Photo Flash: The American Living Room Festival at HERE

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HERE Arts Center has announced The American Living Room Festival, now in its 17th year. A summer festival dedicated to emerging art, it is set to run from July 28 - August 30. Due to renovations taking place this summer at HERE Arts Center, the festival will be held at 3LD Arts & Technology Center (80 Greenwich Street, just below Rector Street).

"Annually, The American Living Room (TALR) festival supports the development of new, multi- disciplinary works & artists in a setting that strives to make theatre as much a part of everyday life as watching TV. TALR's signature 'comfortable living room environment' with an eclectic mix of easy chairs & plump couches, offers audiences a place to experience challenging and compelling theater in a laid-back, familiar setting. Each year, TALR invites a wide array of daring directors, writers, choreographers, performers, puppeteers, composers, film/video makers and visual artists to share their work. The 2006 festival will host more than 30 projects ranging from 10 to 120 minutes in length, and will involve approximately 300 artists. Curators challenged artists to take bold risks, surprise themselves and provoke audiences. Each year, nearly 500 applications are distributed through the HERE space and website and by local arts councils and universities. This year, the curators (Bertie Feldman, Rachel Ford, Vanessa Gilbert, Abby Marcus, Kristin Marting and Niegel Smith) selected projects that pushed artistic boundaries into the realm of the impossible," state press notes.

"Since 1993, the OBIE-winning HERE Arts Center has been a premier arts organization in NYC and a leader in the field of new, hybrid performance work. Under the executive and artistic leadership of Kristin Marting, HERE has served 11,000 emerging to mid-career artists developing work that does not fit a conventional programming agenda. Examples include The Vagina Monologues, Basil Twist's Symphonie Fantastique, Hazelle Goodman's On Edge and Trey Lyford and Geoff Sobelle's all wear bowlers."

All performances start at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $15 ($10 for donors). To purchase tickets visit at www.SmartTix.com or call (212) 868-4444. Fore more information and a complete list of included plays, visit www.here.org.

Photo #1 by Steven Schreiber, photo #2 by George Kmeck