestnut & Walnut. FREE. Click here for more details.
photo: Sam Belkowitz
NIGHTJAR APOTHECARY 