6 Questions for Sean Donovan of LEMON GIRLS OR ART FOR THE ARTLESS

Photo by Nicolas Calcott

Sean Donovan is an actor, dancer, writer, choreographer and director. His recent plays include Cabin (Bushwick Starr), and The Reception (HERE Arts). Sean has been nominated twice for BESSIE Awards for Outstanding Performer. He’s worked with Heather Christian, Faye Driscoll, Miguel Gutierrez, Jane Comfort, The Builders Association, Witness Relocation, John Jesurun, and many others.

Sean Donovan is the choreographer for Talking Band's Lemon Girls or Art for the Artless, written by OBIE and Drama Desk Award winning playwright and composer Ellen Maddow and directed by Paul Zimet. There are four more performances in the Downstairs Theatre this weekend from March 24–27. Tickets can be purchased here.

1. Who and what has inspired you?

I take inspiration from so many different places. I’m inspired by boundary pushing artists whose work defies easy categorization. I love choreographers like Miguel Gutierrez and Jack Ferver to name a few. I love music artists like Anohni and Justin Vivian Bond.  People who make me laugh but can also open a wound in your heart.

2. How would you describe your work as a choreographer?

I make choreography out of everyday social behavior, elevating the gestural language to a heightened state to call attention to its rhythm, timing, and emotion. And I use dance as a means of storytelling but break from traditions of musical theater or narrative dance, drawing on forms of postmodernism and contemporary performance.

3. How did you come to collaborate with Talking Band?

I had seen the Talking Band’s work for a number of years and has always been a huge fan. We came to work together when old friends and longtime collaborators Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone (Co-Artistic Directors of 600 Highwaymen) recommended me to Paul and Ellen of the Talking Band.  We were both familiar with each other’s work and after just one meeting I think we could tell it would be a great fit. 

4. What can audiences expect from these performances?

They can expect smart, profound, hilarious writing and direction from longtime experimental theater creators. They can expect to see older bodies invigorated with life and vitality and a story that tries to ask questions of personal value and how we process grief. And they can expect choreography that charts a journey of self-discovery and embodiment through both humor and earnestness. 

5. What are your upcoming plans for 2022?/What are you looking forward to?

I’m currently performing in Heather Christian’s incredible new music work entitled Oratorio For Living Things premiering at Ars Nova which I’m thrilled about. I’m also collaborating with Taylor Mac on Taylor’s newest work, Bark of Millions. And I’m writing a new play!

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

It means so much to me. I’ve worked at La MaMa more than almost any other theater in New York going back 20 years from my days with the downtown dance theater company Witness Relocation. It’s very much an artistic home for me.

Photo by Craig Lowy

La MaMa presents

Lemon Girls or Art for the Artless

By Talking Band
Written by Ellen Maddow
Directed by Paul Zimet

March 11 – 27, 2022

The Downstairs 
66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Thursdays – Saturday at 8PM
Sunday at 4PM

Tickets:

Adults: $25 in advance; $30 day of show
Students/Seniors: $20 in advance; $25 day of show

2018 La MaMa Umbria: International Symposium for Directors

The 2018 La MaMa Umbria: International Symposium for Directors announces this summer's workshop leaders: 

Semion Aleksandrovskiy (Russia)

Stefanie Batten Bland (USA)

Krzysztof Garbaczewski (Poland)

The Talking Band: Ellen Maddow / Paul Zimet  (USA)

Spend two weeks in Italy working with directors from around the world!  Applications are now being accepted.

For more information: CLICK HERE

6 Questions: Ellen Maddow

Founding member of Talking Band, Ellen Maddow, is the author of many of the company's shows, including their newest: BURNISHED BY GRIEF: A ROMANTIC COMEDY, opening at The First Floor Theatre at La MaMa on January 22, 2016.  Ellen took time out from rehearsals to answer our 6 Questions.


1. What inspired you to write BURNISHED BY GRIEF: A ROMANTIC COMEDY?

Burnished By Grief was inspired by my work as a volunteer mediator in Brooklyn Civil Court, where I am privileged  to witness how the city’s extraordinary  diversity, combined with  close-living,  produces complex misunderstandings as well as unexpected and remarkable relationships.

2. How is this show different from other Talking Band shows?

Its a romantic comedy. Its got a live tuba in it. (played by Sam Kulik)  and  a full compliment of  fabulous downtown performers - Mary Shultz, Rae C. Wright, Tina Shepard, WIll Badgett, Debargo Sanyal  as well as some newcomers - Shelley Fort, Flordelino Lagundino.

3. In what ways have you seen NYC change since you've been here?

My neighborhood (Soho) has gone from being full of trucks unloading during the day, and deserted and scary at night ( 1973) to being so packed with tourists that I can hardly manage to walk my dog. But since I know so many of my neighbors, I still feel like I live in a small town. 

4. If you could get on a plane and travel anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?

I am getting on a plane on Sunday and going to a conference in Banff for writers, scientists and mathematicians. What could be more stimulating than that?

5. What was the last good book you've read?

I have been re-reading all of Penelope Fitzgerald’s novels. Everyone should read them.


6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

I feel honored to be part of its venerable history. I have been thinking about that a lot in the last few days after the death of Liz Swados who was a mentor and collaborator. She wrote the music for Talking Band’s first show The Kalevala in 1975, and for  its 40th anniversary show last year - The Golden Toad. I feel lucky to be part of a multi-generational  community of artists.


La MaMa presents
BURNISHED BY GRIEF: 
A ROMANTIC COMEDY
Written and Composed by Ellen Maddow 
Directed by Paul Zimet 

A love letter to the chaos of cramped New York City living. This music-fused, sinister romantic comedy is inspired by Obie award-winning playwright Ellen Maddow’s work as a mediator in Brooklyn Civil Court, where she has witnessed how the city’s extraordinary diversity, combined with close living, has produced complex misunderstandings and remarkable relationships. 

January 22 - February 7, 2016

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors - 2 and 4-Show packages available for January shows at La MaMa

The First Floor Theatre at La MaMa
74A East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE