Los Angeles Production NATURE & PURPOSE Sets A Limited Engagement At Soho Playhouse

After a successful run on the Fringe festival circuit, Nature & Purpose will be kicking off 2019 with a limited, single-weekend engagement at SoHo Playhouse.

An exploration of the idea of 'art' as seen through the works of two radical creators, Nature & Purpose is comprised of two shows focusing on the abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock and the controversial performance artist, Chris Burden.

The first piece, Pollock: A Frequency Parable, is an avant operatic sound performance piece inspired by Pollock. Starring Matthew Marcum (who also served as writer and director), the play re-conceptualizes key elements used in Jackson Pollock's revolutionary style of art making - such as energy, motion, scale, and improvisation - presenting a challenge to both the performer and the audience to free the voice from the confines of form and language, allowing it to transcend tradition and be experienced for it's potential.

The second piece, A Beast/A Burden, combines contemporary theatrical staging with recreations of some of Burden's most controversial and exciting multimedia and performance pieces, chronicling the life of the young artist, with Burden himself serving as the meandering and sometimes unreliable narrator of his own story. Directed by Billy Ray Brewton (Skanks in a One Horse Town), the play stars Ben Hethcoat as Burden and features Corsica Wilson, Brennan Murray, Leah Lamarr, Anthony Rey Perez, and Jessica DeShaw.

Both pieces come together to form a unique look at the creative process, the first performed by a performance artist, and the second about one of that medium's most lauded. The combination of traditional theatrical staging and contemporary and subversive performance ideas goes to the very core of what both artists were about in their works. This engaging, immersive, and unorthodox evening of theatre is for fans of all forms of art, however abstract.

Nature & Purpose runs January 3-6, 2019 with performances Thursday-Saturday nights at 8pm and Sunday at 2:30pm. The SoHo Playhouse is located in SoHo at 15 Vandam Street. Tickets are $30 for general admission with discounted tickets available on TodayTix and at TDF. For More information visit: www.natureandpurpose.com.