Welcome!

Hi there. My name is Louis Butelli, and I'm the Executive Director of Psittacus Productions, a 501c3 nonprofit theater company. We specialize in classical plays mashed-up with 21st century formats and technologies. Thanks for stopping by!

From this past September until just now, I wrote a Production Diary for the Folger Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Robert Richmond. It was pretty decently read, and I thought it might be nice to continue on blogging regularly, and to invite some of those readers to come on over here.

Sooo....

If you are joining us from the Folger, welcome! This blog goes back to March, 2010, so there's plenty of stuff to sniff around. Click here for one of our very first posts about the name Psittacus (SIT-ih-kuss), and why we chose it.

If you didn't catch it, definitely check out some of the entries in the Folger blog. Click here for a post on how Shakespeare Changes Your Brain.

Here's a few words about what's ahead for this blog...

1. Alabama. I'm heading down to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery to do Henry VIII, a re-mount of the production Robert Richmond and I did last year, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, and The 39 Steps. I have a feeling there'll be a fair amount to talk about on that subject.

2. CYCLOPS: A Rock Opera. This is our original musical, based on Euripides' Satyr Play of the same name, which we presented as a live rock concert in Los Angeles and New York City. Comprised of 24 brand new tunes - which you can listen to here - CYCLOPS won the New York Musical Theatre Festival Award for Excellence, and sold out it's run at 47th Street Theatre. Plans for a studio recording and future gigs are underway. Click here to see a trailer.

3. Folger Theatre. After collaborating on two shows with the Folger Theatre, myself and Robert Richmond hope to continue the relationship in the New Year. We have pitched a fascinating project combining research and staging - more news on that as it becomes available.

4. Considering Richard. We are now in the early stages of research and development on our next project. Much as we did with our A Tale Told By An Idiot - ie a comic book flavored deconstruction of Macbeth - we now plan to take on the character and story of Shakespeare's Richard III. We'll keep you abreast of how that goes here.

If you'd like to be on our email list, drop us a line at psittacusco@gmail.com

Finally, we'd love for you to get involved and join us. Here are some easy ways...

Join us on Facebook.
Follow us on Twitter.
Watch our vids on YouTube.

And, if you're feeling generous, click the orange "Donate" button at the top right corner of this screen. We are a 501c3 nonprofit, and need your help in creating this year's programming. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

It would make a nice holiday treat - and year-end tax deduction!

OK. Thanks again for swinging by. More very soon!

Cheers,
Louis