Fluency Press Release

Rake Theater Presents

Fluency

Written and directed by Kimberly Patterson

At The 2008 Orlando Fringe Festival, Blue Venue

May 17, 18, 22, 25, 2008

 

Boynton Beach, FL – April 1, 2008 – Rake Theater is proud to present their first production in Florida – Fluency – as part of the 2008 Orlando Fringe Festival.

Are you fluent in the language of love? Jack and Olivia sure aren’t. They meet, and their chemistry is great! But they quickly realize they need to do more than just make out. Jack and Olivia need to figure out how to communicate with each other. What’s worse, they have to do it live, on-stage, in front of an audience.

Fluency is a meta-theatrical romantic comedy. It looks at how this couple communicates: Olivia struggles with her words, while Jack loves to talk. Neither of them have any trouble with body language. It explores the pitfalls of the first date and the first phone conversation, and shows how 21st century technology becomes a handy tool.

Fluency also examines the performance of communication itself, in the most obvious of venues: Olivia is a playwright, and she’s writing about Jack. She worries that her concept is pretentious, but Jack reminds her that the play-within-a-play is an old theatrical tradition. Now, in this era of reality TV, it’s hard to tell where the boundaries of performance and real life begin and end.

Fluency stars Katrina Keene as Olivia and Joe M. Mauri as Jack.

Rake Theater was founded in New York City in February 2006. In our inaugural season, we presented the sell-out hit Oedipus for Kids! at the New York Musical Theater Festival. Our home base is now in South Florida, but our members continue to work and thrive all over the country.

The annual Orlando Fringe is an unjuried theatre festival that takes place in Loch Haven Park. In 2007, over 30,000 patrons enjoyed 77 shows, 243 pieces of visual art and 45 kids shows during the 12-day festival. As the oldest non-juried Fringe Festival in the United States (17 years old in 2008), the Orlando Fringe proudly provides a venue for theatrical performing artists to display their creative talent and novel performances. Staying true to the Fringe roots, all acts will remain uncensored, exposing patrons to performances ranging from mild to wild.

 

Fluency will be performed on May 17 at 11:00am, May 18 at 7:30pm, May 22 at 9:20pm and May 25 at 7:50pm in the Blue Venue (at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E. Rollins St.). Tickets are $8, plus the purchase of a festival badge. For reservations, visit www.orlandofringe.org.

Rehearsal #2

Approaching…

Photos: First Readthrough

Fluency features Katrina Keene and Joe Mauri

On the Fringe

Being on the fringe means being on the edge.  One definition we found even goes so far as to identify the fringe as a social group holding marginal or extreme views.  Well, we’re not going to go all compound-in-Minnesota-drinking-the-Kool-aid on you.  We’re artists.  We’re talking about fringe festivals.  You know…theater.

 

Let’s wiki-wiki-wiki it.  (Go ahead, say it like you’re beat-boxing it, you know you want to).  Fringe Theater is used to describe alternative theater, or entertainment not of the mainstream.  

 

Rake Theater has been selected to produce the play “Fluency” written by founding member Kimberly Patterson at the Orlando Fringe Festival. 

 

According to the website, The Orlando Fringe is the oldest annual un-juried theatre festival in the United States providing a venue for theatrical performing artists.  We love them for that.  The Fringe began in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947. Denied participation in the Edinburgh International Festival, artists took up creative arms and revolutionized independent theater as we know it.  Producing their work, quite literally, “on the fringe”  of the official festival, they crowded audiences into empty stores and church basements. The concept was an immediate success and the Fringe soon became as – if not more – popular as the “official” Edinburgh Festival.

 

The Orlando Fringe Festival starts on May 12^th, which means we are deep into casting and are just about to start rehersals for “Fluency.”  The play is a post-modern romance in which Jack and Olivia find themselves struggling to communicate about love and relationships.

Casting Notice

Rake Theater is now casting Fluency, a meta-theatrical romantic comedy, for our 2008 Orlando Fringe Festival production. Seeking one man (20-35) and one woman (20-35). Both characters are fun, quirky and hip. She is a little bookish and uptight; he is a bit chatty and laid-back.

The festival runs from May 16-26. We will have 4 performances (exact schedule TBD). Rehearsals will start in mid-March; all rehearsals will take place in the Boynton Beach/Boca Raton area.

Transportation (or a small travel stipend) to Orlando from the rehearsal area will be provided if necessary.

To schedule an audition, please email a resume and a headshot to  raketheater@gmail.com.

ABOUT ORLANDO FRINGE
The annual Orlando Fringe is an unjuried theatre festival that takes place in Loch Haven Park. In 2007, over 30,000 patrons enjoyed 77 shows, 243 pieces of visual art and 45 kids shows during the 12-day festival. As the oldest non-juried Fringe Festival in the United States (17 years old in 2008), the Orlando Fringe proudly provides a venue for theatrical performing artists to display their creative talent and novel performances. Staying true to the Fringe roots, all acts will remain uncensored, exposing patrons to performances ranging from mild to wild.

ABOUT RAKE THEATER
Rake Theater was founded in 2006 in New York City. We produced two shows that year, including Oedipus for Kids! at the New York Musical Theater Festival. We’ve relocated to South Florida, and this will be our first production in the Sunshine State.

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3-2-1 Contract

I hired a general manager to work on Oe4K. His name is Rick L. Stevens*. It’s his job to handle more of the business-y aspects of the production, which I wouldn’t be able to do, given that I have a full-time job that doesn’t involve plays.

One of Rick’s biggest responsibilities so far has been to deal with contracts. It seems like EVERYONE has a contract of some sort. Mostly, they are Letter(s) of Agreement (LOA). Even I have one (so if I were to quit, could I sue myself for breach of contract)?

Some of the contracts involve very strict guidelines, like the Equity contracts for the actors, and the SSDC (Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers) contract for our director. There are filing deadlines, filing fees, and support materials that we need to submit (like proof of insurance). If we file something wrong, or violate the terms of these agreements, we can face penalties.

Other documents, usually the ones we’ve drawn up with the accompanists and with some of our business associates, are more fluid and can be negotiated between both parties. The three big things we cover in these documents are fee, rights, and billing.

Rights, as in “Right of First Refusal” is probably the most important thing we can offer someone right now. Given that we don’t really have any money, no one’s going to make any money from this production. BUT! There are opportunities for us to continue on, to develop the project further, and to be funded by someone who doesn’t stress over every extra dollar. This is the dream we all share: a commercial Off-Broadway run. Look at some of the success stories: Altar Boyz, [title of show]. We could have national tours, trunk productions. Merchandising. An OBIE! That’s when everyone would make their money and get their glory.

Billing is also interesting. It doesn’t mean money, it means how you’re referred to in the production. Apparently in Hollywood, titles are offered as incentives (actually, not any different than in the business world). But production information often persists long after a show closes. Titles go on resumes. Important people come to productions and read playbills. It might seem petty, but sometimes it’s the little things that matter most.

Rick’s done an awesome job managing these contracts and making sure we’re all up-to-date and following all the rules. And I do a lot of signing on the dotted line.

*For example, Rick’s contract stated that his billing would include his name written as “Rick L. Stevens”.

After a long absence…

Well, no more milking those Absence puns. It’s been almost two months since my last post. That’s because, let’s see, there was the MITF show. Then there were script re-writes for Oe4K, and then all the myriad producing responsibilities. I’m a tired puppy.

Ideally, what I’d like to do, is to add updates of things that happened over the last month. I want to talk more about Absence, about rehearsals, and the production. I’d love to devote several posts to the peacock puppet. This way, there will exist a historical record of all of our projects.

And then Oe4K… we’ve actually started a separate blog for the show (it’s taken on quite a robust life of its own), found here: oedipusforkids.com. I’ll probably not spend too much time discussing that, because there are so many voices that want to be heard. Or perhaps I’ll focus mostly on the producing/business side of it. I must say, I’ve certainly learned a lot this summer.

Rake is planning several events this fall (obviously the best season to have a rake!). We’re planning a Halloween event and will feature ourselves in the Village Halloween Parade. In early November, we’re going to have a public reading or two. Finally, in December, we’re hoping to plan a festive holiday production. There will be puppets.

So check back soon for “retro” posts, and for more updates as eventually my world gains equilibrium.