Zachary Fernebok will tell you unequivocally that fantasy is his genre of choice. Drawing inspiration as
much from cult-classic video games like the Monkey Island series as dramatists like George F. Walker, Fernebok has penned two new plays that will be performed in the next two weeks. The playwright-in-residence for American Ensemble Theater's third season, Fernebok offers Navigating Turbulence, a one-act to that the troupe will perform with David Mamet's Bobby Gould In Hell. Fernebok's full- length The Pirate Laureate of Port Town gets a staged reading in D.C. on June 6 followed by a a two- week run with the L.A.-based Mutineer Theatre Company.
Fernebok first met AET's artistsic director, Martin Blank, a few years back as a student at The Writer’s Center. He continued to impress Blank as the script-writer for American Voices, a project staged at The National Portrait Gallery, in which noteworthy Americans, Charles Lindbergh among them, grappled with their deaths. Navigating Turbulence is a spin- off of that project. When Blank commissioned Fernebok to write a curtain-raiser for the 75-minute Bobby Gould In Hell, stipulating only that the setting remain the same, Fernebok returned to Lindbergh's story. Fernebok says he is equally fascinated by Lindberg "having to be a national hero" and the "psychological ramifications for him after the kidnapping of his child." The kidnapping, Fernebok imagines, "sent him down a really twisted path that he couldn't ever really navigate."
"For a short play I've actually done quite a few drafts," says Fernebok. "It's been very difficult to write. I never wrote a one-man show before. At times it felt limiting, at times it felt like I could...do anything. One actor is a very valuable and scary tool at the same time."
Read more Zachary Fernebok’s Gamer Approach to Writing Plays
No way is the city done mourning the Godfather of Go-Go. There's no official word yet on arrangements for Chuck Brown's funeral, but Mike DeBonis reports:
According to daughter Cherita Whiting, plans are in place for an all-day public viewing at the Howard Theatre next Tuesday, May 29. A funeral service will follow on Thursday, May 31. The venue has not been determined, but Whiting said it is likely to be held at either the Washington Convention Center or Verizon Center.
But over email, Brown's manager, Tom Goldfogle, writes:
The details regarding the viewing and services for Mr. Brown are still being finalized and are subject to change until they are finalized both in date and location.
...
We are working around the clock to finalize. We are hoping [to make an announcement] tomorrow, definately this week.
Read more Chuck Brown’s Funeral May Be Next Week
For most D.C. residents, the Potomac River is the lazy body of water that’s a little less smelly than the Anacostia, or at least clean enough to float rafts of party boats on summer Saturdays. For a history geek like Garrett Peck, who lives in Arlington, it’s the story of America: Invading armies had to cross it, construction materials for the Capitol had to travel on it, new residents had to drink from it (that was possible, once). Having exhausted his first area of expertise—the social history of alcohol, on which he’s already published three books—Peck has just finished The Potomac River: A History and Guide, an exploration of Washington’s primary waterway, all the way from West Virginia to the Chesapeake watershed. Make your next tubing trip a little more educated. Garrett Peck discusses his book at 7 p.m. at One More Page Books, 2200 N. Westmoreland St., Arlington. Free. (703) 300-9746. (Lydia DePillis)
FILM
Outdoor-movie season is almost in full effect. How do we know? Well, tonight, NoMa Summer Screen kicks off a summer of movies about the apocalypse. Yay, summer! This evening's film: the natural-disaster flick The Day After Tomorrow. Grab a spot at Loree Grand Field starting at 7 p.m., but be sure to follow the NoMa BID's Twitter in case the movie is canceled due to rain. 2nd and L streets NE. Free.
Read more ToDo ToDay: Outdoor Movies and the Potomac River
Jeff Chang on the legacy of Chuck Brown [Grantland]
Spin interviews Fat Trel [Spin]
Robyn will DJ not one, but two sets at U Street Music Hall July 8 [Post]
BuzzFeed will open a D.C. bureau. LOLcats for everyone! [FishbowlDC]
A chat with 826DC director Joe Callahan [Huffington Post D.C.]
Glad to have you back, Panda Head Magazine. Morgan West's six-year-old operation—which began as a street-style blog and evolved into a sharply designed online magazine—has released its sixth issue, and it features some pretty swanky-looking fashion editorials, which perhaps is your thing. Or maybe donuts are: Photographer Victoria F. Gaitán has posed her gallerista pin-ups with bacon, mysterious goos, and a pig's head, but for Panda Head she seems to have come to her inspiration by way of Krispy Kreme.
Also in the issue: Photos and illustrations by Lauren Friedman, fashion shoots around town, and a pair of inventive videos creatively embedded into the magazine layout. Kudos especially to Erik Loften for his video "Avon Pl." which nicely upends the linear arc of a fashion show.
In an email, West writes that she, Loften, and Kate Green began working on this version of the issue in early March. "We actually have a 'Lost' Issue 6 that we were planning on getting out a year or so ago that for various reasons (work, life, harddrives, etc) never saw the light of day," she writes. "We're thinking about revisiting some of that content for Issue 7, but yeah – it's been a couple of years since Issue 5, so we were really excited to get back into it.""
Read more Panda Head Magazine Releases Its Sixth Issue
Tryst has opened up a cafe outpost at the Phillips Museum. Can Tryst make it work? The museum has tried in the past partnering with various vendors to run its in-house cafe. A few years back, the Phillips even made something of an exhibit out of it: "this is not that CAFÉ," a disastrously named show in which a group of artists kind of took over the space, mostly by setting up pseudo-board games. The show wasn't all bad: Artist Elaine Tin Nyo challenged former Inn at Little Washington chef Jordan Lichman to take an un orderable item (in this case, a wheel of Tête de Moine cheese) and make it into a dish. And so Lichman did: He made a cheese wheel–shaped almond cake that was only missing a girolle.
The Tryst arrangement sounds more straightforward than all that. Are they serving those little animal crackers to Phillips visitors who order coffee? I'd count that as a win.
Jonathan Adler, a potter whose cheerful pieces have built a design empire since he began selling his work at Barney’s New York in 1993, has reached the point where he can design anything he wants. His massive product catalog now spans ceramics, rugs, textiles, and Cottonelle toilet paper-roll covers. Bright colors and geometric patterns are the most obvious signature of his work, but Adler’s stuff has a sly, subversive side, too, exemplified by the colorful, striped stoneware canisters painted with the words “quaaludes” and “ganja,” or a porcelain lamp base that looks like a floral ladycrotch. Tonight, Adler speaks at the Corcoran to promote the opening of his Georgetown store, one of 18 worldwide. If anything, the growth of his “Happy Chic” dynasty might be seen as a positive economic indicator; if we’re not climbing out of a recession, how can you explain the growth in the $150 dachshund bookends sector? Jonathan Adler speaks at 7 p.m. at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th Street NW. $15 for nonmembers. corcoran.org. (202) 639-1700. (Brooke Hatfield)
Read more ToDo ToDay: Happy Chic
National Museum of Natural History developing a human-genome exhibit [AP/Huffington Post]
Adams Morgan's Fiddler on the Roof already is already planning a summer concert series [DCist]
Nicole Kidman to play a part in the forthcoming movie The Butler based on Wil Haygood's 2008 Washington Post story [Post]
Michael Kaiser, what ailing arts organization are you referring to in your latest column? [Huffington Post]
An update on John Waters' hitchhiking trip around the country [DCist]
D.C. area residents want a holiday and a museum for Chuck Brown [DCist]
Doug Aitken's "Song 1" brought people together [New York Times]
The band on the poster was "Garbage Zone" from Coeur D'Alene, Md., but nobody seemed surprised Saturday night at Comet Ping-Pong when The Make-Up walked out in black suits. "We're a tribute band," announced frontman Ian Svenonius to the 100 or so fans. Fine, but it was gratifying to hear a Make-Up that still sounds like The Make-Up—dirty and slinky and holy-rolling. Agree with Malitz here: The highlight was an immaculately ragged "We Can't Be Contained," which is still all build, half release. You can't beat The Make-Up for that kind of emotional unleashing, which still manages to self-examine and instruct; if there's a line running through Svenonius' bands, it's a pedagogical one. For my money, he's only honed his wit—and his lessons for modern-day rock and the people who think about it—with Weird War and now Chain & the Gang. But music that's unhinged, too? That's what The Make-Up's "gospel yeh-yeh" is all about. The Make-Up reunion—with original members Svenonius, Michelle Mae, and James Canty plus fill-in drummer Mark Cisneros—continues May 25-27 in London and Sept. 21-23 in New Jersey; both shows are curated by All Tomorrow's Parties. Hopefully D.C. gets another date, too.
Saturday's show also included a set of garage-rock covers by Kid Congo Powers, Tom Bunnell, Brendan Canty, Alyssa Bell, and Cisneros. Check out Erica Bruce's photos of both sets here.
