bumbershoot and such.: 2/10/08

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Works-in-Progress

Mudskipper #1 and #2, Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, August 2008.

"The journey is the thing". Writers understand that as well as anyone. So - here are a few projects I'm currently working on:

HOW TO KILL A BOY! (full length) - a dark comedy. This is the project I'm concentrating on completing first. I can't really go into this one right now - it's a secret ("Everybody has secrets, Mummy. Don't you?"). Suffice it to say, the premise has people laughing their asses off. Think the movie VERY BAD THINGS meets HOME ALONE - then put it on stage. 4M, 2W (1W plays multiple parts)

THE EXONERATION OF D. E. S (full length) - a historical courtroom drama. D.E.S are the initials for my protagonist - or is he the antagonist? This politician murdered his wife's lover (the son of a very, very famous man that you would recognize) and was acquitted when he plead not guilty by reason of temporary insanity - a first in American jurisprudence. (Many, many parts)

THE METAMORPHOSES OF AN ASHCAN (or The Dominican, a Satyr and Nymph, Two Vaudevillians and a Clown Discuss Matters of Substance Over Goat Cheese and Tea) (full length) - The characters in four realism paintings come to life in a surrealistic setting, butt heads and are changed forever. (4M, 2W)

Two plays on Frank Lloyd Wright. One is a straight play based on Wright's relationship with Edward Kaufmann, the soon-to-be owner of Fallingwater. The other is a musical based on Wright's life. Wright's from Wisconsin. I'm from Wisconsin. And I love his work - well, most of it anyway (not the California textile block stuff). Read more!

Welcome.

So, if you're here, that means you were visiting my main blog, PASSION = TRUTH and are interested in reading sample pages from a few of my plays. Good. Click READ MORE in each post and a window will open up giving you access to the first 20-pages of each of my plays. If they're 10-Minute/Short Plays, you're getting roughly half the play.

If you're an actor, agent, director, producer, theater person of any sort, and would like to read the full play, email me at:
jeffbumbershoot43@gmail.com

(NOTE: If you open up the link to my main post - PASSION = TRUTH, you'll wanna shut off the music in this blog first, or you'll have two songs playing simultaneously.)

Enjoy.
Jeff

Recommendation letter

To Whom It May Concern:

...As Artistic Director of Urban Theater Project of Iowa, my company has been incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to do readings of two of Mr. Ircink’s plays, The Golgatha Crux and Stan’s Addiction. Both readings have garnered sincere and vociferous praise for the playwright and, perhaps more importantly, hours of discussion afterward...

...What is exceptional about Mr. Ircink’s work...is that he writes thoughtfully and clearly for live performance. I think, because he is a fine actor as well as a talented playwright, he is aware that his writing is to be spoken and that it is imperative that it makes sense in the scheme of live theater...his uncanny knack for writing intelligent dialogue makes his plays some of the worthiest of production I’ve read in the past several years.

Beyond his scripts, Mr. Ircink is someone with whom I would collaborate any time I had the chance...he earnestly listens to feedback and considers it thoughtfully as he redrafts his plays...He only ever wants to write the best play he can, and that is a rare and admirable goal.

The bottom line is this: I believe that Jeffrey James Ircink is one of our most gifted playwrights working today. Any company that involves itself with his material and with his artistry will be treated to an experience that will only foster some of the best theater happening right now.

Most Sincerely,
Leslie Charipar
Artistic Director
Urban Theater Project of Iowa/Theatre Cedar Rapids

Artist Statement

As an actor, my approach to roles has been what would I do if I were this character in this situation? Similarly, as a playwright, dialogue – not so much what is said but how it’s said – and subject matter are the elements I’m most concerned with. I tend to place myself in circumstances few people contemplate, and then develop a plot around those circumstances. I love extremes – a tap on the shoulder isn’t nearly as effective as a punch in the gut. That being said, when I write about the last smoker on the planet or four people from WHEEDs (We Help to Eradicate Ecosystem Demise) who live in a 500 square foot home or one man’s attempt to rid the world of the most evilest boy on the planet, I’m not going out of my way to be different as much as I’m trying to bridge the gap between my tastes and that of the audience. In the end, if the “unreal reality” I’ve helped to create on stage affects one person’s “reality” – I’ve accomplished my mission.

writer's bio

A Wisconsin native and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Jeff has appeared in various stage productions in Iowa and Los Angeles, including The Glass Menagerie as Tom (Best Actor – OVATION), 17 Days as Jeff, Starmites as Space Punk, A Chorus Line as Don, Fools for Love as Martin, Jack and Jill as Jack, HAIR and multiple productions of Blood Brothers as Mickey and The Narrator. He’s also appeared in the films: Silent Killer with Joe Lando and Michael Gross, The Last Breath with Bruce Boxleitner, Terminal Error with Michael Nouri, Tumbleweeds with Janet McTeer and music videos for Robbie Williams and Cypress Hill.

As a playwright, Jeff’s plays have taken him to Ireland, Manhattan, Ohio, Bel Air, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Tujunga, CA. His first play, THE GOLGOTHA CRUX. (full length), had its premiere stage reading at the Urban Theater Project of Iowa in May 2004 and went on to become a finalist in the Dayton Playhouse FUTUREFEST 2004; a semi-finalist in the Wagner College 2004 Stanley Drama Award competition in New York, and received an Honorable Mention in the 73rd Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition/2004. Other plays include: CHROMOSOME 21(full length); STAN’S ADDICTION (full length, Heuer Publishing Co., 2006) – featured full-length play in an evening of staged readings at The Stray Dawg Theatre Company in Belfast, Ireland, April 2006; reading at Manhattan Theatre Source/Bleeker Street Irregulars Theatre Company, Manhattan, New York City, May 2007; “PASS THE SALT, PLEASE.” (that dirty little 10-min. play) – BEST OF SHOW at UNcover: a two night art exhibition with an erotic vibe, juried show, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2007; Los Angeles premiere – Drake’s Erotica Emporium, West Hollywood, August 2007; Semi-finalist, Short & Sweet/Sydney, The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World, Sydney, Australia, December 2007; Semi-finalist – Asphalt Jungle Shorts IV, Ontario, Canada, April 2008; Official entrant, The Little Red Studio’s Erotic Shorts festival, Seattle, WA, April/May 2009; Opening show for Seattle Erotic Arts Festival, Spring 2009; 4 ½ MINUTES (give or take) TO CLIMAX (short); THE BED (10-min.) – Semi-finalist, Short & Sweet/Sydney, The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World, Sydney, Australia, December 2008; JESSICA, PARIS, BRITNEY AND LINDSAY MEET BRETT FAVRE ON THEIR TRAIN WRECK (10-min.); AMOR NO FLUXO (“Love in Flux”) – an erotic trilogy, including “Pass the Salt, Please.”, “4 ½ Minutes (give or take) to Climax” and REVEILLE! (One-Act); JESUS PUSHED A GROCERY CART (10-minute); HELLO ENGINE. I’M JAKE HOLMAN, a stage adaptation of the film, The Sand Pebbles. Works-in-progress include: THE METAMORPHOSES OF AN ASHCAN (or The Dominican, a Satyr and Nymph, Two Vaudevillians and a Clown Discuss Matters of Substance Over Goat Cheese and Tea); HOW TO KILL A BOY – a dark dramedy; THE EXONERATION OF D.E.S. (historical drama/based on a true story), and two plays on Frank Lloyd Wright.

Jeff is a Beach Boys groupie, is learning to play the Irish tin whistle, was the quintessential Green Bay Packer fan (until Brett Favre was traded) but is now following the New York Jets in protest, and would rather be bow hunting or fishing on a lake than doing whatever he’s doing at this very moment. Jeff is the editor of the advertising supplement, The Neighborhood Buzz, publishes the blog, Passion = Truth, on Blogger, contributes to the blog, Ditalini Press, and has self-published a book featuring his photography, called Passion = Truth, a photographic essay of life’s truths, available at http://www.blurb.com/.

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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Works-in-Progress

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