Thursday, May 13, 2010
Uncategorized New theater company gives Atlanta Pinch n' Ouch
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Thu, May 13, 2010 at 5:58 PM
I first heard of Atlanta's newest theater company, Pinch n' Ouch Theatre, during the post-play Q&A for How Theater Failed America on April 4. Apparently Mike Daisey's monologue on the sorry state of contemporary stagecraft did not dissuade New York transplants Grant McGowen and Bree Dawn Shannon from launching the new troupe.
Pinch n' Ouch was founded in New York in 2008 by McGowen, Shannon and other Big Apple-based actors. According to McGowen, the company's producing artistic director, “The name “Pinch and Ouch” comes from a phrase which legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner used to teach actors how to respond truthfully under imaginary circumstances. Meisner believed firmly in the importance of listening and placing the actor's focus onto another person, allowing self-consciousness little time to develop.”
The company’s New York credits include McGowen’s play Tits & Assets, a dark comedy about sex addiction on Wall Street, as well as such one-acts as one-acts: "Hopeful Girl," "Hack Accident," "Luncheonette," and the Strawberry One-Act Festival "Best Play" "Hearts Gamble" by Kee Leshon. Recently McGowen and Shannon (a couple off-stage) recently moved to Atlanta, citing “its diversity, its potential for growth and the need for the arts,” although the company intends to keep in touch with its New York roots and plans a world premiere production in 2011.
Pinch n’ Ouch’s Atlanta inaugural show will be the caustic comedy reasons to be pretty (June 9-27 on the Alliance Hertz Stage) which became the first Broadway production for filmmaker/playwright Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men) in 2008. Sean Gallagher directs Jacob York, Rachel Richards, McGowen and Shannon in the Tony-winning play about modern culture’s obsession with physical appearances, completing LaBute’s trilogy that began with The Shape of Things. (which, coincidentally, launched Atlanta's Relativity Theatre in 2004).
In the Fall of 2010, Pinch n’ Ouch plans to stage Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan (best known for the lovely comedy You Can Count on Me), and McGowen plans to launch a full season of productions for 2011.
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