Ted Witzel's guest appearances

Ted Witzel

The House of Rebels Podcast

My Entertainment World

Henry V

Nico Tortorella

Frank Turner

Julius Caesar

Richard III

Henry VIII

Titus Andronicus

James Graham

Richard II

Kelly Bedard

Henry IV

Henry VI

Clay Keller

Matthew McKenzie

Jerri Manthey

OwlTail

With the help of some of the best and brightest Shakespeare fans in the world, we’re diving deep into 38 plays in 35 episodes (Henrys IV &amp; VI only get one episode a piece; sorry, Bill). In every episode of The Shakespeare Series, I’ll be joined by a different guest (or guests) to discuss a different play in the canon- from the big picture to the tiniest nerdy detail. We have guests lined up who’ve appeared in title roles on the biggest national stages and others who’ve played messengers in 20-person houses; actors, directors, scholars, and even a stage manager, calling in from Stratford, Manila, Boston, Berlin, New York, Niagara, Newfoundland, Washington DC and, of course, Toronto. Every one of them knows their stuff and every one of them was chosen for exactly one reason- a big, bold, unapologetic love of the bard. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes so you don’t miss an episode.  Fun fact: Ted Witzel was the first theatre artist I ever interviewed. I was still in school with barely a dozen reviews under my belt when I found myself standing on an Ossington sidewalk chatting with this monumentally intelligent Germany-obsessed enfant terrible about his original translation of Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck as he chain smoked and panicked about a lost cash box. I was terrified but that interaction was also incredibly formative as Ted Witzel’s work with his company the red light district would become a tentpole of this site’s early coverage (there are five Canadian theatre artists I closely associate with our origin story, Ted is one of them). He doesn’t scare me anymore (well, maybe a little) but Ted remains one of the most fascinating people to talk theatre with, especially Shakespeare because his compulsion to pull everything off its pedestal is what discussions about Shakespeare really need. As a director, Ted likes to take a text other people think of as broken and tear it apart to find something true inside. That’s what he did with the rarely produced and ill-loved comedy All’s Well That Ends Well for Canadian Stage’s 2016 Shakespeare in High Park so that’s the play I assigned him for his Shakespeare Series episode. Don’t Miss: Matthew Edison on Hamlet Lauren Horejda on The Merchant of Venice Jessi McCarthy &amp; Owen Schmitt on Timon of Athens James Graham on King Lear Nicanor Campos on Cymbeline Scott Garland on As You Like It Marcel Stewart on Macbeth Jeannette Lambermont-Morey on The Winter’s Tale The post Shakespeare Series: All’s Well That Ends Well w/ Ted Witzel appeared first on My Entertainment World.

With the help of some of the best and brightest Shakespeare fans in the world, we’re diving deep into 38 plays in 35 episodes (Henrys IV &amp; VI only get one episode a piece; sorry, Bill). In every episode of The Shakespeare Series, I’ll be joined by a different guest (or guests) to discuss a different play in the canon- from the big picture to the tiniest nerdy detail. We have guests lined up who’ve appeared in title roles on the biggest national stages and others who’ve played messengers in 20-person houses; actors, directors, scholars, and even a stage manager, calling in from Stratford, Manila, Boston, Berlin, New York, Niagara, Newfoundland, Washington DC and, of course, Toronto. Every one of them knows their stuff and every one of them was chosen for exactly one reason- a big, bold, unapologetic love of the bard. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/my-entertainment-world/id1110905002" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes so you don’t miss an episode.  Fun fact: <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2014/03/ted-witzel-ii/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ted Witzel</a> was the first theatre artist I ever interviewed. I was still in school with barely a dozen reviews under my belt when I found myself standing on an Ossington sidewalk chatting with this monumentally intelligent Germany-obsessed enfant terrible about his original translation of Georg Buchner’s <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2010/06/the-mad-world-of-the-rld/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Woyzeck</a> as he chain smoked and panicked about a lost cash box. I was terrified but that interaction was also incredibly formative as Ted Witzel’s work with his company the red light district would become a tentpole of this site’s early coverage (there are five Canadian theatre artists I closely associate with our origin story, Ted is one of them). He doesn’t scare me anymore (well, maybe a little) but Ted remains one of the most fascinating people to talk theatre with, especially Shakespeare because his compulsion to pull everything off its pedestal is what discussions about Shakespeare really need. As a director, Ted likes to take a text other people think of as broken and tear it apart to find something true inside. That’s what he did with the rarely produced and ill-loved comedy All’s Well That Ends Well for Canadian Stage’s 2016 Shakespeare in High Park so that’s the play I assigned him for his Shakespeare Series episode. Don’t Miss: <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2017/11/sspod-hamlet/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Matthew Edison on Hamlet</a> <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2017/11/sspod-merchant/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lauren Horejda on The Merchant of Venice</a> <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2017/11/sspod-timon/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jessi McCarthy &amp; Owen Schmitt on Timon of Athens</a> <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2017/11/sspod-lear/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">James Graham on King Lear</a> <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2018/03/sspod-cymbeline/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nicanor Campos on Cymbeline</a> <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2018/04/sspod-ayli/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scott Garland on As You Like It</a> <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2019/05/sspod-macbeth/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marcel Stewart on Macbeth</a> <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2019/10/sspod-winters-tale/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jeannette Lambermont-Morey on The Winter’s Tale</a> The post <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2019/11/sspod-alls-well/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shakespeare Series: All’s Well That Ends Well w/ Ted Witzel</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Entertainment World</a>.

Shakespeare Series: All’s Well That Ends Well w/ Ted Witzel

House of Rebels had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Ted Witzel and talk about his upcoming work on the continuing Lulu series, with Lulu v.5, coming to Buddies in Bad Times on April 22nd and 23rd. The Lulu series is an adaptation of Frank Wedekind's texts The Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, about an exotic dancer's climbing of the social ladder, her eventual fall from grace, and her final encounter with a well-known serial killer. It's a problematic text from a modern viewpoint, and a fascinating story about why Ted is re-staging it. Ted Witzel is a graduate of the MFA Directing Program at York University that is partnered with Canadian Stage. He is a pioneering theatre creator, Artistic Director and co-founder of red light district theatre, and as you'll be able to tell from my discussion with him, a theatrical philosopher.From this description, and any additional reading you'll find about Ted, you might be tempted to think of him as a high brow, capital-T, Theatre Director - and all of the cartoonish stereotypes that might conjure with it. I hope you'll believe me when I say that this is the furthest thing from the truth. Ted is an eloquent speaker to be certain, and he's a complete nerd when it comes to avant-garde theatre (by his own admission) but he is completely down to earth and engaging to listen to. He's in fact so down to earth that our entire interview was conducted while sitting cross-legged on a cement floor in the lobby of their rehearsal studio while people with implausibly loud shoes walked by every two minutes, and when he should have been enjoying his lunch break instead of talking to me.Ted's work is political and thought-provoking yes, but it's also very funny. Is it funny because of the absurdity of what's happening on stage? Or because he maintains a dialogue between the performers on stage and their captive audience? Sometimes it all comes down to a well timed crass joke. It's a different laugh every time. Ted understands that while art can make statements, it doesn't have to be a lecture - theatre can actually be entertaining. To quote the red light district's manifesto, "the only bad reaction is boredom." He also can't be called precious about his work or - in even broader terms - his craft. To again quote his company's manifesto, "theatre is low art, is trash, is filth. theatre is at its best when it is most earnest about its desperation to please." Lulu v.5 plays April 22nd at 8pm and April 23rd at 2:30pm at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Click here for information on tickets.

House of Rebels had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Ted Witzel and talk about his upcoming work on the continuing Lulu series, with Lulu v.5, coming to Buddies in Bad Times on April 22nd and 23rd. The Lulu series is an adaptation of Frank Wedekind's texts The Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, about an exotic dancer's climbing of the social ladder, her eventual fall from grace, and her final encounter with a well-known serial killer. It's a problematic text from a modern viewpoint, and a fascinating story about why Ted is re-staging it. Ted Witzel is a graduate of the MFA Directing Program at York University that is partnered with Canadian Stage. He is a pioneering theatre creator, Artistic Director and co-founder of <a href="http://theredlightdistrict.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">red light district theatre</a>, and as you'll be able to tell from my discussion with him, a theatrical philosopher.From this description, and any additional reading you'll find about Ted, you might be tempted to think of him as a high brow, capital-T, Theatre Director - and all of the cartoonish stereotypes that might conjure with it. I hope you'll believe me when I say that this is the furthest thing from the truth. Ted is an eloquent speaker to be certain, and he's a complete nerd when it comes to avant-garde theatre (by his <a href="http://buddiesinbadtimes.com/blog/some-thoughts-on-the-lifespans-of-mayflies-and-emerging-artists/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">own admission</a>) but he is completely down to earth and engaging to listen to. He's in fact so down to earth that our entire interview was conducted while sitting cross-legged on a cement floor in the lobby of their rehearsal studio while people with implausibly loud shoes walked by every two minutes, and when he should have been enjoying his lunch break instead of talking to me.Ted's work is political and thought-provoking yes, but it's also very funny. Is it funny because of the absurdity of what's happening on stage? Or because he maintains a dialogue between the performers on stage and their captive audience? Sometimes it all comes down to a well timed crass joke. It's a different laugh every time. Ted understands that while art can make statements, it doesn't have to be a lecture - theatre can actually be entertaining. To quote the red light district's manifesto, "the only bad reaction is boredom." He also can't be called precious about his work or - in even broader terms - his craft. To again quote his company's manifesto, "theatre is low art, is trash, is filth. theatre is at its best when it is most earnest about its desperation to please." Lulu v.5 plays April 22nd at 8pm and April 23rd at 2:30pm at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. <a href="http://buddiesinbadtimes.com/event/lulu-v-5/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here for information on tickets</a>.

Interview: Ted Witzel on LULU v.5