Ode to a Postmodern Child

Critics good and critics bad,
critics bright and critics dim,
critics modern and critics post—
traffic in articulation,
profess to be our salvation.

He-s and she-s just like me,
perhaps,
with great responsibilities.
For with their words, which are many,
they mold and shape our thoughts, though few,
mindless folk without a clue.

De-centered,
De-constructed,
there to find and to discover
lost readings of my past.
My childhood called to task?

Winnie the Pooh is not my friend
and Scooby Doo becomes suspect.
For de-centered and de-constructed
these names derive from feces, so I am told.
Winnie the Poop and
Scooby Doo Doo is what we get.
Are these really their theses?

Authors dead or lay dying.
Cannons rebuked, and cannons fired.
Readers’ response is all the rage.
Why write a work, a poem, or play?
Chaos rules! Relativity reigns!
Hopeless children still are crying.

Nothing sacred? No holds barred?
What have we gained?
What have we lost?
Do the margins hold?
Who have we pissed off?

The arts enlighten, stories brighten.
But not today.
Spirit lost.
The lab forsaken.
Lost our minds? Lost our way?
Shame! Sham? Shaman.

© 2002 by Scot Lahaie

Violence is Blue

Reality is the rage
See it all for free
Buy this, buy that
All for a very small fee
Love
Sex
Hormones, pheromones
Flowing, going
All on Reality TV

Guns and Roses
Pansies and Pinks
Mindless people watch
Survivors? So they think!
Death
Violence
On TV
Buy this, buy that
The market drives it All

Roses are red
Violence is blue
You shoot me
I shoot you
Dope
Soap
We cope
The best we can
Our hope is in the Man

Earn a buck
Spend a bill
Change your mind
Take it back? At your Will!
Buy
Spend
Exchange, expend
There is no limit
The credit card is God

Our values lost?
A moral nation?
Is there no end?
An evil contagion!
Watchers
Doers
Suckers, stinkers
We’ve all gone mad!
The new reality… all on TV

© 2005 by Scot Lahaie

GADFLY Published in the Prestigious Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

The Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, a peer reviewed journal with a prestigious international editorial board, selected Professor Lahaie’s newest play GADFLY for inclusion in their 2010 volume entitled “Intelligent Design and Artificial Intelligence: The Ghost in the Machine”. Copies of the Journal may be ordered online at www.jis3.org.

GADFLY has also been published in a paperback edition with Clay Tablet Creative and is available for purchase at LULU.com.

Gadfly

DOGFALL’s Professional Premiere at NC STAGE

The Sanguine Theatre Troupe presented the professional premiere  of DOGFALL as a part of NC Stage Company’s Catalyst Series on January 14th-16th and 21st-23rd 2011. The Sanguine Theatre Troupe presents DOGFALL, a new, award winning play, as a part of NC Stage Company’s Catalyst Series on January 14th-16th and 21st-23rd.

The play stars Bradley James Archer, an Asheville native, as the radical Mike Howard in a follow-up role to his recent appearance as Treves in Carolina Actors Studio Theatre’s (C.A.S.T.) production of THE ELEPHANT MAN, for which he received rave reviews. Appearing opposite Archer is Scot Lahaie, the author of the play and Professor of Theatre at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. A veteran of the theater, Lahaie is making his regional debut as an actor in this production. Lahaie portrays Dr. Jake McKenzie, a doctor known for assisting his patients commit suicide because of terminal illness.

Now in its seventh year, the NC Stage Catalyst Series features performances from local, grassroots theatre companies. NC Stage collaborates with these exciting companies to expand its own programming while providing resources for innovative theatre. Visit www.ncstage.org/for more information about the series.

Photograph of Dogfall at NCSC
Photograph of Dogfall at NCSC

Lahaie’s Drama Group Wins Big: GWU Theater Wins Six Awards at the Annual MTA Awards

BOILING SPRINGS, NC- The Gardner-Webb University Theatre Program won multiple awards at the much-anticipated Metrolina Theatre Awards (MTA) in Charlotte, NC this week. GWU made an outstanding showing by winning six awards (13 nominations) including key awards for “The Crucible”.

The awards won by Gardner-Webb were:

  • Outstanding Production- “The Crucible”
  • Outstanding Lead Actor- Male -Ron Houser (John Proctor)- “The Crucible”
  • Outstanding Lead Actor- Female – Amy Elliot (Elizabeth Proctor)- “The Crucible”
  • Outstanding Choreography- Kenzie Conner- “Li’l Abner- The Musical”
  • Outstanding Lighting Design- Nicholas Laughridge- “The Crucible”
  • Outstanding Set Design- Christopher Keene- “The Crucible”

Ron Houser, the Gardner-Webb University MTA winner for Outstanding Male Lead Actor, said, “The fact that Gardner-Webb was able to win so many of the awards is proof that Christians can compete and succeed with the ‘lions’ of theatre.” He also said, “The behavior and conduct of the Gardner-Webb nominees at the MTA awards were very professional and they were a good representation for the university.”

The MTA organizes more than 80 peer nominations; this year, MTA nominators attended 105 adjucated shows, submitting thousands of nominations. The MTA represents more than 50 organizations, along with hundreds of theatrical artists, directors, and producers in the Charlotte region. The MTA also votes every year on performances and creative elements in seven categories: dramas, comedies, musicals, companies in the northern region, companies in the southern region, colleges and universities, and special events.

Photo of The Crucible
Photo of The Crucible

A Selection from the comedy “The Cattleman’s Suite”

BRIARBUSH: So, my dearest Mr. Drithers, here we are at last. The Cattleman’s Suite, as requested.

DRITHERS: This place sure brings back memories. Hasn’t changed a bit. Just amazing.

McGRUFF: Sir…
(with heavy luggage in hand.)Continue reading “A Selection from the comedy “The Cattleman’s Suite””