Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Bated Breath’s intermittently successful CHASING ANDY WARHOL creates some striking tableaus against the city’s iconic vistas

• By drediman
• April 24, 2022
• No Comments

This weekend, I participated in Chasing Andy Warhol, Bated Theatre Company’s latest walking tour cum immersive theater experience. The piece is the theater company’s equally ambitious – if less cohesive and inspired – follow-up to Voyeur: The Windows of Toulouse-Lautrec, a beacon of sorts during the fall and winter of 2020, at which time just about all of the performing arts were shuttered (the unique, outdoor format of the piece ensured its Covid-friendliness). In Chasing Andy Warhol, audiences literally chase – with the aid of a fangirl obsessed with Andy Warhol – the iconic artist through the winding streets of the East Village in pursuit of understanding the man and his art.

The piece, which has been created and directed by Mara Lieberman, establishes an artfully surreal series of multidisciplinary encounters with multitudes of Andy Warhols – theater, dance, puppetry, performance art are all utilized – some of which more successfully conceived and/or executed than others (the production is also logistically efficient, with “performances” embarking every 45 minutes). A highlight includes an exuberant dance break that chronologically takes place at the height of Warhol’s fame (the mixed-bag choreography is by Rachel Leigh Dolan). If ultimately Chasing Andy Warhol is more concerned with establishing striking tableaus than really exploring Warhol’s life and aesthetic – which it does so only superficially – then so be it. If you go into the piece with this in mind, you’ll have a perfectly pleasant time.

Indeed, there are worse ways one can spend an hour roaming the characterful, storied streets of the city, especially when the weather cooperates. Commencing at Astor Place, the saving grace of the work – which is performed by a hardworking team of young, scrappy theater artists – is its reliance on the city itself (its bustle, its scenic vistas) to dictate the energy of the performance. Along the way, you’ll get to appreciate the neighborhood’s plethora of street art and its considerable general charms (architecturally, the East Village really hasn’t changed all that much since Warhol himself wandered those very streets). You really can’t top that ensemble and scenic design, can you?

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

CHASING ANDY WARHOL
Immersive/Interdisciplinary Theater
Bated Breath Theatre Company
Streets of East Village
Through June 12