The Tank Presents The Gilded Red Cage

"NYPL Performing Revolution: The Gilded Red Cage" Wednesday, March 17, 2010; 7:30pm - $12, Sunday, March 21, 2010; 7:30pm - $12. Location: The Tank at 354 W. 45th Street, New York, NY 10036

Written by Silvester Lavrik (Slovakia)

Performed by BaPoDi (Banovce Underground Theatre), Slovakia

As part of the New York Public Library's Performing Revolution festival, Slovakia's Banovce Underground Theatre (BaPoDi) will bring to New York its original production of The Gilded Red Cage. In two 50-minute dramatic monologues and an exhibit of original documentary photos from pre- and post-revolution times in Czechoslovakia, the project examines the human aspects of life under socialism and how they changed after the revolution in 1989. Created with a mix of humor, irony and sadness specific to the Slovak environment, this will be the project's US premiere.

The Gilded Red Cage Part I: Hana - the intimate internal dialogue of a woman whose marriage spans the socialist and post-socialist periods in Slovakia. In a 50-minute piece bursting with quiet but wrenching emotion, we watch Hana come to terms with one fact - the main figures in her life at once love her and destroy her.

The Gilded Red Cage Part II: The Canary who Ate the Cat - a 50-minute tour de force by the author himself, who plays a character typical of the last 40 years in the East - a chameleon-turncoat-survivor who can promise anything and deliver nothing...and still be beloved. Accompanied by hilarious "golden oldies" on the accordion (delivered in Lavrik's smooth baritone), the piece illustrates a personality we all know and love...and hate. It illuminates the essence of socialism's multiple contradictions, including the role of the Catholic Church.

The two theatrical productions are the work of Silvester Lavrik, one of Slovakia's top contemporary playwrights, Guest Director at the Slovak National Theatre and essayist on politics and public affairs. The photo exhibit is the work of Radek Jahudka, graphic artist and well-known art director in the Czech film industry.

All performances are in English.

Partners on this project include BaPoDi, the Consulate General of Slovakia in New York and the Plus421 Foundation. www.lavrik.sk

Presale tickets are available here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/95991
Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe

The Red Gilded Cage is presented as part of the Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe festival - a performing arts festival marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, presented by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in partnership with key New York City cultural organizations and academic institutions, November 2009-March 2010.

www.performingrevolution.org

About The Tank
Founded in 2003, The Tank is a non-profit arts presenter whose mission is to provide a welcoming, creative, collaborative, and affordable environment for artists and activists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas. Through a wide range of low-cost, high-concept arts and public affairs programming, The Tank seeks to cultivate a new generation of audience for live performance, civic discourse, and the work of emerging artists.

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