American Living Room Festival, July 20-Aug 21
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 09, 2005
The HERE Arts Center will present The American Living Room festival, New York's first and longest-running summer
festival dedicated to emerging art, from July 20 - August 21 at
HERE Arts Center. The festival, now in its 16th year, is part of HEREs 2004-05
season, which features six original multidisciplinary productions
developed by resident artists, four festivals, and three visual art
exhibitions.The Annual American Living Room (TALR) festival supports the
development of new, multidisciplinary works & artists in a setting
that strives to make theatre as much a part of everyday life as
watching TV. This years festival presents 30 events -- directing
projects, performances, puppetry pieces and new musical compositions --
involving approximately 300 artists. Work was developed in response to
this years theme: The Carousel of Progress in America. The artists
work responds to this theme, depicting how they see, smell, taste,
hear, feel & interpret Americas progress as it was, as it is and as
it will be. Pieces range from 10 to 120 minutes in length and are
presented in TALRs signature comfortable living room environment with
an eclectic mix of easy chairs and plump couches, presenting
challenging and compelling theater in a laid-back familiar setting.Each
year, approximately 500 applications are distributed through the HERE
space and website, as well as by local arts councils and universities.
The curators (Playwright & HERE Resident Artist Tim Braun, HERE
Resident Artist & Director Eva Burgess, HERE Associate Producer
Rachel Ford, HERE Co-Founder & Executive Director Kristin Marting
& Les Freres Corbusier Artistic Director Alex Timbers) selected
work that addressed current factors shaping the ideas, hopes and fears
of the American character.
Since opening in 1993, the OBIE-award winning HERE Arts Center has
housed daring and unique theatre, visual art, puppetry, music and dance
in its three theatres, two art galleries and cafe;. Previous
works originally produced by HERE include Eve Enslers The Vagina
Monologues, Basil Twists Symphonie Fantastique, Trey Lyford & Geoff
Sobelles' all wear bowlers and original musical and dance works created
and directed by Executive Director Kristin Marting. HERE recently
closed a deal to own 9,000 square feet of their space creating a
permanent home downtown for artists and patrons of the arts for many
years to come.The schedule of the American Living Room Festival is as follows:Still Life with Runner - July 20 & 21 (Wednesday & Thursday)
Written by Steven Gridley & co-directed by Steven Gridley & Jacob Titus
The thoughts of a runner wander as he competes in a race. He tries to stay focused and intent on the task in front him, but his mind slips. Utilizing dance, ceremony, nostalgia and a treadmill, Still Life explores the relationships between two brothers: one who runs, and one who can run no longer.
Saudade - July 22 & 23 (Friday & Saturday)
Created by The South Wing & directed by Kameron Steele
A young woman pays the price for foreign love under a military dictatorship, an immigrant seeks citizenship despite terrible sacrifice and a renegade citizen attempts to flee a crumbling empire. Through three narratives, Saudade investigates what happens when one severs their relationship with home.Aurolac Blues - July 25 & 26 (Monday & Tuesday)
Written by Saviana Stanescu & directed by Nina Hein
Sniffing Aurolac seems all that is left to two Romanian gypsy street kids, but there is also America, constantly surfacing in their conversation as the dreamland of fast food, glamorous stardom and thriving pop culture. But they know that they will need wings-- those of vampires if they are ever to fly to America.Driking the Kool-Aid - July 25 & 26 (Monday & Tuesday)
Created & performed by Fernando Maneca/Manoiseca
Set in a world of round-the-clock news, search engines and instant communication, Drinking the Kool-Aid follows Fernandos split personalities as they navigate the many flavors of information offered up by witches, wizards, and a little doll too. Yit, Ngay (One, Two) - July 27 (Wednesday)
Written & directed by Michael Lew
Tracing the lives of four Chinese sisters, two born and raised in Toi San, China and two born and raised in Fresno, CA. One actress plays all four sisters, encompassing 60 years of family history spread across two continents and three generationsQuerelle Quartet and Coming Forth by Day - July 28 & 29 (Thurs. & Fri.)
Directed by Yvan Greenber, performed by Laboratory Theater
A television documentary about orchid hunting guides the performers through sexually charged dialogue, violent gun struggles and physically exhaustive movement sequences. Coming Forth By Day is a performance-ritual imagining the ancient Egyptian concept of the souls journey after death. Two mediums channel movement and navigate spirit possession.
Is This a Gentleman? - July 30 & 31 (Saturday & Sunday)
Written & directed by Kara Freely, performed by Ross Beschler & Avi Glickstein
This show is a collection of lectures, exercises, conversations and interrogations that contemplates gentlemanly behavior and the understanding of the English language. What is the connection between the English gentleman and the American international businessman? Developed from an English language textbook, the play investigates corporate language/custom and its evolution over the last several decades. Wound Up - July 30 & 31 (Saturday & Sunday)
Choreographed & performed by Cheryl Conkling
Directed by Maureen Towey w/ music by Bell Orchestra
Through dance-clown-circus-theater techniques, Wound Up explores the ballerina in the music box and what happens when she gets out. Wound Up also looks at limitations placed on women and young people using music boxes as a metaphor.Solo/Together - August 1 (Monday)
Created by viBe Theater Experience, co-directed by Dana Edell & Chandra Thomas
Through original songs, dances, poetry, monologues, scenes and spoken word, viBe Theater Experience Presents reflects and responds to the positive and negative situations in the lives of eight young women from New York City. Through individual writing and collaboration these young women speak from collective and unique voices about issues such as racism, body image, peer pressure, sex, culture and family.Organized Color Intoxication - August 2 (Tuesday)
Directed by Jonathan Zalben, video mixing by Marshall Jones & film by Taylor Krauss
This poetic exploration of the Internet and interactivity features live instrumentalists and audience participation. Digital videos of the Lower East Side are processed through the computer to create an antiquing effect. Live music is filtered in real time by the audience and performers and video monitors adjust to the music. My Words Turn to Song in Your Fists - August 4 & 5 (Thursday & Friday)
Composed & conducted by John Altieri with choreography by Daman Harun
My Words Turn to Song in Your Fists is a modern ballet exploring Americas ongoing renewal of self-identity. Music ranging from funk-influenced minimalism to graceful sensual melody propels the choreography and expresses intentions about the simultaneity of various emotions and the sharp juxtaposition of extremes.The Secret Face - August 4 & 5 (Thursday & Friday)
Written by Elisabet Jokulsdottir & directed by Steinunn Knutsdottir
Performed by Palina Jonsdottir
An adventurous solo art house piece performed by Icelandic actress Palina Jonsdottir and cunning satire about a woman in love and her extraordinary funeral game. This multimedia performance about the secret world of the mind is experienced through physical theatre, written poetry, visual imagery and musical fantasy.K. - August 6 & 7 (Saturday & Sunday)
Conceived & directed by Kenn Watt & choreographed by Tanya Calamneri
Created by ensemble Sean Simon, Deke Weaver, Raquel Cion, Gillian Chadsey & Sam Zuckerman
K. is a timely interdisciplinary piece examining issues of medical ethics in 20th century American history with a particular focus on the towering figure Jack Kevorkian. This surreal meditation focuses on some of the most profound ideas in contemporary cultural circulation: end of life issues, the future of the genome and the intersection of law, health and medicine.
Destruction- August 10 & 11 (Wednesday & Thursday)
Adapted from Richard Foreman's notebooks & directed by Caleb Hammond
The War Continues: Bodies crash together in battle and embrace. A group of vampires caught in an existential crisis try to escape the endless cycle of murder and revenge. Societal conflict and personal intrigues collide in this exhilarating theatrical work told by an intensely physical ensemble of actors. All the Faithfully Departed - August 10 & 11 (Wednesday & Thursday)
Choreographed by Jeremy Laverdure & performed by besto perfeckto
All the Faithfully Departed is a dance about alien abductions, the rapture, neurological disorders, spiritual ecstasy and mans search for meaning. All of the collaborators work from the same textual sources to generate a common pool of images from which to create movement.In the Belly of the Beast with Two Backs - August 12 & 13 (Friday & Saturday)
Conceived & directed by Lisa Jackson, with physical consulting by Matthew Morgan
This adaptation of Othello fuses comedy and tragedy, dance and text, movement and voice. It is erotica tainted with high culture, hymn mixed with mambo, melding forms, styles and genres.Flint, Michigan - August 14 & 15 (Sunday & Monday)
Directed & co-conceived by Elizabeth Bourgeois, produced & co-conceived by Hays Hitzing
This multimedia performance re-appropriates the stereotypes and imagery perpetrated on Flint by Michael Moore and the mass media. Collaboratively created by Flint residents, students and musicians, this extravaganza presents Buick City in all its glory and ponders the question: is Flint really The Worst City in America? State of the Union- August 16 & 17 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
Co-directed & created by Greg Felden, Alice Moore & Jonathan C. Green
This performance examines the multi-national buyout of a small chemical and water treatment plant in Louisiana. Using video footage and over fifteen hours of interviews, State of the Union investigates declining pensions, globalization and the export of jobs. It is the unique story of one group of people struggling against the system for dignity and respect.Fresh Kills: A Waste Is a Terrible Thing to Mind - August 16 & 17 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
Directed & composed by Lanny Meyers with videos by Christine Schiavo
This multimedia performance explores issues surrounding garbage in New York City. Focusing specifically on a Staten Island landfill before and after September 11th, Fresh Kills details the effort to sift through the million-plus tons of rubble looking for possessions, photographs, fragments of lives of those who perished. In effect the landfill transforms into a crime scene and ultimately a hallowed burial ground. Stay - August 18 (Thursday)
Choreographed by Shannon Hummel in collaboration with dancers Vanessa Adato & Donna Costello of Cora Dance Company
From the clear and painful vantage point of hindsight, Stay takes a powerful look at the pleasures we squander to maintain control in relationships. Hummels works are vivid and detailed explorations of the human condition. Richly theatrical and uniquely physical, she marries the abstract power of compelling dancing with narratives concrete force of emotion.Eat Shit and Die with the Joneses - August 19 & 20 (Friday & Saturday)
Written & performed by Boomie Aglietti and Max Dana of The Society for Creative Dissent
A fallen French chef and an overzealous food critic-- each the others only hope for gaining the esteem so they so desperately crave. A mix of physical theater and uncivilized farce, Eat Shit and Die with the Joneses! traverses the absurd depths of humankinds lust for status. The Ballad of Junk and Malfunction - August 19 & 20 (Friday & Saturday)
Written by Melaena Cadiz & composed by Joseph Keckler
In this frantic musical odyssey, a pair of world-weary New York nightclub chanteurs chase imagined glory days, trekking across a chaotic future America attempting to carve a comeback into the face of American history.Box of Fools - August 21 (Sunday)
Written by Joshua Putnam Peskay, directed by Matthew Peskay with compositions by Stephen Jacobs (Dirty Sock Funtime Band)
Feeling boxed in? Overworked? This workplace comedy features Buster Bins, the harried owner of a box factory. Help him try to cope with fools of all sorts: boxes, hogs, meatloaf, antique porcelain chickens, overzealous police inspectors, international criminal masterminds and most trying of all, his mother.HERE Arts Center is located at 145 Sixth Avenue (one block below Spring Street). All performances start at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $15 ($10 for members). Tickets are available by calling SmartTix (212) 868-4444. For more information please visit www.here.org or call (212) 868-4444.
Written by Steven Gridley & co-directed by Steven Gridley & Jacob Titus
The thoughts of a runner wander as he competes in a race. He tries to stay focused and intent on the task in front him, but his mind slips. Utilizing dance, ceremony, nostalgia and a treadmill, Still Life explores the relationships between two brothers: one who runs, and one who can run no longer.
Created by The South Wing & directed by Kameron Steele
A young woman pays the price for foreign love under a military dictatorship, an immigrant seeks citizenship despite terrible sacrifice and a renegade citizen attempts to flee a crumbling empire. Through three narratives, Saudade investigates what happens when one severs their relationship with home.Aurolac Blues - July 25 & 26 (Monday & Tuesday)
Written by Saviana Stanescu & directed by Nina Hein
Sniffing Aurolac seems all that is left to two Romanian gypsy street kids, but there is also America, constantly surfacing in their conversation as the dreamland of fast food, glamorous stardom and thriving pop culture. But they know that they will need wings-- those of vampires if they are ever to fly to America.Driking the Kool-Aid - July 25 & 26 (Monday & Tuesday)
Created & performed by Fernando Maneca/Manoiseca
Set in a world of round-the-clock news, search engines and instant communication, Drinking the Kool-Aid follows Fernandos split personalities as they navigate the many flavors of information offered up by witches, wizards, and a little doll too. Yit, Ngay (One, Two) - July 27 (Wednesday)
Written & directed by Michael Lew
Tracing the lives of four Chinese sisters, two born and raised in Toi San, China and two born and raised in Fresno, CA. One actress plays all four sisters, encompassing 60 years of family history spread across two continents and three generationsQuerelle Quartet and Coming Forth by Day - July 28 & 29 (Thurs. & Fri.)
Directed by Yvan Greenber, performed by Laboratory Theater
A television documentary about orchid hunting guides the performers through sexually charged dialogue, violent gun struggles and physically exhaustive movement sequences. Coming Forth By Day is a performance-ritual imagining the ancient Egyptian concept of the souls journey after death. Two mediums channel movement and navigate spirit possession.
Is This a Gentleman? - July 30 & 31 (Saturday & Sunday)
Written & directed by Kara Freely, performed by Ross Beschler & Avi Glickstein
This show is a collection of lectures, exercises, conversations and interrogations that contemplates gentlemanly behavior and the understanding of the English language. What is the connection between the English gentleman and the American international businessman? Developed from an English language textbook, the play investigates corporate language/custom and its evolution over the last several decades. Wound Up - July 30 & 31 (Saturday & Sunday)
Choreographed & performed by Cheryl Conkling
Directed by Maureen Towey w/ music by Bell Orchestra
Through dance-clown-circus-theater techniques, Wound Up explores the ballerina in the music box and what happens when she gets out. Wound Up also looks at limitations placed on women and young people using music boxes as a metaphor.Solo/Together - August 1 (Monday)
Created by viBe Theater Experience, co-directed by Dana Edell & Chandra Thomas
Through original songs, dances, poetry, monologues, scenes and spoken word, viBe Theater Experience Presents reflects and responds to the positive and negative situations in the lives of eight young women from New York City. Through individual writing and collaboration these young women speak from collective and unique voices about issues such as racism, body image, peer pressure, sex, culture and family.Organized Color Intoxication - August 2 (Tuesday)
Directed by Jonathan Zalben, video mixing by Marshall Jones & film by Taylor Krauss
This poetic exploration of the Internet and interactivity features live instrumentalists and audience participation. Digital videos of the Lower East Side are processed through the computer to create an antiquing effect. Live music is filtered in real time by the audience and performers and video monitors adjust to the music. My Words Turn to Song in Your Fists - August 4 & 5 (Thursday & Friday)
Composed & conducted by John Altieri with choreography by Daman Harun
My Words Turn to Song in Your Fists is a modern ballet exploring Americas ongoing renewal of self-identity. Music ranging from funk-influenced minimalism to graceful sensual melody propels the choreography and expresses intentions about the simultaneity of various emotions and the sharp juxtaposition of extremes.The Secret Face - August 4 & 5 (Thursday & Friday)
Written by Elisabet Jokulsdottir & directed by Steinunn Knutsdottir
Performed by Palina Jonsdottir
An adventurous solo art house piece performed by Icelandic actress Palina Jonsdottir and cunning satire about a woman in love and her extraordinary funeral game. This multimedia performance about the secret world of the mind is experienced through physical theatre, written poetry, visual imagery and musical fantasy.K. - August 6 & 7 (Saturday & Sunday)
Conceived & directed by Kenn Watt & choreographed by Tanya Calamneri
Created by ensemble Sean Simon, Deke Weaver, Raquel Cion, Gillian Chadsey & Sam Zuckerman
K. is a timely interdisciplinary piece examining issues of medical ethics in 20th century American history with a particular focus on the towering figure Jack Kevorkian. This surreal meditation focuses on some of the most profound ideas in contemporary cultural circulation: end of life issues, the future of the genome and the intersection of law, health and medicine.
Destruction- August 10 & 11 (Wednesday & Thursday)
Adapted from Richard Foreman's notebooks & directed by Caleb Hammond
The War Continues: Bodies crash together in battle and embrace. A group of vampires caught in an existential crisis try to escape the endless cycle of murder and revenge. Societal conflict and personal intrigues collide in this exhilarating theatrical work told by an intensely physical ensemble of actors. All the Faithfully Departed - August 10 & 11 (Wednesday & Thursday)
Choreographed by Jeremy Laverdure & performed by besto perfeckto
All the Faithfully Departed is a dance about alien abductions, the rapture, neurological disorders, spiritual ecstasy and mans search for meaning. All of the collaborators work from the same textual sources to generate a common pool of images from which to create movement.In the Belly of the Beast with Two Backs - August 12 & 13 (Friday & Saturday)
Conceived & directed by Lisa Jackson, with physical consulting by Matthew Morgan
This adaptation of Othello fuses comedy and tragedy, dance and text, movement and voice. It is erotica tainted with high culture, hymn mixed with mambo, melding forms, styles and genres.Flint, Michigan - August 14 & 15 (Sunday & Monday)
Directed & co-conceived by Elizabeth Bourgeois, produced & co-conceived by Hays Hitzing
This multimedia performance re-appropriates the stereotypes and imagery perpetrated on Flint by Michael Moore and the mass media. Collaboratively created by Flint residents, students and musicians, this extravaganza presents Buick City in all its glory and ponders the question: is Flint really The Worst City in America? State of the Union- August 16 & 17 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
Co-directed & created by Greg Felden, Alice Moore & Jonathan C. Green
This performance examines the multi-national buyout of a small chemical and water treatment plant in Louisiana. Using video footage and over fifteen hours of interviews, State of the Union investigates declining pensions, globalization and the export of jobs. It is the unique story of one group of people struggling against the system for dignity and respect.Fresh Kills: A Waste Is a Terrible Thing to Mind - August 16 & 17 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
Directed & composed by Lanny Meyers with videos by Christine Schiavo
This multimedia performance explores issues surrounding garbage in New York City. Focusing specifically on a Staten Island landfill before and after September 11th, Fresh Kills details the effort to sift through the million-plus tons of rubble looking for possessions, photographs, fragments of lives of those who perished. In effect the landfill transforms into a crime scene and ultimately a hallowed burial ground. Stay - August 18 (Thursday)
Choreographed by Shannon Hummel in collaboration with dancers Vanessa Adato & Donna Costello of Cora Dance Company
From the clear and painful vantage point of hindsight, Stay takes a powerful look at the pleasures we squander to maintain control in relationships. Hummels works are vivid and detailed explorations of the human condition. Richly theatrical and uniquely physical, she marries the abstract power of compelling dancing with narratives concrete force of emotion.Eat Shit and Die with the Joneses - August 19 & 20 (Friday & Saturday)
Written & performed by Boomie Aglietti and Max Dana of The Society for Creative Dissent
A fallen French chef and an overzealous food critic-- each the others only hope for gaining the esteem so they so desperately crave. A mix of physical theater and uncivilized farce, Eat Shit and Die with the Joneses! traverses the absurd depths of humankinds lust for status. The Ballad of Junk and Malfunction - August 19 & 20 (Friday & Saturday)
Written by Melaena Cadiz & composed by Joseph Keckler
In this frantic musical odyssey, a pair of world-weary New York nightclub chanteurs chase imagined glory days, trekking across a chaotic future America attempting to carve a comeback into the face of American history.Box of Fools - August 21 (Sunday)
Written by Joshua Putnam Peskay, directed by Matthew Peskay with compositions by Stephen Jacobs (Dirty Sock Funtime Band)
Feeling boxed in? Overworked? This workplace comedy features Buster Bins, the harried owner of a box factory. Help him try to cope with fools of all sorts: boxes, hogs, meatloaf, antique porcelain chickens, overzealous police inspectors, international criminal masterminds and most trying of all, his mother.HERE Arts Center is located at 145 Sixth Avenue (one block below Spring Street). All performances start at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $15 ($10 for members). Tickets are available by calling SmartTix (212) 868-4444. For more information please visit www.here.org or call (212) 868-4444.
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