http://alisontorba.com/news.html Alison Torba: News Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:50:04 -0700 http://alisontorba.com/news.html#6 I've no time to listen
I must heave and ho the terror of generations
Making me rich and without a dime
At the same time.
I've no time to stop for your effeminate croonings
What purpose does that song have in my ancestral dash to get away, away away?
Now here is a song---one I can only hear as the wind whips over the friction of my body hurling through this fairyland, a greyblack blur.
"suck my cock, you whore,"
Now there's a strong song
Waking the flesh of the damned even,
stirring their loins.
My songs are the songs of war--cries, sobs, iniquities-windwhipping breaches, long metal poles for rape, numb animal, cold bravery, frozen children.
The songs of the slowly dying, the songs of freezing.
The songs that will melt a tightly packed glacier of a man.
Can you blame him? or me?

So fuck your songs.
I don't have time for your indulgence.
I am under attack and I defend constantly. Its a great war--one that bought souls countless,
a war that must have had honor and a purpose--though it was so long ago.
I don't remember the details.
They are unimportant though
I feel the war current, the blood and fear in my brain, my nerves
the first war--played, replayed, replayed, replayed,
with fading color like 70's T.V. and 70's visual effects.

Mostly I war with phantoms-
once in a while I've met a brave man who wanted to embody--
take up the fight--but they quickly run for their lives.
Its a war of shadows mostly.
Hollow feelings bounce and vibrate in my body and through my spacious bunker
disguised with bright MX colors.

No, it's a war against wealthy men who stole this land during the first war--
the one that really took hold, that mattered, victorious, valiant idealistically, my
ancesters fought. Strange that I wasn't there, I wasn't there,
A war against strangers who will never know my name.
Like a lunatic convinced people are following me, I hunker down, build my weapons, calculate
my risk, crunch numbers, strategize. But find I am not welcome on the playing field. The war of the wannabe soldier, not even worth fighting with...


I't's OK. There is nothing to win anyway, nothing of meaning apparently. And I suspect winning is not the point. Some time along the way, the titan clash the fighting itself became more important. Nothing more engaging except sex, and spiritual intoxication--all three mixed together the ideal.

Today I'll settle for fading phantoms and green tea energy. Trying to somehow failingly, falteringly, reluctantly, imagine in my unimaginative TV dominated world, how in this land,
how in this soul, how in this body, in these suspiciously perfect, littered, bare,
complicated, boney neighborhoods,how it would look if the war was over, over, soldiers
discharged, peace embraced--has this ever happened? Since the first war? I suspect not. The
post war homes vibrating from the inconsolable screams of surprise death.

I never really did try to imagine for John. I never could, it insulted my surviving, as if somehow his ideas were better than my bloody hands that served his food. I MUST go first in
any discussion of the future and I must have my medals, dangled about my neck and my applause, my starched uniform, then and only then can we even think about thinking about the
thought of no war.
No war.]]> http://alisontorba.com/news.html#6 Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700 Tucson based soulful recording artist - Alison Torba - News http://alisontorba.com/news.html#5
These themes and more are in store for the second annual Tucson Fringe Theater Festival, a weekend packed with new plays, most by new playwrights.

Fringe fests happen around the world - there are about 16 in this country - and Tucson's operates the way most do: Playwrights submit new works, and plays are picked at random. That aspect of the festivals is a point of pride for most organizers.

"We wanted to bring the Fringe experience to Tucson, unjuried and uncensored," said Sara Habib, who, along with Yasmine Jahanmir, her lifelong friend and fellow theater lover, launched Tucson's first Fringe last year.

"It's art-centric," the 29-year-old Habib explained. "It's a community event. It provides space for people without the money to rent a theater. It's more avant-garde - it's like fresh theater."

The inaugural festival drew about 400 people. A dozen plays were submitted and six were performed.

Six were submitted this year, and the five selected - all from Tucson - will spread their performances over two venues, Solar Culture and Beowulf Alley Theatre.

Beowulf Alley hosted Fringe plays last year, but the event is new to Solar Culture.

"I think it's great they chose to do it here," said Steven Eye, the force behind the music and arts venue.

"The whole community here is immersed in the creative spirit, so we are a good home for that kind of energy. We are all trying to do something unique," he added.

"We're hoping we have people who will go to both" venues, Habib said in a phone interview from her San Francisco home.

San Francisco? Yup.

While Habib and Jahanmir grew up here, and graduated from University High School in 2001, they have gone on to lives outside the Old Pueblo. Jahanmir, 28, is working on her Ph.D. in theater at Santa Barbara, and Habib is the director of a travel company.

"But we're hometown girls and have a special affinity for Tucson," Habib said.

Meet the playwrights, and what they are planning for this theaterpalooza.

Joan O'Dwyer

Play: "Unreality Shows: Three Short Plays."

When: 8:30 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre.

What they are about: "Happens All the Time" tells the story of a woman who is new to a terminal cancer support group; "Kids" is a day at the beach with two unconventional mothers and their precocious children; "Is a Pig's Ass Pork?" is a futurist piece set in a dystopian, matriarchal society.

What she has to say: Her life experiences inform her plays - she tags the three one-acts as comedies - but they aren't true to life.

O'Dwyer was diagnosed with cancer in '91, and her time with support groups led to "Happens All the Time."

"I had written a short story about it," she said, noting that there can be extreme characters in support groups, and some quite unhappy about new members.

"Kids" grew out of the time she spent in Florida while her daughter was attending school there.

And "Pig's" was launched when she was going to school in Ireland and attended a lecture by a nun who talked about the horrors of genetically modified food.

Her daughter, Whitney Morton, is directing the plays, and O'Dwyer is just sitting back and enjoying the experience.

The 67-year-old has no great plans for a career as a playwright. It's the process that interests her.

"I just want to give myself encouragement," she said.

Why you want to see it: Irish blood flows through her veins - she felt such an affinity for the country that she got her graduate degree in creative writing at Trinity College in Dublin. We all know that no one does humor quite as well as the Irish.

Fish Karma and Kevin Henderson

Play: "Lethal Fairytales"

When: 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre.

What it's about: Karma calls the piece a rock opera, and he expects an album to be made of it in the next few months.

"It's self-help for those who have been alienated and want to fit in," he said. "It's free therapy."

Um, what?

"It's for those who have been cursed with the burden of intelligence and so are alienated from modern culture. It's a step-by-step guide to how to circumvent the tyranny of your brain and become a happy American. That's in a metaphorical sense."

OK. We decided to move on.

What he has to say: Karma, a longtime Tucson musician, is used to playing in bars with glasses clinking and drunks hollering.

"It's a completely different animal and much more enjoyable," he said about the Fringe and performing in an actual theater.

"It's the most high-falutin' thing I've ever done."

Karma presented his first rock opera at last year's Fringe, and get this: It made sense, was deadly funny and quite good.

Of course, it helped that the lyrics were shown on a slide behind him. He says that is necessary and he'll repeat that with "Lethal Fairytales."

"Getting the lyrics across is an important part of the story," he said. "And I'm a terrible singer; they help the audience follow along."

Karma, 53, has eight albums to his credit - his label is Alternative Tentacles, founded by Jello Biafra of punk-rock band Dead Kennedys fame.

Karma is the wordsmith; Kevin Henderson, 43, is the music guy.

"I don't really write music, but I hear it in my head. Kevin can make it into wonderful music."

About that name: Karma's birth name is Terry Owen, but the long-time Tucsonan adopted the name Fish Karma in the '80s.

"I was doing comedy, and my own name seemed dull," he explained. "I've been using the name ever since."

Why you want to see it: Come on, it's Fish Karma. He's a character, he's funny, he's outrageous, and he can spin a fine tale.

Catfish Baruni

Play: "The Starter House."

When: 7 p.m. Friday; 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre.

What it's about: "A young individual stumbles into an office without any idea of how or why or what he's doing there," explains Baruni. "Over the course of the play, he's trying to get answers to those questions, and trying to get out of there. Lots of laughs."

What he has to say: Baruni had originally written the piece as a short play for Beowulf Alley's Out to Lunch series.

After attending and loving last year's Fringe Fest, he expanded the story and submitted it.

And while the synopsis above may sound a little obscure, it isn't, Baruni, 29, promised.

"It's not that surreal; this isn't that experimental," he said. "I don't think too many people will be scratching their heads."

Why you want to see it: By day, Baruni is an insurance claims processor. We imagine someone in that detail-oriented job would break out to express his artistic side in quite a wild fashion.

His plea: "Please laugh."

Bryan Sanders

Play: "The Barely Free Baja Spectacular!"

When: 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Solar Culture.

What it's about: The song-cycle is "a backlash against what's going on here and around the world," said the 29-year-old musician/songwriter. "It's heavily political, it's anti-religious, and there are a few odes to Arizona."

What the music is like: "The music is very old-timey, (has) a bluegrass feel to it," said Sanders. "There's a heavy stomp feel to it; it's very danceable."

His music credentials: Sanders is a member of the funk band 8 Minutes to Burn, which has been growing in popularity in these parts.

What he has to say: Sanders can't help it - he's mad and he wants to sing about it.

He is outraged about attitudes toward immigrants; frustrated with Maricopa County's hold over Tucson; disgusted with newcomers who feel no connection to the land or the state's heritage, and the Rio Nuevo board.

"The piece is an attempt to portray musically what I see as the real stuff that's happening," said Sanders, who fixes computers when he isn't making music.

"The actuality, not the nonsensical hysteria that we have."

It's also a chance for him to let loose, he said.

"I get to do whatever the hell I want. I get to mock the things that I think need mocking, but I also get to express my deep ties to this place, my love for Arizona and the sun. ...

"The messages are there, and people will take from it what they want."

Who will be joining him on stage: Ryan Alfred and Katherine Byrnes. Together, the three call themselves One Gentle Mule.

Why you want to see it: Sanders has elevated the rant to an art form. You may hate what he has to say, but we're willing to bet it'll be a kick hearing it.

Alison Torba

Play: "Numb."

When: 8:30 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Solar Culture.

What it's about: The one-person drama - Torba directs and performs, too - is born of her shamanic experiences, dreams and research into trauma.

According to the Fringe press release, it's a show about "a needy bride who, after much rejection, finds her peace in feeling her feelings, paying undivided loving attention to herself regularly, relying on support from others, and finding a spiritual connection she can feel in her bones through union with her inner children."

What she has to say: The singer-songwriter, with a day job as a paralegal, had a play with 13 in the cast at last year's Fringe. She decided smaller was better this time.

"I was a crazy person for four months," she said of last year's experience.

"This year, it's just me."

Torba, 39, incorporates music, dance, imagery and performance in her piece.

This particular play sprang from a dream.

"It was a shamanic journey, a focused journey," she said.

"I got some images and thoughts and I developed them. Then I used a lot of information I had been learning about child abuse and recovery from trauma, and then (incorporated) what I know from different fields about how to recover."

The play, she hopes, will speak to others.

"There are a lot of unknowns and unadvertised information about how to recover from childhood trauma," she said.

"What I really want is that people have an inkling they may be affected by it, and that they can have hope."

Why you want to see it: Torba's passion and sincerity will surely propel her piece. Then there's this: She has purchased, at bargain prices, wedding dresses from women anxious to get rid of them. One will be slashed to rags in each of the performances - and yes, the women knew what her intentions were. How can you not want to see that?

History on the fringe

Back in 1947, an alternative festival sprang up around the Edinburgh, Scotland, International Festival. A local journalist wrote that "Round the fringe of official Festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before."

The name "Fringe" stuck, and the concept traveled around the world.

Edinburgh still has an annual fringe festival, and it has grown to a massive one.

In the States, about 16 cities, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Boulder, Colo., and Orlando, Fla., have them. New York City's Fringe has launched Broadway hits ("Urinetown" and "Avenue Q").

Festivals may differ from town to town, but they have this in common:

Ӣ They zero in on the performing arts.

Ӣ Tickets are kept at a low price.

Ӣ Plays are picked at random from the applicants.

Ӣ The works are original, quick (an hour is the norm) and completely uncensored. What the playwright creates is what the audience gets.

Source: www.fringefestivals.us

If you go

Ӣ What: Tucson Fringe Theater Festival.

Ӣ When: Friday through Sunday.

Ӣ Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre 11 S. Sixth Ave., and Solar Culture, 31 E. Toole Ave.

Ӣ Tickets: $10 per show.

Ӣ Reservations/information: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/223020 and www.tucsonfringe.org

Ӣ Opening gala: 8 p.m. today at La Cocina in Old Town Artisans, 201 N. Court Ave. It's free with music and dancing.

Ӣ Closing party: 8 p.m. Sunday, with music and performance art. $5.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/the-play-s-the-thing-at-avant-garde-fringe-fest/article_fb6a6cca-a671-51f9-9638-00dee3a4584a.html#ixzz1npqQFDWZ]]> http://alisontorba.com/news.html#5 Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800 Tucson based soulful recording artist - Alison Torba - News http://alisontorba.com/news.html#4 NUMB
Written and Performed by Alison Torba
--Fringe Festival--Solar Culture
31 E. Toole Avenue (stone and the railroad tracks downtown) Tucson, AZ 85701
2/24 Fri 8:30pm, 2/25 Sat 7pm, 2/26 Sun 3pm
A needy child who, after much trauma finds a spiritual connection she can feel in her bones through union with her inner children. Transformation is symbolized by the beauty of the great white egret, a water bird of
devastating beauty and grace. This is a tribute to the adult children, recovery movement and shamanic exploration.]]> http://alisontorba.com/news.html#4 Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800 Tucson based soulful recording artist - Alison Torba - News http://alisontorba.com/news.html#3
Dive into states of intoxication with an Artemisian
moon priestess (derived from Artemis the Goddess
of the moon and music),indigenous heyokahs
(ceremonial clowns), a Christian Minister with a
drinking problem, and a young girl with a sexual
abuse history.

This straight comedy is performed under blacklights
withflorescent props, acrobatics and body painting.
It takes place on Christmas Eve in the sanctuary of
a Christian Church. A canter (ceremonial singer)
serenades with Christmas hymns, Native American
chants, and Sunday School songs.The actors begin to glow and dance as they
speak their truth.

Tickets and info: www.tucsonfringe.org 1-800-838-3006

Thurs Mar. 24th 6:30pm Fri Mar. 25th 8:15pm

Sat. Mar. 26th 6:30pm Sun. Matinee Mar. 27th 3:30 pm

Tickets 10$ Students 6$]]> http://alisontorba.com/news.html#3 Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700 Tucson based soulful recording artist - Alison Torba - News http://alisontorba.com/news.html#2
Led lighting is in the flames in an open fire.

A controlled, comfortable descent from my cubicle at work with Nardine, my compassionate listener. Ten minutes going down. A hot swirling fireball of briefcases, books, chairs, people—half visible then consumed again. The fire has distinct tongues, flames that shape it, a swirling flaming nest.. You can follow the turning parts. It is painful even if I don’t want to believe it. Pain transforms. I can learn to watch and not interfere or deny that. Sideways to an endless black field with various fires, I only see the glow through the underbrush and trees. "Oh brother here I am at the Mankind Project. Can’t get away from choosing these angry men who feel entitled to lie and punish women. Why do we have to go back to tribal times? Not sure things were so great for women then." I’m afraid and begin to get moody. I decide to let go since I have to grow up and assert my own protection. I choose a fire and look closer. The people role over the fire coming out with their own unique scar. The sting is lessened by the communal feel. Everyone has a scar for all to see. We all witness. The pattern of behavior provides structure, safety. I stand with the wounded as the firelight flicks through the air. I feel connected. I feel commiserate. I feel we will all be ok. We are together. We belong.

I felt I it was important to own my experience no matter what at this circle. It is no longer socially acceptable to deny my vision.]]> http://alisontorba.com/news.html#2 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Tucson based soulful recording artist - Alison Torba - News http://alisontorba.com/news.html#1 http://alisontorba.com/news.html#1 Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Tucson based soulful recording artist - Alison Torba - News