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IN BRIEF:

Rude Mechs Selected as Resident Theatre Company

Rude Mechs is thrilled to begin a three-year residency at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance as their Resident Theatre Company. We look forward, through this partnership, to enhancing educational resources for Theatre and Dance students by providing opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students to interact with a professional theatre company and receive training in the areas of creation, production, and administration, with a focus on devised ensemble creation.

Rude Mechs has a long and strong history of engaging with students throughout the City of Austin, and around the country, and are eager to further strengthen our ties with the University and its talented student body.

Support Rude Mechs and the Visual Arts – go E.A.S.T.

We know you’ve already got the Eastside Artist Studio Tour (EAST) on your calendar for November 10,11, 17 & 18. As you gallery hop on Tillery St, be sure to stop at Michael Yates Design (Stop #134 at 618 Tillery St). Once you’ve fallen in love with his refined tables, chairs, and cabinets, ask him to design your perfect new bedroom set or living room chair. Michael joined the Board of Directors this year and when you mention Rude Mechs as you commission a new piece, he’ll generously donate a portion of that commission in support of the current season.

"EAST is the only opportunity that most people have to see the working studios of artists. Of course it’s a great time to see fresh work too, but there’s something more interesting and quite personal about seeing the process and space where the artist works on a day to day (and night to night) basis. And every year I find something right around the corner from my spot that I was totally unaware of before, it’s so dense over here with artists that you can literally cruise around the East Side and just accidentally bump into something exceptional." – Michael Yates

New York Friends – Come Visit Us!

Dionysus in 69 tours to New York Live Arts

Please join us at our re-creation of Richard Schechner and The Performance Group’s Dionysus in 69 presented by New York Live Arts as part of their Replay Series.

Nov 6 at 7:30PM Preview
Nov 7 – 10 at 7:30PM, Nov 9 at 10:30PM
Nov 8 at 6:30 Come Early Conversation: The (Re)performance of Discussing “Dionysus in 69”. Moderated by original conceiver /director Richard Schechner and production directors Shawn Sides and Madge Darlington.
Nov 9 Stay Late Discussion*

Directed by Richard Schechner and created collectively by The Performance Group (TPG), Dionysus in 69 is widely regarded as one of the germinal works of American experimental performance. Influenced by the work of Jerzy Grotowski, Happenings, the Freedom Movement, and a "birth ritual" from West Irian (part of the island of New Guinea), Schechner and TPG radically interpreted The Bacchae as both a celebration of ecstasy and a critique of false prophets.

In December 2009, Rude Mechs remounted this legendary work, offering Austin theatre-goers an extraordinary opportunity to relive history. Rude Mechs faithfully recreated the original Performance Group production, using Brian de Palma’s filmed version of the play as well as the 1970 book, Dionysus in 69, as source materials.

Dionysus in 69 was the first production in Rude Mechs’ Contemporary Classics series, focused on producing exact re-enactments of significant, experimental performances from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s that radically influenced the work of contemporary performance artists, dancers, and theatre makers. Because all performances are ephemeral, and avant-garde performances even more so, most people never experience these germinal works. Rude Mechs remounts these productions as closely as possible to the originals to share these works with our Austin audience, to educate ourselves, and to celebrate 40 years of experimental (and "environmental") theatre, by experiencing and learning about Dionysus in 69 in the deepest way – through its performance.

"’Dionysus in 69′ is strong stuff, but anyone who wants to know where the modern theatre is going will have to see it." —The New York Times, June 7, 1968

"Cunning. Joyful. Transcendent. Theatre at its absolute best." Austin Chronicle, 2009

Rude Mechs adds Scene Shop to our Scenic Coop

As you may already know, Rude Mechs has been managing a Scenic Coop at The Off Center since 2008, a sort of lending library furnishing the entire performance community access to free materials for their scenic needs. It was the brainchild / Master’s Thesis of Co-Artistic Director, Thomas Graves. A few years ago, Salvage Vanguard got a TCG grant to support the Coop, which is also being managed at their venue.

And now, we are thrilled to announce the addition of a fully operational Scenic Shop to the Coop, run by the fabulous Scott Guthrie. This Scene Shop will be available for low rent to the Austin theater community, whom we love.