VIEWPOINTS – When accessibility creates its own artistic impression: TBTB’s revival of GOD OF CARNAGE and Up Until Now Collective’s MIDAIR FOR SOME TIME

Over the past week or so, I encountered a pair of productions that have made artistic impressions by virtue of granting accessibility to theater patrons (the same feeling I came away with in the Public Theater’s hit production of Ryan J. Haddad’s Dark Disabled Stories earlier this season). Read on for my thoughts.

Carey Cox, Christiane Noll, and David Burtka in TBTB’s production of “God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza at Theatre Row (photo by Carol Rosegg).

GOD OF CARNAGE
Theater Breaking Through Barriers at Theatre Row
Through May 20

First there’s Theater Breaking Through Barriers’ current Off-Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage at Theatre Row (RECOMMENDED). Despite my misgivings about some of the performances – which pales in comparison with other productions of the Tony-winning play I’ve seen – I greatly admire the additional texture afforded by the various new touches implemented to ensure accessibility for all. Firstly, a cleverly written and incorporated new prologue has been created as a sort of introduction to the play, giving audience members an audio description of the characters and the play’s Brooklyn apartment setting. Then over the course of the evening, the play’s dialogue (the English translation is by Christopher Hampton) is projected against the set’s back wall, imbuing Nicholas Viselli’s production a visually dynamic quality that compliments the work’s escalating tension and emotional stakes.

Up Until Now Collective’s production of “Midair for Some Time” at HERE (photo courtesy of Up Until Now Collective).

MIDAIR FOR SOME TIME
Up Until Now Collective at HERE
Closed

Accessibility is even more artfully ingrained in the DNA of Up Until Now Collective’s multidisciplinary Midair for Some Time (RECOMMENDED), which just wrapped up performances at HERE (the work is co-presented by HERE and ReelAbilities Film Festival). In essence, the 20-minute installation uses a blend of film, live music, theater, and wearable haptics technology to create a uniquely immersive, multi-sensory experience that asks audiences (six per performance) to embark on a journey from loneliness, to connection, and finally to complete communion with the world around us. In turn dreamlike, intimate, and fantastical, the work – the result of a collaboration between two dozen diverse artists – Midair for Some Time is a fascinating experiment that explores queer expression and pushes the boundaries of what constitutes theater. Although there’s somewhat of an unfinished air currently about the piece, I nonetheless emerged from HERE feeling cleansed and rejuvenated.

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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