Cranky Clown

Take Down Your Panties On Main Street

2008-11-09T07:01:00.001-08:00

Take Down Your Panties On Main Street synopsis

2008-11-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

The difference between an artist and a kleptomaniac is that one of them is carrying an easel.

A famous painter visits an art school class to make a few remarks at the request of the class's teacher. However, the teacher never turns up, having eloped with the class's nude model. Since the class has nothing to paint and no one to teach them the famous painter steps up to the posing platform. His "few remarks" reveal more than dropped panties ever could.

An uncomfortable comedy about what happens when preservation of beauty becomes a partnership with posers, parasites and pervs.

Written and performed by James Howell
directed by Kiersten Tough

Take Down Your Panties On Main Street reviews

2008-11-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

(pending)

Take Down Your Panties On Main Street dates

2008-11-09T06:28:00.000-08:00

2011

2010
The Garage, AIRspace presents, San Francisco
Mikado, Suitcase in Point Theatre presents, Saint Catherines
The Roundhouse, Queer Arts Festival, Vancouver
Fixt Point, Queer West Arts Festival, Toronto

Lay Down And Love Me Again

2007-08-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

Lay Down And Love Me Again synopsis

2007-08-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Some people apply the ointment. Some people pick the scabs.

Kevin wants to stage a solo show but cannot manage to leave his bedroom or pull himself away from his daydreams. His reminiscences become monologues about people who talk exclusively in cliche, while imagining themselves to be terribly profound. Pajama-clad, he performs for an imaginary audience on subjects at once dark and ridiculous: bargain shopping for abortion clinics, chastising the comatose while enjoying fresh produce, hijacking funerals in search of "spiritual DNA" and sleeping with your students while drinking alone. Skipping gleefully between subjects, he sends up solo shows and our culture of confession.

A dark comedy that tickles from the bottom of your heart to the depth of your undies.

Written and performed by James Howell
Directed by Jonathan Storey

2007-08-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Lay Down And Love Me Again reviews

2007-08-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

"Off the wall. Our Commonwealth cousins the Canadians can produce some bizarre fringe performers - few more so than James Howell. Few, also of such fine voice. . . quite pithy. A very nice discovery."
-The Advertiser (Adelaide)

In the course of a non-stop, high velocity stream of ideas, he touches on abortion, sex, death, religion and the rest in a dazzling range of voices, accents and rhythms. . . and in something of a tour de force, serves up a disjointed verbal assault in a highly physical performance."
-Manchester Evening News

"Blurring the boundries between stand-up, theatre and literature, this performance is a real smack in the face for anybody game enough to make the journey. . . to witness this daringly minimalist production. Using dark humour and lyrical dialogue, Lay Down And Love Me Again is a wonderful satire that challenges audiences"
-The Independent (Adelaide)

"Howell is a gutsy performer."
-nytheatre.com

"a devastating satire of the one man confessional . . . an audacious satire of the confession, or theatre of the absurd"
-Edmonton Journal

"Brilliant and captivating voice/character(s) . . . Made me think of Robert Crumb . . . This is quite possibly the most surreal piece I have read this decade! . . . Bogossian meets Beckett and Woody Allen!
-24:7 Theatre Festival Jury

"Howell has both a gift for turns of phrase and a scattershot, smirking charisma and his thoughts from everything from funerals to psychotherapy are more often than not worth a listen. [The] finale is a deftly amusing touch."
-VUE weekly (Edmonton)

"One of the highlights of this year's festival . . . completely absurd . . . extremely funny . . . Apart from having some of the most superb lines of any play in the festival it also has one of the finest casts: namely Howell who is utterly magnetic . . . It is a truly compelling performance heightened by Howell's sophisticated delivery . . . Every part of it is theatrical gold . . . If you plan to see only one play on this year's programme, make it this one."
-GCN (Dublin)

"Lay Down And Love Me Again is a dark work, it goes interesting places and it gains as it goes along."
-nytheatre.com

"A play about a mind unravelling, with a script sometimes reminiscent of TS Eliot, this should be a hit. Certainly James Howell, whose play this is, has the necessary charisma."
-The Scotsman (Edinburgh)

2007-08-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Lay Down and Love Me Again dates

2007-08-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

2008
Rich Mix, Gfest - LGBT Arts Fest, London
Theatre Ste. Catherine,
Harvest: Montreal LGBT Theatre Festival
Reilly's Bar and Grill, Squiggfest, Toronto
College St. Gallery, Buffalo Infringement Festival
The Midland Hotel, 24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester
Spectrum Gallery, Rogue Performance Festival, Fresno
The Paramount , New Zealand Fringe Festival, Wellington
The Deli, Adelaide Fringe
TAP Gallery Theatre, New Mardi Gras, Sydney
The Butterfly Club, Midsumma, Melbourne

2007
Victoria Event Centre, Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival
Varscona Theatre, Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival
Royal Canadian Legion #1, Calgary Fringe Festival
Bedlam Theatre, Minnesota Fringe, Minneapolis
Cherry Lane Theatre, Fresh Fruit Festival, New York
U Maleho Glenna, Fringe Festival Praha

2006
The Brick, New York Clown Theatre Festival
Khyber Institute of Contemporary Arts, Atlantic Fringe Festival, Halifax
Oran Mor, Best of The Fest in The West, Glasgow
Rocket @ Demarco Roxy Art House, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Kocona Cafe Theatre, Paris
The Marlborough Theatre, Brighton Festival Fringe
Cobalt Cafe, Dublin Gay Theatre Festival

2007-08-08T22:36:00.000-07:00