#martyna majok

[keep-ur-head-low]

Gatsby: An American Myth's creative team being largely female driven is especially felt in its big climactic number, The Dream Fought On. Taking place right at the peak of the Plaza Hotel fight, the song initially focuses on Gatsby's rising panic before it's taken over by two women lashing out against a society that has locked them in place: Daisy's realization that Gatsby's need to have her is no different from the objectification she's endured her entire life ("I'm not a light you can reach to, but someone to love" - sung from her to Gatsby), and Myrtle's declaration that she's wasted on the Valley of Ashes and deserves to be surrounded by people who live instead of haunt ("You're not a man, you're a ghost I could walk right through" - sung from her to Wilson).

That said, the song ultimately ends with a reminder that these two women are not sinking in the same boat as Myrtle's attempt to break out of her poverty is brutally torn apart by Daisy taking the wheel of her own story, the latter's wealth and race allowing for an escape from all consequence ("Salvation's coming" - the ensemble ironically sings as Daisy races towards Myrtle). While it should be noted that the original book's ambiguity on these characters' thoughts serves as its own commentary on the role women were expected to play, this team's desire to earnestly capture their voices and the nuances behind them is what is makes this such a thrilling adaptation in my eyes.

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss’ 37th Birthday Celebration | Via Kyle Brown, Alexandra Socha, Riza Takahashi, Miles G. Jackson, Noel MacNeal, Joel Bauer, Bobby Conte, Abby Dodes, Martyna Majok, Tanya Gelman and Clyde Lawrence's Instagram Story (February 5th, 2024)

[dovebuffy92]

[sanctuarycitypurchase2023]

Who is Martyna Majok?

Martyna Majok is a Polish-American playwright. Born in Bytom, Upper Silesia. She emigrated to New Jersey as a child and grew up in Kearny. Majok studied playwriting at Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School.

FACTS:

Her breakthrough play was Ironbound in 2014 (interesting in reading up on what it is about? Here's a link to review and summary -> Review: ‘Ironbound’ Stars Marin Ireland as a Struggling Immigrant - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

She won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Cost of Living

She taught playwriting at SUNY Purchase

Here's a video of an interview with Martyna Majok to check out

[blondrichclosetwitch]

[bookishtck]

A deeply touching and necessary play.

I saw the live show of Sanctuary City as a college junior, and it had such an impact on me that I'm not sure where to start.

Sanctuary City (Martyna Majok) is a story about two immigrant teenagers who are trying to get naturalized. They struggle to keep their heads above water as they skip school to slave away at work, and come home from work to unstable one-rooms. Grant K Lewis plays "B" (likely to signify the universality of being recorded as a letter and not a name) and Jocelyn Zamudio is "G." Their friendship and love is so believable that my heart broke a little when the play ended. Brandon Rivera is the third member of the cast, as "Henry."

The stage was a small rectangle surrounded by the audience, and the only initial props were the overhead lamps, and a ring. Scene changes were signified with changes in the lighting, alone with echo-y computerized musical notes. Later, more tangible props came into play: a table, a yellow couch, bottles of wine in paper bags. At one point, stars dazzle the floor, and Christmas lights blink on the railing at the edge of the stage. The actors' shadows reflected onto white spaces in between the shadows, mean that they are lying in their respective beds.

The actors were passionate and worked extremely well with each other, wearing the faces of the US' people with earnestness. There was little room for triteness or flowery speech in this play. Like any close friends, their dialogue was to-the-point, finishing each other's sentences, to avoid painful subjects such as names, dates, and being in debt.

Sanctuary City was a bold, real, straightforward play, and it wrecked me inside, because I wanted to absolute best for its three characters. And when it ended, I was consumed by the thoughts of my own immigration history. My grandparents suffered until they succeeded in the US, working as the invisible lower class, saving every penny while their hands were bruised and burned cleaning up after other peoples' messes; building other peoples' houses. My father took up a new identity in a new land to the point that we, his children, did not know how to speak the language of our heritage.

I remember how I used to be embarrassed about my family's culture: how my father talked with his mouth full; how my grandmother could not pronounce names; how my grandfather scooped creek water into my friend's hat and plopped it on her hair to cool her down as we were hiking. And I remember hating Korean school, thinking the teacher was flat-faced; looking at myself in the mirror at age seven and not thinking I was pretty; only eating kimchi once it was rinsed of its spicy taste. I was living their dream, their hope, but I didn't love them back the way I should have, until I knew how much it hurt to leave something behind.

The last four words of this play will hit you in the gut, I assure you. It makes me see the US differently; it makes me see citizenship and demographics and institutions differently. I highly recommend it to anyone who requires education on the lives of immigrants.

[frontmezzjunkies]

MTC's Cost of Living Spins a Fascinating and Compelling Net of Complicated Care and Sorrow

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: @MTC_NYC's #CostOfLivingBroadway by @MartynaMajok directed by #JoBonney with @DavidZayas62 @Mozgala_gregg @kbridgets @KARAakter #ManhattanTheatreClub at the #SamuelJFriedmanTheatre

David Zayas in MTC’s Cost of Living. Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes (2022). The Broadway Theatre Review: MTC’s Cost of Living By Ross “That’s from the Bible,” he tells us, as the complications stream out, jumping backward in order to get to the moment that would bring us full circle. To a place where “holidays are hard” and the drinks are on this grieving man. The pain of loneliness sits real…

[caroleditosti]

'Cost of Living' Broadway Review: Are Lives Lived Well or Wasted?

See the Cost of Living for the performances which are striking and memorable.

Gregg Mozgala, Kara Young in Cost of Living at MTC (Jeremy Daniel) What price do we place on our own inherent value? What is the rock bottom cost we have to pay to live with dignity and be fulfilled emotionally, physically, materially? These subtle questions as well as questions about our need for respect and life-giving emotional and spiritual connection compose the themes of Martyna Majok’s…

[irisbleufic]

Have you heard much about the Broadway Gatsby show (or maybe even seen it)? I have an opportunity to see a show this summer, deciding if it should be Gatsby, and I feel like you're the top authority on "is this Gataby thing worth it" :)

So, here’s where and how Gatsby stage adaptations are having a WILD year:

There are two different Gatsby musicals that have, or are about to, premiere.

1) The one that has already premiered and been running performances is titled The Great Gatsby—A New Broadway Musical. The creative team behind it is Marc Bruni, Dominique Kelley, Kait Carrigan, Jason Howland, and Nathan Tysen. This one has not gotten terribly spectacular reviews in spite of a strong core cast. I have not seen it and do not plan to, because…

2) …second one, which has literally just begun preview performances at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, is GATSBY: An American Myth, and I am seeing it on Saturday. This is the one by Florence Welch, Thomas Bartlett, Martyna Majok, Sonya Tayeh, and Rachel Chavkin. I haven’t been able to find reviews yet because it’s literally in the process of premiering, but as soon as I see it Saturday, I’ll be writing an in-depth review. I’m both ecstatic and terrified.

I guess what I’m saying is, one has already been around for a bit and there are many reviews available out there that don’t excite me, whereas the involvement of Welch and Chavkin alone on the other production has set my expectations high. I’m also seeing the touring company of Beetlejuice again on Sunday, so I’m likely to be an entire holy terror babbling about musicals this weekend. Watch this space!

[sitpwgs]

save me gatsby: an american myth at the american repertory theatre (music by florence welch & thomas bartlett, choreographed by sonya tayeh, directed by rachel chavkin, book by martyna majok, with isaac powell as gatsby, ben levi ross as nick ("from the beginning the creative team wanted to portray Nick as a gay man who is at a turning point in his life—leaving the war, leaving his twenties, searching for purpose, safety, love, and excitement"), solea pfeiffer as myrtle, eleri ward as jordan ... save me ...

[bestmusicalworldcup]

The crowded Spring Broadway season has one more musical!

The Great Gatsby, starring Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada, opens at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th with previews beginning March 29th.

The Great Gatsby features music and lyrics by Tony nominees Nathan Tysen and Jason Howland and a book by Kait Kerrigan. Marc Bruni directs.

This musical is NOT to be confused with Florence Welch, Thomas Bartlett, and Martyna Majok's Gatsby, which debuts at the A.R.T. in Harvard this year and is directed by Rachel Chavkin.

[magnificentmoose]

favorites from 2023

novels

moby dick by herman melville*

mendoza in hollywood by kage baker

in memoriam by alice winn

everything is Illuminated by jonathan safran foer

plays

the baltimore waltz by paula vogel

ironbound by martyna majok

hurricane diane by madeleine george

film + tv

please, baby, please dir. amanda kramer (2022)

la dolce vita dir. federico fellini (1960)

beau travail dir. claire denis (1999)

encounters at the end of the world dir. werner herzog (2007)**

lifetime guarantee: phranc’s adventures in plastic dir. lisa udelson (2001)***

broadchurch (2013-2017)

* this listing also includes the opera by jake heggie + gene scheer. ** the nihilistic penguin has become a strangely endearing symbol for my endless trudge to finish grad school. i watched a grand total of 9 werner herzog films this year.)

*** saw phranc perform "tupperware lady" before my screening of this doc and it was absolutely everything.

[whatisflorencewearing]

June 8, 2024 - Boston

Martyna Majok, who wrote the libretto for @gatsbybway, got gifted a @sophietheakstonjewellery 18kt gold identity bracelet from Florence during opening night.

The bar is engraved with the inscription "breathing dreams like air" (which is a quote from The Great Gatsby book) and is set with 0.5ct brilliant cut diamonds.

[ironbounddramaturgy]

Welcome to the IRONBOUND dramaturgy blog

[shelley-sackett]

A.R.T.’s “Gatsby” Is This Summer’s Blockbuster

Cory Jeacoma, Solea Pfeiffer, and the cast of A.R.T.’s ‘Gatsby.’Photo Credits: Julieta Cervantes “Gatsby.” Book by Martyna Majok based on the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Directed by Rachel Chavkin. Music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett. Lyrics by Florence Welch. Choreography by Sonya Tayeh. Orchestration and Arrangements by Thomas Barlett. Scenic Design by Mimi Lien.…