![Yep, @Blog_ologues cofounder Alli Goldberg is living the dream, @GirlsHBO style. But with less STDs. (via Instagram)
I saw “Blogologues: Younger Than Springtime” this weekend, and despite both starring perplexed-looking semitic New Yorkers in their 20s, it was very different than “Girls.” There was much less moping. (Springtime means sunshine!) A lot more excitement. (In “Girls,” the most exuberant expression was over a talent for wearing a hat.) More coordinated movement (as in, our bodies are moving in concert with each other, in a way that is planned and harmonious, and we’re all on the same page). Also, the young men and women onstage did not appear to passive-aggressively hate each other. Which was a plus.
But the most striking difference, thinking back on these two admittedly very different productions, was the difference in purpose. Namely, while the characters in “Girls” ambled about trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing, the real-life girls behind Blogologues not only know exactly what they should be doing, they are making it happen.
Alli Goldberg and Jen Jamula are both in their late-mid 20s, both graduates of Yale (in the Theatah no less), and the co-founders of Lively Productions, which produces their show, “Blogologues,” which as they put it, theatricalizes material from blog posts, tweets, texts and other online and interactive expression. Basically they perform the Internet. So where “Girls”’ Hannah wonders if she may be the voice of her generation, the Blogologuers are giving voice to their generation’s voices through their curation and performance of same, pulled together in one cohesive and very voicey show.
Okay, it’s a stretch to compare a slick HBO-produced TV show with a comedic performance in a black box theater in NYC. It’s just that I was so struck in “Girls” with how uninvested all the characters seemed in the product of their work and time. No one is psyched about anything. And that’s exactly what you’re struck with watching “Blogologues”: the level of effort and attention to detail that you really only bother with if you’re psyched. Intricately staged, energetically performed and cannily curated, the audience can’t help but become invested because the players are so damn committed. You even find yourself rooting for fake Katniss during the “Hunger Games” sketch (and they manage to convey so many different ways of killing people, just through mime).
I didn’t meant to write about Blogologues through the lens of Girls - I was just going to note that it’s a smart funny show, has a Zeitgeisty take on theater framed by realtime interaction and technology, and that the cast are all pros who bring this little black box theater production to another level entirely. But after watching a hotly-heralded show about disaffected, privileged hipsters angsting through their first world problems, you become that much more appreciative of the people who actually have the passion to get shit done.
I know that is the point of “Girls” - to express the uncertainty of this specific demographic, the just-out-of-school-in-the-real-world-what-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-my-life kids (cue soundtrack!). It’s only starting frm that point, of course, that we can watch our characters develop and grow, and learn to like them along the way. “Girls” does all that brilliantly, actually - even more so as the series progresses (I’ve seen three eps, and the careful, slow build is worth it). It just makes you realize how great it is when smart talented people know what they want to be doing and make it happen.
Watch Live Performances Of Ridiculous Blog Posts And LOLOLOL [Refinery 29]
Blogologues: The Internet Is Stranger Than Fiction [Betabeat]
How Many Times Can You Reinvent Shakespeare? [The Daily Muse]
Consider Yourself BLOGOLOGUED: See This Show [The Miss O Show]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2k771c5gg1qcoc21o1_500.jpg)
Yep, @Blog_ologues cofounder Alli Goldberg is living the dream, @GirlsHBO style. But with less STDs. (via Instagram)
I saw “Blogologues: Younger Than Springtime” this weekend, and despite both starring perplexed-looking semitic New Yorkers in their 20s, it was very different than “Girls.” There was much less moping. (Springtime means sunshine!) A lot more excitement. (In “Girls,” the most exuberant expression was over a talent for wearing a hat.) More coordinated movement (as in, our bodies are moving in concert with each other, in a way that is planned and harmonious, and we’re all on the same page). Also, the young men and women onstage did not appear to passive-aggressively hate each other. Which was a plus.
But the most striking difference, thinking back on these two admittedly very different productions, was the difference in purpose. Namely, while the characters in “Girls” ambled about trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing, the real-life girls behind Blogologues not only know exactly what they should be doing, they are making it happen.
Alli Goldberg and Jen Jamula are both in their late-mid 20s, both graduates of Yale (in the Theatah no less), and the co-founders of Lively Productions, which produces their show, “Blogologues,” which as they put it, theatricalizes material from blog posts, tweets, texts and other online and interactive expression. Basically they perform the Internet. So where “Girls”’ Hannah wonders if she may be the voice of her generation, the Blogologuers are giving voice to their generation’s voices through their curation and performance of same, pulled together in one cohesive and very voicey show.
Okay, it’s a stretch to compare a slick HBO-produced TV show with a comedic performance in a black box theater in NYC. It’s just that I was so struck in “Girls” with how uninvested all the characters seemed in the product of their work and time. No one is psyched about anything. And that’s exactly what you’re struck with watching “Blogologues”: the level of effort and attention to detail that you really only bother with if you’re psyched. Intricately staged, energetically performed and cannily curated, the audience can’t help but become invested because the players are so damn committed. You even find yourself rooting for fake Katniss during the “Hunger Games” sketch (and they manage to convey so many different ways of killing people, just through mime).
I didn’t meant to write about Blogologues through the lens of Girls - I was just going to note that it’s a smart funny show, has a Zeitgeisty take on theater framed by realtime interaction and technology, and that the cast are all pros who bring this little black box theater production to another level entirely. But after watching a hotly-heralded show about disaffected, privileged hipsters angsting through their first world problems, you become that much more appreciative of the people who actually have the passion to get shit done.
I know that is the point of “Girls” - to express the uncertainty of this specific demographic, the just-out-of-school-in-the-real-world-what-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-my-life kids (cue soundtrack!). It’s only starting frm that point, of course, that we can watch our characters develop and grow, and learn to like them along the way. “Girls” does all that brilliantly, actually - even more so as the series progresses (I’ve seen three eps, and the careful, slow build is worth it). It just makes you realize how great it is when smart talented people know what they want to be doing and make it happen.
Watch Live Performances Of Ridiculous Blog Posts And LOLOLOL [Refinery 29]
Blogologues: The Internet Is Stranger Than Fiction [Betabeat]
How Many Times Can You Reinvent Shakespeare? [The Daily Muse]
Consider Yourself BLOGOLOGUED: See This Show [The Miss O Show]
