Interludes

REPORT CARD: January Experimental Performing Arts Festivals

• By drediman
• January 29, 2014
• No Comments

January has become theater heaven for lovers of experimental theater in New York. This January (bleeding into February in some cases), there were no less than six substantive avant-garde performing arts festivals running simultaneously, cumulatively offering more than 50(!) shows. These festivals, which are slowly establishing themselves as institutions in their own right, included Under the Radar, Coil, Prototype, Other Forces, American Realness, and Culturemart. Over the course of January, I had the opportunity to drink from this cultural fire hose. The experience was dizzying, exhausting, never less than interesting, and ultimately exhilarating. Much of the thrill came from the constant sense of discovery: most of the time, I had no idea what to expect from what would transpire in the subsequent hour or two. As to be expected from the sheer volume of shows, these performances were all over the map artistically: sometimes inspired, provocative, unfinished, visionary, messy, challenging, stillborn, pretentious, or all of the above. Below you’ll find the report card of my January festival-hopping adventures. I’m already looking forward to 2015!

Under the Radar

Celebrating its 10^th anniversary, this granddaddy of New York experimental theater festivals offered an impressive line-up this year. Given its brand name and association with the Public Theater, Under the Radar shows tend to be performed by more established artists and are likely to feature polished production values. Highlights this year included Edgar Oliver’s mesmerizing “Helen & Edgar”, 600 Highwayman’s impressively executed “The Record”, Kate Tempest’s pleading “Brand New Ancients”, and Toshi Regon’s ecstatic “Sacred Music”.

BigMouth **1/2

Black Out ***

Helen & Edgar ***1/2

The Record ****

Rodney King **

JDX – a public enemy **

Brand New Ancients ****

Sacred Music ***1/2

Coil

Coil is an interdisciplinary performing arts festival presented in association with Performance Space 122. I attended three of their shows this year, and to my pleasant surprise, they were all thoughtful and fully-realized. The highlight was Mac Wellman and Steve Mellor’s hypnotic and otherworldly monologue, “Muazzez”.  I’ll definitely make a point to see more of Coil’s offerings next year.

Muazzez ****

a quartet ***

House of Dance ***

Prototype

Produced in conjunction with HERE and others and enjoying its second year, Prototype is dedicated to producing new works of opera and music theater. Although I thought Kamala Sankaram’s opera “Thumbprint” was pedestrian despite being well-produced and professionally performed, Sky-Pony’s late night themed rock concert was an unadulterated blast of passion and fun. 

Thumbprint **

Sky-Pony ****

Other Forces

Other Forces, in association with Incubator Arts Project, is a fledgling festival whose ambitious shows lack the polish of its older siblings (see above). Although the two shows I saw (“I am Opera” and “Blue Wizard/Black Wizard”) felt very much like works in progress, both were interesting exercises in form and content (opera and musical theater, respectively) that deserve future development.

I am Opera ***

Blue Wizard/Black Wizard ***

American Realness

The most unpredictable of the festivals, American Realness this year assembled a lineup at the Abrons Arts Center that emphasized the broad notion choreography in performance. Although Ishmael Houston-Jones and Emily Wexler’s “13 Love Songs” was simply lazy and banal in my eyes and the dazzling Adam Linder’s “Cult to the Built on What” lacked substance, Miguel Gutierrez’s “myendless love” was a fascinating and challenging exploration of sex and self-worth (in that order).

Cult to the Built on What **1/2

myendlesslove ***1/2

13 Love Songs *