The Hive and the cell

A Theasy Interview with The Hive’s Artistic Director and co-founder, Matthew A.J. Gregory, the cell’s Artistic Director, Kira Simring, and the cell’s Founding Artistic Director, Nancy Manocherian

by Molly Marinik

This summer, The Hive and the cell join forces to present “The Summer of Lust,” which includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Bad Evidence playing in rep through July. The bill might encompass one old play and one new play, but both fit under the subhead “smoldering portraits of contemporary relationships.” Insert sexy cat noise here.

We sent some questions to The Hive’s Artistic Director and co-founder, Matthew A.J. Gregory (who is also directing Midsummer), to the cell’s Artistic Director, Kira Simring (who is also directing Bad Evidence), and to the cell’s Founding Artistic Director, Nancy Manocherian, to learn more about the joint endeavor. Here’s what they had to say.

THEASY: What are your missions? What are your companies all about?

NANCY: the cell’s mission is to incubate and present new works of art. We are an artist run arts organization dedicated to creating opportunities for artists in all disciplines by providing a nurturing space for individual and collaborative work among the many diverse artists who work in our space.

MATT: The Hive’s mission is about breaking down the traditional theatre hierarchy and empowering all of the artists involved to collaborate on a level playing field. We aren’t at all top down as a company. It’s truly a collective, where actors feel free to make suggestions and to work with set designers on scenery, and a lighting designer can feel comfortable in making a suggestion to an actor about a moment they are playing on stage. While many of our members fall into traditional disciplines, there aren’t the kind of rigid boundaries between roles as there often is in other theatrical endeavors. The Hive firmly believes that if we get the right artists in a room together, someone involved will have the creative solution to any problem that comes along. It is the second half of our mission, “building and serving the community through play,” that I think makes the Hive unique however. We believe in play in every sense of the word, and we are all about our community. We don’t just produce plays, we also host bar nights of drinking and merriment, themed one-night events, and a variety of other programming that falls outside of traditional theatre. Play is the unifying factor in all that we do, for audiences and for ourselves. We want audiences and artists alike to use plays and play as a way to grow into an ever enlarging community.

THEASY: How long have your organizations been around? How did they begin?

NANCY: the cell been around five years and has had the current space for three years.

MATT: The Hive just celebrated its first year in existence in March 2011. The Hive was actually born at the cell. About two years ago at the cell, I directed and co-adapted a modern reinterpretation of Moliere’s The Hypochondriac, which exposed the ills of America’s pill-pushing, dysfunctional health care system. Many of the members of the Hive were the cast, crew and designers in that show. We all had an extraordinary experience working together on The Hypochondriac. We found ourselves in a uniquely joyful and ego-free experience where everyone involved were able to contribute to creating a fantastic show. That production garnered fantastic reviews, and since [then], other theatres and schools have expressed interest in producing the adaptation we all crafted. In fact, a high school in Colorado did our adaptation in May, and we couldn’t be happier that the work is inspiring communities elsewhere in the U.S. Quite simply, everyone involved in The Hypochondriac wanted to continue to play and expand our community of artists and audiences. So far, it’s been a wild and exciting ride!

NANCY: the cell welcomes innovative theater, such as the Hive has brought to the cell. We hope their residency with us will lead them to even greater horizons to which their company aspires.

THEASY: This summer you’re presenting A Midsummer Night’s Dream in rep with Bad Evidence. We’re probably all pretty familiar with Midsummer, but what is Bad Evidence about?

KIRA: Bad Evidence centers around a married couple struggling with the essential closeness and isolation of marriage. A truth-telling session explodes first in their bedroom and then in their social circle.

THEASY: Since the productions are together titled “A Summer of Lust,” can you elaborate on how the shows complement each other under this theme?

KIRA: Both shows deal with the themes of marriage and power. In Bad Evidence, imploding marriages lead to exploding secrets. In our production of Midsummer, secrets lead to an explosion [of] conventional values.

NANCY: We are truly dedicated to presenting new works and new takes on traditional works. We believe the two shows together will yield some interesting discussions!

THEASY: Your Midsummer offers Hermia and Lysander as lesbian lovers and Demetrius and Helena as a gay couple. Was the initial goal to look at sexual orientation through Shakespeare, or was it to use Midsummer to provoke something socially relevant? In other words, what came first, the desire to do this piece or the angle with which to look at the characters and their relationships?

KIRA: Nancy’s idea was to create “Shakespeare in the Rear” which was the inspiration for the choice to do a new take on a classic.

MATT: The old chicken and the egg question…well, to be completely honest we decided to do Midsummer before any concept was discussed and I didn’t want to direct it. [I wasn’t interested] in directing yet another iteration of the ubiquitous Midsummer everyone has come to expect. I didn’t want to direct a fluffy comedy with cute fairies in butterfly wings. I just felt like Midsummer had been done too often and was so steeped in cliché that I didn’t want to go anywhere near it. The Hive, however, is a collective and the group wanted to do the play this summer at the cell, and they wanted me to direct. So, I re-read the play and it all became clear: Midsummer’s central conflict revolves around choice in marriage and if we were going to produce Midsummer in Chelsea in this day and age then the play’s social relevance had to be through the lens of same-sex marriage. Marriage equality is very important to our community, and it is a very important civil rights issue in the modern day. We couldn’t be more excited that the Marriage Equality Act is now law in New York, and it is such a privilege to be performing this unique take on Midsummer in the wake of that landmark legislation.

READ MORE HERE

by Scott Stiffler

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Maybe the prophets of doom were right. How else do you account for the fact that just over a week after marriage equality came to New York, this modern reimagining of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” casts Hermia and Lysander as lesbian lovers (with Demetrius and Helena as a gay couple). What, nobody gets married to their cousin or a dog? Maybe they’re saving that one for the inevitable “Midsummer Night’s Sequel.” Meantime, get back to nature without leaving the city — as the action moves from the cell theatre’s magnificent townhouse interior to its brand new outdoor garden salon. Along the way, you’ll eavesdrop on the lovers’ randy, romantic, scandalous journey from a lavish high-society gala to a wild outdoor bacchanal of every fetish imaginable (attended by filled delectable and dangerous fairies — and that’s just the audience!). By the time it’s all sorted out, you’ll emerge with a full summer’s night worth of post-show cocktail conversation about sexual orientation, gender norms and power.

At the cell (338 W. 23rd St., btw. 8th & 9th Aves.). At 8pm on July 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 23, 28, 29 and 31. At 2pm on July 10, 16, 24 and 30. For tickets ($18 general; $15 for students/seniors, with code “summeroflust”), visit brownpapertickets.com or call 800-838-3006. Also visit thecelltheatre.org andthehivetheatre.com.

The Hive Theatre presents an evening masquerade party that includes a Murder Mystery Game. Hive members will play the characters in the game including victims and the murderer. Guests of the party will have the opportunity to solve the crime. The Murder Mystery will begin around 7p.

Doors open for Cocktail Hour at 6PM.

An additional hour of music, prizes and entertainment will commence upon completion of the mystery at approximately 8:30PM.

There will be Prizes, Silent Auctions, Music & Cheap Drinks Provided.

Buy your ticket through Brown Paper Tickets and receive one free drink on us!

$10
click above link to purchase tickets!

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Scenario for The Game:

Dear Patron:

Matthew A.J. Gregory, Artistic Director of The Hive Theatre, is looking for backers for his upcoming Broadway debut: “Death of a Salesman II: The Rise of Willy Loman” – A Zombie Musical. In return for financing his project, Mr. Gregory will feature YOU in his show. It’s a KILLER proposition…so be there.

Formal, Costumed or Campy & Over the Top Attire is Strongly Encouraged.

SUMMER OF LUST…

Directed by Matthew Gregory

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, which casts Hermia and Lysander as lesbian lovers with Demetrius and Helena as a gay couple. This is not your grandmother’s MIDSUMMER, but a MIDSUMMER for 21^st century NYC.  This production exposes contemporary America’s sexual hang-ups and resistance to gay marriage.   Concepts of what constitutes gender, sexual-orientation and power will be explored and exploded!

with

RON BOPST*, CHRIS CRITELLI*, LEKETHIA DALCOE, SAMUEL GAINES*, FERNANDO GAMBARONI*, KATIE GOULD, SHIRA GREGORY*, MEGHAN GRACE O’LEARY*, RYAN LEE*, SEAN LOFTUS, MARISSA PARNESS,

GLENN QUENTIN, GUY RADER, MICHAEL RAVER*, ASHLEY DENISE ROBINSON, CAMERON SMITH, CHEN TANG, ALAN WINNER*, PAMELA WEINGARDEN

*Performing Courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association. AEA approved showcase.

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July 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 23, 28, 29 and 31 at 8pm

July 10, 16, 24 and 30 at 2pm

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Tickets

$18 – General Admission

$15 – Students / Seniors (password: summeroflust)

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TDF Vouchers for the Performing Arts accepted

Please email: info@thecelltheatre.org  to reserve your seat with a voucher

A modern re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, casts Hermia and Lysander as lesbian lovers with Demetrius and Helena as a gay couple. This is not your grandmother’s MIDSUMMER, but a MIDSUMMER for 21^st century NYC.

In BAD EVIDENCE a faltering marriage compels a husband and wife to make a pact – to confess searing truths in the heat of passion.  The exposure leads to a confrontation with four of their friends, and even deeper revelations.

________________________________

Tickets

$18 – General Admission

$15 – Students / Seniors (password: summeroflust)

__________________________________

TDF Vouchers for the Performing Arts accepted

Please email: info@thecelltheatre.org  to reserve your seat with a voucher

The Hive Exposed Series presents

AN AMERICAN FAMILY TAKES A LOVER

by Amina Henry

The Hive Theatre Company is pleased to present The Hive Exposed Series; staged readings of new and underexposed plays.

The second in this series is a benefit staged reading of Amina Henry’s AN AMERICAN FAMILY TAKES A LOVER.

All proceeds are to benefit the Hive Theatre Company’s mission to foster the creative growth of new and underexposed playwrights.

6:30pm Doors

7pm Show

FREE ADMISSION, Tickets on a first come fist serve basis

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with

ALMERIA CAMPBELL – Justine

BOB JAFFE – Richard David

ELIZABETH MASON – Lady Anne

VICTOR CRUZ – Thomas

An American Family Takes A Lover is the story of a dysfunctional family in modern day America. Richard David and Lady Anne, a loving couple, have a slave named Justine. The three of them are on the verge of celebrating their five year anniversary as a family. A handyman named Thomas arrives to fix a mysterious hole in the wall and while doing this, befriends Justine. This friendship causes to Justine to consider her freedom from her slavery for the first time in a long time. Will cake baking, swimming lessons, Truth or Dare and Obama be enough to encourage Justine to leave the only home she’s ever known and strike out on her own? An American Family Takes A Lover, with wicked humor, examines The Stockholm Syndrome through a racial and sexual lens.

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Matthew A.J. Gregory – Artistic Director

Kira Simring – Director

Amina Henry – Playwright

Show’s website:  www.thehivetheatre.com

PANAMA

By Mike Folie

The Hive Theatre Company is pleased to present The Hive Exposed Series; staged readings of new and underexposed plays.  The first in this series is a benefit staged reading of Mike Folie’s PANAMA.

All proceeds are to benefit the Hive Theatre Company’s mission to foster the creative growth of new and underexposed playwrights.

6:30pm Doors

7pm Show

FREE ADMISSION, Tickets on a first come fist serve basis

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Its Monty Python meets Samuel Beckett.  PANAMA is a hysterically funny absurdist comedy about life, love and cheese.

A middle-aged Man becomes so enraged when his Doctor tells him he will die someday that he embarks on a cross-country crime spree while desperately searching for California scientists whom, he believes, will enable him to live forever.

Along the way he and his Wife pick up a pair of Gen-X hitchhikers and a WWII-era generation couple who may or may not be Man’s parents. They all find what they are looking for at Happy Days, the new Samuel Beckett theme park at Disneyland, when they come face to face with the Scientist who promises to make them immortal.

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“[Panama’s] off-the-wall humor is hysterically funny. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the
laughter starts slowly but picks up steam, until it sweeps through the audience like an avalanche.
–Long Beach Press Telegram

“Folie is lavishly gifted, firing off nonsequitors and references like Eugene Ionesco rifling
through Al Franken’s mail . . . a gut-busting agit-prop fracas.”
–The Los Angeles Times
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Matthew A.J. Gregory – Artistic Director

Diana Glazer – Director

Mike Folie – Playwright

Show’s website:  www.thehivetheatre.com

a fundraiser and promo for the Hive Theatre Company’s upcoming reinvention of Moliere’s THE SCAMS OF SCAPIN set in a struggling Vaudeville theatre during Prohibition-era NYC

The Hive’s Hush-Hush Speakeasy Fundraiser will transport the audience back to a 1931 speakeasy; dancing girls, hooch and fun for all (as long as you know the password). The evening will feature scenes from the upcoming production, as well as a variety of Vaudeville performances from jazz singers to juggling jokesters.  Featured performers at the event are Shira Gregory (FROST/NIXON on Broadway), Chris Critelli (Lincoln Center’s Songbook Series), Kyle Haggerty (current New York Innovative Theatre Award nominee for his work in last season’s THE HYPOCHONDRIAC), Douglas Scott Sorenson (also nominated for a NY Innovative Theatre Award for his work in THE HYPOCHONDRIAC, because the Hive really knows how to do Moliere!), and many more (the list of top-notch performers is growing!).

brownpapertickets.com/event/125053

(no tickets will be sold at the door)

Tickets are $20 and include your password to get into the joint as well as your first drink free!

presents

THE HYPOCHONDRIAC

For 3 weeks in November!

Warning: Laughter may be hazardous to your health

This contemporary adaptation of Moliere’s wacky bedside circus is a smart satire of our current state of health and health care.

ARGAN – Chris Harcum*
TOINETTE – Vivienne Leheny*
ANGELIQUE – Shira Gregory*
BELINE – Cate Bottiglione
BONNEFOI/BARRY – Douglas Scott Sorenson*
CLAY – Chris Critelli*
NURSE FLORENCE/DR. DIAFOIRUS – Sheila Jones
THOMAS DIAFOIRUS/DR. PURGON – Kyle Haggerty

* denotes members of Actors Equity Association

Co-adaptors from the original Moliere – Matthew A.J. Gregory, Shira Gregory, Chris Harcum and Greg Tito
Scenic Designer: Justin Couchara
Lighting Designer: Nick Gonsman
Costume Designer: Adam Coffia
Sound/Video Design: Justin Stasiw
Stage Manager: Katy Moore

$18.00

Buy Tickets here!

NYTheatre.com PODCAST about the show!