Because everyone's obviously feeling inundated and overwhelmed with all of the political commentary consuming the Internet, I decided this week to give everyone a break, and write something quick and simple about love and romance for Five By Five Hundred instead. Just kidding. It's a metaphor, fool.
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Thom Dunn is a Boston-based writer, musician, and utterly terrible dancer. He is the singer/guitarist for the indie rock/power-pop the Roland High Life, as well as a staff writer for the New York Times’ Wirecutter and a regular contributor at BoingBoing.net. Thom enjoys Oxford commas, metaphysics, and romantic clichés (especially when they involve whiskey), and he firmly believes that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is the single greatest atrocity committed against mankind. He is a graduate of Clarion Writer's Workshop at UCSD ('13) & Emerson College ('08).
Superhero Politics
Instead of the usual political opinions, I tried instead to write a piece that explores politics without being overtly political. Although my editors at Tor were initially hesitant of the controversy, they were ultimately pretty pleased with the product! And so, my latest article at Tor Dot Com explores the centrist politics of Brian K. Vaughan's Superhero-Turned-Mayor-Of-New-York-City epic Ex Machina, which actually takes an impressively (if ultimately depressing) nonpartisan view at the ups and downs of American politics, only with lots more punching and invaders from alternate realities (obvi).
"Ex Machina and the Great Political Machine of Brian K. Vaughan" on Tor Dot Com
All Actors Are Robots (no but seriously)
In an effort to combine my seemingly disparate interests, I pitched an idea for a new column to my editor at Tor.com, focusing on the depiction of sci-fi and fantasy in the world of theatre. People don't typically think of plays as being bastions for weaving elegant tales of aliens and dragons and cyborgs (oh my!), but in fact, you'd be surprised! (In theatre, we just cover up the "genre" gimmick by giving it some pretentious name like "magical realism" or "futurism" etc). Anyway, here's the first of such columns, exploring RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), a Czech play from the early 20th century that actually introduced the word "robot" to the world.
"SFF Onstage: Rossum's Universal Robots" on Tor Dot Com
One Minute Play Festival!
This year, I had the honor of being asked to contribute two plays to the annual One Minute Play Festival, and I have to say, writing a one minute play is a much bigger challenge than you'd expect it to be. The festival hits the stage in January, and I'll share information about the performances when I have it. In the meantime, I posted one of the plays as my weekly post over at Five By Five Hundred, so you can check it out there. Generally speaking, these plays are meant to be open-ended vehicles for the director, more than a chance for the writer to show his stuff, but I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out.
"The Call" at FiveByFiveHundred.com
Awake
I'm sure I'll go back and post my specific feelings about this at length, but my friend Scotty passed away this weekend. For now, instead of getting into the emotional stuff, I shared one of my favorite memories of my Scotty over on Five By Five Hundred, because frankly, it was the only thing I was capable of thinking of. Rest in peace, brother.
"Scotty, Or That Time I Wasn't 21" on FiveByFiveHundred.com
Now Or Later Opening!
Now Or Later officially opened this past Wednesday, and we couldn't be happier with the results! Okay, well, I guess we could a little bit, but overall, the reaction has been pretty fantastic for this "heady and provocative" 75-minute political thriller. So here's a little somethin' I put together to show off the overwhelmingly positive audience reaction, along with some footage from the production itself:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyDJCgUDEKc&w=485&h=273]
Because There's Not Enough Political Bullshit Filling Your Facebook Feed....
...so here's a new video I made about our current production at the Huntington, a prescient new play called Now Or Later that's set on Election Night. While the last piece focused on the First Family drama at the heart of the play, this one explores the eerily relevant politics of the play (which was actually written 5 years ago, but feels like it was written right now. RIGHT NOW). Check it out:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8CR3nXxSCU]
Betrayal Begins
We just started rehearsals today (well, rehearsals in Boston; there were a few preliminary days of tablework in NYC) for our upcoming production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, one of his most highly regarded plays. The show runs November 9 - December 9 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre, under the direction of Maria Aitken aka the mom of the director on SMASH aka the lady from A Fish Called Wanda aka fucking Maria Aitken. Anyway, here's a video I made of our Artistic Director Peter DuBois talking about the production:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOhQBRYb-So&w=485&h=273]
Another Oldie But A Goodie (angsty?)
Not much time to write again today*, after a busy weekend at New York Comic Con that didn't get me back to Boston until midnight, so here's a re-post of an old poem/song I wrote in...I think 2005. Looking back, it's definitely the product of a 19-year-old, but don't think it was necessarily awful, as far as the poetry of 19-year-old Liberal Arts students is concerned. Check back next week for something new!
"Atlantic Avenue" at FiveByFiveHundred.com
*not that I haven't been writing anything at all in the last week, which I have actually quite a lot, but nothing that would be appropriate for 5x500 in either form or content. more articles and/or long form works-in-progress.
Gettin' Personal With Now Or Later
Here's my first short documentary about the American premiere of Christopher Shinn's edgy political drama Now Or Later at the Huntington. This video focuses on the personal family relationships at the heart of the play, which is full of eerily prescient political issues, considering it was written 4 years ago.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ9GLnvEr_8]
The show runs October 12 - November 10 at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA in Boston, and features my good friend (and fellow Emerson alum!) Grant MacDermott in the lead role. You should probably check this one it now or later (now being before Election Day, obviously).
Batman and Robin Will Never Die!
Is there anyone alive who doesn't agree that Batman is totally awesome? No? That's what I thought.
It's also well documented by anyone who's ever met me that I have a serious fascination with comic book writer / chaos magician / Scotsman / rockstar / occasional fictional character Grant Morrison, who, by sheer coincidence, has been guiding the adventures of the Dark Knight for the past 7 years or so as the man behind the pen. The good folks at Tor.com were kind of enough to let me indulge my Morrison obsession and love for clever poetic puzzles, and I re-read his entire story (so far) to provide a critical analysis of what appears to be his deconstruction of the identity of Batman -- both as a symbol or piece of mythology, and as the man himself behind the mask, Bruce Wayne.
This undertaking proved to be much more epic than I had originally anticipated, but I'm still quite pleased with the end results. So check it out, even if you haven't read all of Morrison's Bat-epic (but really, you should probably do that).
"How Grant Morrison’s 7-Year Batman Epic is Becoming the Ultimate Definition of Batman" on Tor Dot Com
Pretentious Poetic Firefly References
Not much time to write for FiveByFiveHundred.com today, as we had a big fancy Open House at the Huntington (stupid having to work on holidays* grrrrr). So instead, I've re-posted a poem that I wrote about 4 years ago or so, about romance, assholes, and Firefly. Because really, what else is there to talk about?
"Mal Means Bad (in the Latin)" on Five By Five Hundred
*All personal moral dilemma with Columbus Day aside.
Basketcase
Truth be told, I've always thought The Fourth Green Day has the best job in the world. He gets to reap all of the benefits of being a rock star, without any of the hassle -- no publicity, no scandals. Hell, he doesn't have to write the songs! He just plays the parts on tour (and let's face it, Green Day doesn't write particularly difficult tunes). But he still gets the chance to stand on stage and rock out to an adoring crowd, and get paid handsomely to do so. If you offered me that gig, I've take it in a heartbeat.
"The Other Guy In Green Day" on Five By Five Hundred
The True Mark Of a Man
Today on Five By Five Hundred, I've written a bit of a response to this asshole who asserts his Christian superiority by calling my girlfriend a whore. Also I felt totally creepy writing this but that's okay.
"The First-And-A-Half Baseman" on Five By FIve Hundred
Now Or Later at the Huntington
Here's my first video featurette on the Huntington's upcoming American premiere of Now Or Later, an edgy political thriller by Christopher Shinn that's set on election night, in which some inappropriate Facebook party photos of the soon-to-be-President's son get leaked to the public. The show runs October 12 - November 10 at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, and features my good friend Grant MacDermott as John, Jr. Here's Artistic Director Peter DuBois discussing the play. (More to come, obvi) [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUKuJiwdiS8&w=480&h=270]
An America / Universe / 12 Colonies / Other Fictional World That We Can Believe In
Judging by Facebook feed, we are now officially in the throes of Election Season. Which is kind of like mating season for most animals, but with more blood, and more assholes. And so to lighten to the mood (read: FURTHER contribute to the orgy of political posts that are currently consuming all of your various news outlets and social feeds), I've compiled a list for Tor Dot Com of my preferred third party options in the 2012 Presidential Election. This whole two-party system is whack, anyway; when do I get to vote for the Jedi Council?
"Ten Great Alternative (Fictional) Political Leaders" on Tor Dot Com
BONUS: This is the single greatest speech ever written in cinematic history. Oh man. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31UUl5SyXk]
50 Shades of (sexy) Pirates
Happy International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day! Woohoo! I mean, uhh, aaaargh argh argh argh me booty n' ye swab wit' me gob in the gonk. I don't know. But I do know that in honor of International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day, I've written an article for Quirk Books on my Top 10 Fictional Pirates of all time. I also know that EL James, author of the bestselling and highly controversial 50 Shades book series, retweeted my article. So if her follow up novel is a Momerotica Pirate epic -- well, now you know who to blame.
"AARGH (Our) Top 10 Favorite Pirates" at Quirk Books
Nonlinear Romance
Today over at Five By Five Hundred, I've included a brief excerpt from a short story & play I'm working on about love and time travel, and an endlessly cyclical relationship where both parties start at different times. (and then of course as I type that I think "ah shit, now everyone's gonna think I'm ripping off of River Song and The Doctor, or I'm trying to re-write The Time Traveler's Wife. Oh well). There might be more from the story next week; or, I might do something entirely different. Who knows! (answer: you do, if you're a time traveler)
"When We First Met (excerpt)" at FiveByFiveHundred.com
Another Good People Video
...this one focusing on the themes of class struggle in America as it pertains to the play. Enjoy! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjN4VqNf5TI&w=480&h=270]
Rock N Roll High School
My newest article for Quirk Books is now live, a breakdown of fictional schools to both increase and decrease the impact of your own September woes. Did I mention that it starts with an epigraph from the greatest television show of all time (also known as The Adventures of Pete & Pete)? 'Cause it does. Now enough dilly-dallying. Go check it out!