New Zealand New Performance Festival Runs Now thru 3/29 at LaMaMa

The New Zealand based theatrical company, Playground NZ, under the Artistic Direction of Sam Trubridge, has announced that it will be staging NEW ZEALAND NEW PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL, a ten day showcase of contemporary performance featuring nine different works belonging to award winning and internationally respected artists from New Zealand from dance to standup comedy and physical theatre to installation today, March 12th - March 29th at one of New York City's most exciting venues, LaMaMa.

Witty, direct, and profoundly kiwi, the nine performances will run in rep with three full-length plays. Among them, a play entitled, ON THE CONDITIONS AND POSSIBILITIES OF HILLARY CLINTON TAKING ME AS HER YOUNG LOVER, in which the performer charges through the pop-cultural slipstream to prove his amorous point: that by taking him as her young lover prior to the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary Clinton will attain the world's highest office and initiate the Goldenest Age of American culture and society.

"We're so excited to be able to present a slice of the creativity that's happening and together they provide a high quality cross section of the work that's going on in New Zealand ," said the festival's director Sam Trubridge.

The complete festival lineup is below:

On The Conditions and Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me as Her Young Lover
Conditional Productions
12 - 15 March 2015, 7:30pm, First Floor Theater

Adapted from the book by Richard Meros by Geoff Pinfield and Arthur Meek. Directed by Geoff Pinfield. Performed by Arthur Meek

Richard Meros is the self-proclaimed Machiavelli of Generation Me. In this anarchic and incisive journey into the hot and heavy heart of Western Civilization, Meros proves, step by barkingly-logical step, that Hillary Clinton not only wants a young lover, but needs one to win the 2016 Presidential Election. Furthermore, the only possible candidate for this coveted position is, by rational necessity, him.

Richard Meros' celebrated cod-philosophical lectures have toured throughout New Zealand and have been described as: 'Brilliant. Absurd. Delightful,' and "a sheer delight... performed with comic aplomb and spot-on timing." Performed by award-winning playwright and actor Arthur Meek(2013-14 Harriet Friedlander New York Residency, Best Non-Fiction Script at the United Solo Theatre Festival NYC for Dark Stars)

La MaMa hosts this Nuclear-Powerpoint lecture of the month.

Performance duration: 60 mins

For Your Future Guidance
Binge Culture Collective
19 - 20 & 22 March 2015, 6pm, La Galleria
Devised and performed by Joel Baxendale and Ralph Upton

Are you anxious about what the future may bring? Tormented by crippling "future-tension"? Help is on the horizon, thanks to our proven and accredited method!

In the future, financial collapse, deadly pandemics, unannounced visits from extended family, large-scale volcanism, mass extinction and trips to the dentist are all credible scenarios. NOW is the time to take proactive steps to predict and prepare. For Your Future Guidance will: • unlock your latent abilities to anticipate future events of any scale, with accuracy? • gain a basic understanding of the mysteries of time? • practice interaction and etiquette in a time altered environment. Part theater, part seminar, For Your Future Guidance gives YOU the skills and knowledge YOU need to survive the coming decades.

Performance duration: 60 mins

BREAK UP
Binge Culture Collective
21 March 1-7pm La Galleria

Devised by Binge Culture Collective. Performed by Joel Baxendale, Fiona McNamara, Gareth Hobbs, Claire O'Loughlin and Ralph Upton

There's no easy way to do this... Five performers, six hours of desperation, negotiation, devastation and emotional blackmail. Come and go from this one-off event as you please - or stay until everything is worked through.

Follow the anguish on twitter #bingebreakup or the live stream at www.bingeculture.co.nz

Performance duration: 6 hours (audience can come and go)

All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever
The PlayGround Collective
26 & 27 March 2015, 8pm, Ellen Stewart Theater
Written by Eli Kent Directed by Robin Kerr

Simon studies video game design, looks after his pet rats, and keeps himself glued to whatever screen is nearest- all to avoid thinking about the recent death of his father. But Simon's world is turned upside down when a mysterious box is delivered to him that might just contain the Secret to the Universe... Is he playing the game - or is the game playing him? Simon scrolls his way through the often tragic randomness of life as a higher intelligence tries to guide his story to a satisfying conclusion. All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever is a hilariously absurd 8-Bit Action Adventure about a guy who's going through life with all its glitches.

Performance duration: 60 minutes

Chet Baker: Like Someone in Love
Goldthorpe Creative
28 & 29 March 2015, 8pm, Ellen Stewart Theater
Written by David Goldthorpe & Directed by David Lawrence?

In this thrilling, dark theatrical performance, NZ actor David Goldthorpe explores both the haunting, unforgettable music that made jazz legend Chet Baker famous and the visceral, self-destruction that made him infamous. He takes the audience on a gripping ride through the highs and lows of Baker's life, interspersing the dialogue with expertly arranged Baker classics played live with a full three piece jazz band. After extensive touring of NZ, Australia and the UK this exceptional work brings an American story back to America, from the lips of a multi-talented NZ performer.

Chet Baker: Like Someone in Love entry will also play The Metropolitan Room at 9.30pm on Thursday March 26th

Sleep/Wake
The Playground NZ
19 - 22 March 2015, 8pm, Ellen Stewart Theater
Director/Designer, Sam Trubridge?Sleep Scientist, Philippa Gander

Art and science meet to investigate the worlds of the sleeping body. Sleep/Wake is the result of a collaboration between sleep scientist Philippa Gander and performance designer Sam Trubridge. The dynamic set forms an integral part of each performance: moving walls, projections, somnographic machinery, liquids seeping across the stage, and the play of light in the space are all live performances that are synthesised with the movements of the performers.Through the languages of movement, image, and science a unique journey begins: into the unknown territory of sleep, where we spend one third of our lives.

"The Australasian Sleep Association applauds The Playground's production of Sleep/Wake. Through narrative, movement and digital imagery it informs about the nature of sleep, challenges and disturbs as it captures the tension between the competing priorities of sleep and wakefulness and powerfully evokes the surreal world of the dreaming sleeper". - The Australasian Sleep Association

Performance duration: 70 mins

Listening Posts
LudiCity, New Zealand & New York, USA
Throughout East Village
19 - 22 March 2015
Created in collaboration between Sarah Burrell and Andrew Simpson

Listening Posts are small sonic instruments installed in the urban landscape, housing curated recordings that draw from material recently made public through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This covert installation uses location-based mobile media to rethink notions of community, privacy and dialogue in relation to place.

Listening Posts are small sonic instruments installed in the urban landscape, housing curated recordings that draw from material recently made public through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This covert installation uses location- based mobile media to rethink notions of community, privacy and dialogue in relation to place. This work was developed for Art in Odd Places 2014 (New York) and The Performance Arcade 2015 (Wellington, New Zealand). For more on the Freedom of Information Act visit truth-out.org.

So-So Gangsta
James Nokise
19 - 22 March 2015, 7:30pm, First Floor Theater

Useless former gangsta James Nokise was involved with the youth gang "the Bloods", and subsequently booted out for being too camp. In a brilliant blend of stand-up, powerpoint, and satire, Nokise provides a look at New Zealand's history of gang culture, its links to the States, and the way in which modern society views the "Gangsta". A one hour combination of stand-up, powerpoint, and satire, So So Gangsta informs, questions and confronts audiences. Nokise's energetic, fast paced, performance has been engaging audiences with an enthusiasm for his subject that highlights the ridiculousness in outdated perceptions.

Performance duration: 60 mins

NAG
Marcus McShane
18 - 20 & 22 March 2015, 1-7 pm La Galleria
Created and powered by Marcus McShane.

Nag is an installation powered by the artists themselves that focuses on creative self-propulsion and takes sustainability to a bizarre and kafka-esque level. Built entirely from recycled parts, including obsolete washing machines and a defunct Tokyo subway booth, the work brings together sustainable ethics, invention, endurance performance, and the endless production of art. When it premiered it was nominated for awards in both Visual Art and Design, and has been reshown nine times as well as being rebuilt to be more efficient and less prone to catching fire. Don't examine. Don't slow down. Just nag yourself to make and make and make.

Performance duration: 6 hours (audience can come and go)