Phobophilia Plays HERE For Under The Radar Festival 1/5-10

As part of the 2011 Under The Radar Festival, HERE proudly presents Phobophilia, a provocative multimedia exploration of the interconnectedness between fear and desire. Unnerving and intimate, this production from Montreal's 2boys.tv, created and performed by Stephen Lawson and Aaron Pollard, plays Wednesday, January 5 - Monday, January 10 at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue).

Twenty-four spectators are blindfolded and led by human chain into an unknown location. One by one they are seated, soon witnesses to a peculiar interrogation. Phobophilia unfolds in a complex interplay of sound, action, ritual and video projection. With a micro-cinema of Cocteau-inspired projections shown on an elaborate ever-shifting pop-up book, Phobophilia is a surrealist and dreamlike examination of fear, pleasure, voyeurism and the visual archive of war.

Transdisciplinary artists Stephen Lawson and Aaron Pollard are 2boys.tv. Since 2002, this award-winning duo has created and presented a wide repertoire of collaborative hybrid cabaret works, performances, videos and installations in clubs, galleries, museums, theatres and festivals around the world.

Phobophilia has been presented at the following: National Review of Live Art (Glasgow, Scotland), Deformes Biennale of Performance Art and Action (Santiago, Chile), Festival Temps D'images (Montreal, Canada), Zonadeartenaccion 2008/Festival Internacional De Arte De Acción (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Festival 3 Jours De Casteliers (Montreal, Canada) and Encuentro 2009 (Bogotá, Colombia), as well as FUSE at the Vancouver Art Gallery (October, 2009) and the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna. 2boys.tv previous works include the site-specific, roaming Quixotic, the cabaret drag puppet show Zona Pellucida, and Arcade, a converted shoe store in which different shoe boxes reveal miniature performances.

Since 1993, the OBIE-winning HERE, Kristin Marting, Artistic Director and Kim Whitener, Producing Director, has been one of New York's premier arts organizations and a leader in the field of producing and presenting new, hybrid performance work which we view as a seamless integration of artistic disciplines-theatre, dance, music, puppetry, visual, multi-media art. Past productions include Basil Twist's Symphonie Fantastique, Hazelle Goodman's On Edge, Trey Lyford & Geoff Sobelle's all wear bowlers, Young Jean Lee's Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, Corey Dargel's Removable Parts and Theatre of a Two-headed Calf's Drum of the Waves of Horikawa, among many other standout works. HERE's work is challenging and alternative and offers audiences the opportunity to feel that they are part of something new and fresh. Its core program is the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP), which invites artists to develop complex hybrid work at HERE over three years. Each season, HERE produces 4 to 6 Resident Artist productions as mainstage works. By providing varied levels of artist participation - Resident Artists, Visiting Artists, and Guest Artists through HEREstay, its curated rental program - HERE keeps the artists' vision paramount.

A few times a year, HERE presents innovative national and international hybrid artists as part of hemispHEREs, a presenting program that dovetails with the work being developed by HERE Resident Artists. The Visiting Artists engage in dialogue and share practice with the Resident Artists during their time at HERE.

Under The Radar Festival 2011 is produced by The Public Theater, festival producer Mark Russell. Major funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Under The Radar Professional Symposium 2011 is a program of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and is held in conjunction with APAP Conference NYC 2010. www.undertheradarfestival.com.

Phobophilia plays January 5 - 10 as follows:
Wednesday, January 5 6:00 PM / 7:00 PM
Thursday, January 6 6:00 PM / 7:00 PM / 10:00 PM
Friday, January 7 6:00 PM / 7:00 PM / 10:00 PM
Saturday, January 8 5:00 PM / 6:00 PM / 7:00 PM / 10:00 PM
Sunday, January 9 1:00 PM / 5:00 PM / 6:00 PM / 7:00 PM
Monday, January 10 6:00 PM / 7:00 PM

Performances run 45 minutes.

Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased at www.here.org or by calling (212) 352-3101 or at the HERE Box Office (4 PM until curtain on show days). HERE is located at 145 Sixth Avenue, one block below Spring Street. For more info, visit www.here.org.