THE TURN OF THE SCREWTAPE 

Some call him Beelzebub, some say Satan, to others he’s Lucifer, and, of course, there’s the good old standard, The Devil. C.S. Lewis, however, referred to him as Screwtape, and built his book The Screwtape Letters around that very character. Now the Fellowship of the Performing Arts Theater Company is bringing Lewis’s much-discussed, much-debated novel back to the off-Broadway stage (the company premiered the piece in 2006), and performances are underway at Theatre at St. Clements. Opening night is Nov. 8. An exploration of the spiritual warfare of souls between heaven and hell as told from the demons’ points of view, The Screwtape Letters features Max McLean in the title role, and co-stars Karen Eleanor Wright. For more info, log onto www.ScrewtapeOnStage.com.

 

SUFFER FOR YOUR ART 

Well, last I checked, we all do, of course, but the characters in Robert Farquhar’s Bad Jazz really suffer. An actress takes a role that puts her sanity at risk; an actor struggles to remain true to his artistic ideals and a director drives his company past the point of treason. It’s all a gleefully raunchy satire that illustrates what can happen when art imitates life and life imitates art. A production of The Play Company, which develops and produces adventurous new plays from the U.S. and all over the world, Bad Jazz features Rob Campbell, Colby Chambers, Darren Goldstein, Marin Ireland, Ryan O’Nan and Susie Pourfar. Performances at Ohio Theatre from Nov. 4 - 25. 212-868-4444.

 

THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE

Every happy family has its secrets — the ones we keep from each other and the ones we keep from ourselves. That’s the premise behind Kathryn Chetkovich’s new play Acts of Love, which takes a look at what happens when a young man brings his new girlfriend home to meet his parents, and in the process unlocks an emotional door that the family has managed to keep closed for 25 years. Guilt, recrimination, blame — ah, there’s nothing like good old-fashioned family values! Acts of Love is a production of Dangerous Arrangement, Inc., and features Andrew Dawson, Andrew Rein, Abby Royle and Diane Tyler; Marc Heller directs. Performances begin Nov. 1 at The Kirk Theatre (Theatre Row.)  212-279-4200. 

 

YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

A lot of glittering young theater talent comes together in The New Group’s latest effort, Things We Want, which is written by Jonathan Marc Sherman (Sophistry) and features Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Peter Dinklage (“The Station Agent”), Josh Hamilton (last season’s The Coast of Utopia) and Zoe Kazan (The New Group’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). And making his off-Broadway directorial debut is Oscar and Tony-nominated actor Ethan Hawke.  One of the fall season’s most eagerly-anticipated shows, Things We Want takes a look at three brothers who reunite in their inherited childhood home.  Compelled to live together again as adults (there’s drama right there), the “boys” are forced to redefine themselves as they pursue the things they want in life.  Opening night is set for Nov. 7 at The New Group @ Theatre Row, and performances continue through Dec. 15. www.thenewgroup.org.

 

Couch Trip: The Ethan Hawke-directed Things We Want is set to open at Theatre Row.

 

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

News just came from Williamstown, Mass., that veteran New York director Nicholas Martin has been named the new artistic director of The Williamstown Theatre Festival, taking over from actor/director Roger Rees, who has been at the helm at WTF for three successful years. Martin, whose many off-Broadway credits include Full Gallop, Observe the Suns of Ulster, Sophistry and many, many others, is currently the Artistic Director of Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company, and will continue his duties there until Spring 2008, when he departs for Williamstown.

 

AROUND TOWN

Certain to whet your appetite, theatrically and otherwise, is Milk ‘n’ Honey, a new play about food and why we eat what we eat. Part fiction, part documentary, the show is a production of LightBox and The Food Theater Project, and performances are underway at The Food Theatre Project at 3LD Art and Technology Center in Lower Manhattan... Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have a new drama on the boards entitled Lucy, written by Damien Atkins, about a high-profile anthropologist who is suddenly forced to care for her estranged — and autistic — teenage daughter. Lisa Emery, Lucy DeVito, Christopher Duva, Keira Naughton and Scott Sowers are featured in the cast; William Carden directs. Performances take place at EST, with opening night set for Nov. 1.

 

SHORT CUTS
By Sarah Ricard

PARTING WAYS

The only thing worse than selling out is selling out and getting fired. Catherine Keener was smart: she left the ranks of high-priestess of independent film to play in “The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” instantly launching her career into a whole new stratosphere of movie star, yet still maintaining her indie street-cred. Parker Posey is equally smart; she maintains her hold on the position of queen of the indie screen, having never really attempted to make the jump to the mainstream. Enter Ryan Gosling, whose sensation in “Half Nelson” guaranteed him a long, healthy indie life. Then, Gosling accepted the role as Jack Salmon in Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones,” based on the best-selling book, despite the fact that he seemed inappropriate for the part. Now, a full beard and twenty pounds later, Gosling has “stepped down” from the role, and a pretty-faced Mark Wahlberg has stepped in. Rumor has it that diva Gosling was so demanding (fighting with wardrobe and insisting on cutting his own hair in typical hipster fashion), that Jackson gave him the ax two days before shooting. Oh, Ryan! Who could tame thee?

 

The Break-Up: Aside from their untamed beards, Peter Jackson and Ryan Gosling apparently have little in common. Rumor has it that Jackson canned Gosling from his latest project.

 

 

ITUNES UPS THE INDIES

Picture it: The Apple Store, December 2005. I graze my hand in awe over a row of video iPods, each mini-screen displaying a different movie, as clear as the day is short. It was a selling point for me, to be sure. Playing movies on the video iPod would be so much more convenient than lugging around that 7” DVD player. Imagine watching “9 to 5” on the subway, first at 9:00 and then at 5:00. But then, after scoring my iPod, there were no movies to be had. Instead I was watching “The Office” to and fro’ the office. There exists a handful of movies on iTunes for sale, but it’s a sad state of affairs when “Zoolander” tops the best-sellers list. Since Hollywood is dragging ass on the digital download front, paralyzed by the fear of piracy, iTunes has turned to the independent film world for distribution opportunities. On November 20, the iTunes store will sell “Purple Violets,” a $4M film by Ed Burns and the first feature to debut exclusively on the iTunes Store. By acquiring indies for distribution, iTunes hopes to breathe life into its struggling movie store. For those of us who actually saw “Purple Violets” play at Tribeca this year, maybe we should just keep our mouths shut, but sadly it wasn’t very good.

 

“NOTE FOR NOTE” COMES TO FORUM

Steinway, the granddaddy of all pianos, is now the star of a new moving and fascinating documentary, “Note for Note: The Making of Steinway L1037,” directed by Ben Niles. Niles, who was inspired by James Barron’s nine-article series in The New York Times on the history of the 150-year-old piano company Steinway and Sons, finds his way into the gritty five-story factory on Astoria’s Steinway Street. “Note for Note” tells the intimate story of the esteemed piano-making business, along with commentary by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Harry Connick Jr., Hélène Grimaud, Kenny Barron, Marcus Roberts, Bill Charlap, Hank Jones and Chinese prodigy Lang Lang on the unique personality and signature sound of Steinway pianos. On November 8 and 9, filmmaker Niles will appear at Film Forum for a Q&A, complementary to the screening of the film. For more info, visit www.filmforum.org.