The Flow of Imagination: Flux Theatre Ensemble

Featured Member Profile

Flux Theatre Ensemble is a group of multi-faceted theatre artists — playwrights, directors, actors and designers — who reach out into the theatre community with their productions and innovative workshops. Through continual collaboration and the development of imaginative new plays, re-imagined classics, and ensemble-based projects, Flux creates work that is character-driven and uniquely theatrical.

In 2008, the New York Press called Flux “The Best Under-appreciated Indie Theatre Company Whose Work You Should Get Your Ass To”. Through my conversation with Flux co-founder Kelly O’Donnell, I discovered many of the reasons why…

Kelly, can you tell us what type of play Flux might gravitate toward? Or leap on? Or flatly reject?

We tend to like many different kinds of theatre but we generally do not gravitate towards “kitchen sink” plays or plays that are primarily naturalistic. We like highly theatrical plays with extreme and often magical circumstances. Looking back at a few past productions, we have produced Angel Eaters, in which a young girl has the ability to talk to angels and raise people from the dead; Other Bodies, where a man magically becomes a woman overnight; Life is a Dream, the story of a prince who is locked in a tower for his entire life; and Riding the Bull, in which two lovers in Texas find they can predict future bull-riding wins as they have sex. These examples demonstrate our interest in plays that explore the gamut of imagination. This is what makes theatre unique and we embrace that. While our plays tend to be magical, it’s important that the work stem from a truthful place of human need.

But, true to our name, we are constantly in flux and we hope our work and our aesthetic will continue to evolve through time.

I’m struck by the number of workshops that Flux hosts on a regular basis. Who attends these workshops? What comes out of these programs?

Yes, in addition to our main productions we have five other programs:

* Food:Soul – This is our potluck play-reading series and it’s one of my favorite things that we do. We pick a play that we are either interested in possibly producing or a playwright whose work we would like to support, and we present a well-rehearsed staged reading for people in the New York theatre community. Before the reading, our guests are treated to homemade food prepared by Flux members. It’s really a great opportunity for us to get to know new people in the community and it’s always a fun time.

* Flux Sundays – When we are not in production, we hold weekly workshops in which actors, playwrights and directors get together to work on new scenes. Sometimes we’ll do a traditional table reading, but most of the time we get up on our feet. Flux Sundays allow us to grow as artists, develop relationships with new artists and, hopefully, find new plays that Flux will continue to develop and eventually produce. A few of the plays introduced in Flux Sundays have gone on to be produced by Flux and other companies as well.

* Have Another - This is a fun, low-key way for us to bring the indie theatre community together in a relaxed atmosphere: at a bar! We’ve been holding these events in the back room of Jimmy’s 43 in the East Village. Typically we stuff dozens of people into the room and we perform scenes on a little stage.

* ForePlay - This is an exploratory reading series connected to a production. For example, for our production of Adam Szymkowicz’s Pretty Theft, the ForePlay was called “Poetic Larceny”; it was a four-night short play reading series inspired by the themes of Pretty Theft. Playwrights steal three things from the play on before them, only to have three things stolen from them by the next play. ForePlays are another fantastic way to bring the community together. Our most recent one featured short plays from Bekah Brunstetter, Mac Rogers, Johnna Adams and Erin Browne, to name a few.

* Annual Retreats - Every year, Flux members travel to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, for a week at the amazing Little Pond Arts Retreat, where we plan our next season, analyze our core values and aesthetics, continue to develop our organizational structure, work on new plays, cook, sit around the camp fire and try to simply touch base with the fundamental reasons that we are doing theatre together as an ensemble.

Who or what are your biggest influences, either personally or collectively?

That’s a tough one because I think this varies for each member of the company. For me personally, it would be Shakespeare. It feels a bit cliché to name Shakespeare as one’s greatest influence, but I can’t think of another person who created theatre with such an astounding scope. His plays have heightened language, strong-willed characters, mixed form, stage magic – everything that Flux values aesthetically.

What can you tell us about your upcoming production, The Lesser Seductions of History?

The Lesser Seductions of History is a play written specifically for the ensemble that we have been working on together for the past year. It was written by our artistic director, August Schulenburg, and is directed by our managing director, Heather Cohn. The play follows ten lives through each year of the 1960s. It asks the question, “What does it mean to be part of something greater than yourself?” It runs November 6th through 22nd, and we are offering $14 tickets to Fractured Atlas members and readers of the Fractured Atlas blog — just use code “FRAC14” when purchasing your ticket through our website!

Flux is extremely active in the social media world –- you’re blogging, FBing, tweeting. This has to be a huge investment of time when you are busy rehearsing, so I am assuming that you find that it pays off…

Yes, in this day and age we feel it’s necessary to take advantage of social media in order to expand awareness of Flux and to stay active in the theatre community. Our artistic director, August Schulenburg, updates our blog regularly and readership has grown tremendously this past year. We were even cited across the pond in The Guardian’s blog three times this year. Facebook has been a great tool for marketing: not only can we send production information to everyone on our fan page, but each Flux member can send the same info to their friends. Facebook is an invaluable tool and we are definitely starting to feel that our consistent presence in the social media world is paying off.

What has been your greatest success to date?

Oh boy, that’s hard to say. We have had so many successful things happen: like a positive review in the New York Times for Pretty Theft, seven Innovative Theatre Award nominations for Angel Eaters, and two NY Fringe Festival awards. But the thing that I am most proud of is the amount of great work that we have been able to do, with so many artists, in such a short period of time. In just over three years we have managed to produce nine full productions, as well as all the programs I mentioned. Through all of this we have had the opportunity to interact with countless artists and their influence on Flux has been immeasurable. I would say our greatest success has been the impact we have had on the independent theatre community, with very few resources, in such a brief period of time.

What motivated you to become a member of Fractured Atlas? How do you use your Fractured Atlas membership?

We heard about Fractured Atlas through other members of the theatre community and, after researching more, we found FA to be extremely approachable, affordable and a perfect fit for our needs. We knew that we eventually wanted to become a not-for-profit, but we simply didn’t have the resources, time and experience necessary to become our own 501(c)(3). Fractured Atlas’s fiscal sponsorship has been wonderful for us, enabling our donors to make tax-deductible donations.

What’s next on your professional horizon?

After The Lesser Seductions of History, we will be producing Archibald Macleish’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play J.B. in 2010.

How can we experience Flux Theatre Ensemble’s work and learn more about you?

You can go to our website to sign up for our mailing list — our monthly newsletter will update you on everything that is going on with Flux. Our blog and Facebook page are great ways to stay up to date on our work as well. And be sure to come see The Lesser Seductions of History – running Nov 6th through 22nd – and take advantage of the special Fractured Atlas discount when you purchase your ticket through our website by using code “FRAC14”.

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Photos (top to bottom):
1) Cotton Wright in Pretty Theft, 2009. Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum.
2) Ken Glickfeld, Marnie Schulenburg, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Catherine Michele Porter, and Greg Waller in Angel Eaters, 2008. Photo by Justin Hoch.
3) Nitya Vidyasagar in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2008. Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum.
4) Isaiah Tanenbaum, Cotton Wright, and Marnie Schulenburg in Angel Eaters, 2008. Photo by Justin Hoch.