Starving Artists Theatre Company--A History
American MARK PINKOSH (performer) and British
GODFREY HAMILTON (writer) are Starving Artists Theatre Company. Founded
in 1983, the company was based for its first ten years in Honolulu, Hawaii.
During this first decade, Starving Artists was one of the few companies
in the State of Hawaii presenting alternative and fringe theatre. Frequently
honored for their work by the Hawaii State Theatre Council's annual Po'okela
Awards, Starving Artists said farewell with the enormously popular Haole
Boy, a self-penned performance by Mark taking a hilariously skewed
look at growing up `haole' (white) in the multi-ethnic Islands, and with
To Men in Love, an intimate evening of love
poems, dream monologues and laconic humor, written by Mark and Godfrey and
performed by them in various venues around Honolulu.
In 1992, Mark and Godfrey were honored, in a public ceremony, by the City and County of Honolulu for their work counteracting homophobia and racism in Hawaii. In 1993 they relocated to California.
" Gaining an ever-stronger reputation on both sides of the Atlantic" (London Evening Standard), Mark's performance in Godfrey's play Road Movie garnered the Stage Award for Acting Excellence at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival.
Mark then won the 1996 Manchester Evening News Award (Actor Of The Year in a Visiting Show) for Road Movie . The play, directed by Starving Artists' regular Lorenzo Mele, also won a Fringe First Award at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival and recently headlined at the Toronto World Stage Festival. It went on to represent the US at the Dublin International Festival (Peacock Theatre). In 1996, Mark and Godfrey won another Fringe First Award for Viper's Opium ( directed by Lorenzo Mele and premiering at the Traverse Theatre), which was also invited to the Dublin International Festival in 1997 (Andrews Lane Theatre) before touring to the United States.
Godfrey's plays have been mounted throughout Britain
and played extensive seasons in London: Kissing Marianne
(1994) was commissioned by the Drill Hall Arts Centre, premiered in
London, toured to California and Scotland, and is published in the anthology
Staging Gay Lives (Westview/HarperCollins).
Mark and Godfrey's previous work together includes: Island to Island (1988), Angels of Freedom (1990), Return of Peer Gynt (1991), Holding Back the Ocean (1991), Broken Folk (1992), Haole Boy (1992) and To Men In Love (1993).
Their breakthrough show Sleeping With You (directed by David Prescott) premiered at the 1993 Edinburgh Festival, transferred to London for a season, (earning nominations for the UK Independent Theatre Award and London Fringe Awards),toured to New Zealand to inaugurate Auckland's Hero Festival, then played seasons in Honolulu, Calgary and Los Angeles (twice).
Starving Artists' touring program has recently included London, Chicago, Philadelphia and Vancouver. Road Movie continued touring in 1998 to Dublin (for a second season), Maine, Miami and Hawaii. It is set to open soon, in a French language production, in Paris.
Godfrey's Pacific Dreams was commissioned by the BBC in 1997 and aired on Radio4 as a Monday Night Play, directed by Cathryn Horn. Godfrey is currently under commission to London's Bush Theatre.
In May of 1998 Godfrey's Never-Before-Seen Familiar opened in Manchester, commissioned by the IQUN Festival and featuring Kathryn Howden who has made such a hit with audiences playing opposite Mark in Viper's Opium.
Godfrey's 1997 text Earthquake Weather, another Traverse Theatre premiere (directed by John Tiffany), has recently been optioned for a New York production.
Mark and Godfrey tend to work with an informal team of honorary "Starving Artists" --directors Lorenzo Mele and David Prescott, lighting designers Douglas Kuhrt and Helen Morley, and New York-based director/producer Matt Tauber.
Through the years, Mark and Godfrey have presented performances by international theatre artists; the Celtic Storyteller Daniel Morden has appeared under the Starving Artists umbrella many times, both in his own right and as a collaborator with Godfrey, while British writer/performer Claire Dowie was commissioned by Starving Artists to write one of her most brilliant shows, Death & Dancing, which she and Mark premiered in Honolulu in 1992 and have since performed the length and breadth of the UK.
The text of Godfrey's Road Movie has been published by Nick Hern Books and is now available in paperback through all book outlets including amazon.com. Staging Gay Lives, edited by John Clum and featuring Godfrey's play Kissing Marianne, is also available in both the US and the UK (the latter as an import only). Other texts can be obtained directly from Godfrey at Starving Artists.
In Italy, Road Movie, translated by Gian Maria Cervo, opened at the Teatro Olympica, Rome--the opening coinciding with the anniversary of the death of film director, poet, and radical activist Pier Paolo Pasolini. Road Movie then toured theaters in Tuscany from late 1999 to Summer, 2000.
In Paris, Road Movie will play at the Sudden Theatre as part of the 2000-2001 season, translated by French actor/singer Jerome Pradon,who will play all the roles. exact dates are still to be announced...
Fall 2000 will see our second tour (this year) of Scotland, Starving Artists' second home. In fact, Godfrey Hamilton's family roots are in Aberdeen.
And Latest News!
Starving Artists will premiere their new show, Don't Forget Me, in 2000. Watch this website for more details...
Starving Artists can be contacted at:
P.O.Box 39995 Los Angeles, CA 90039
Our e-mail address is MarkGods@AOL.com
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