2012 undergroundzero festival
JUNE 29-JULY 29 @
THE LIVING THEATRE, CLEMENTE SOTO VELEZ, JACK & SCAPEGRACE
Paul Bargetto Artistic Director Connie Hall Executive Director
Michaelangelo DeSerio Technical Director
Valentine Lysikatos – Emily Madison – Homa Hynes
& Perf Productions Producers
FRIDAY JUNE 29th Kickoff Events
@ The Living Theatre @ 6:30 PM – Free Admission
A Brief History of Avant Garde Theater in NYC
By Arnold Aronson with special guest Judith Malina
Columbia University professor Arnold Aronson provides historical context for the current experimental theater-making environment in NYC, with Judith Malina of the Living Theatre.
@ 7:30pm
The NEA 4 Revisited – Politics, Art & Culture War
A discussion with members of the original NEA 4 Karen Finley and Holly Hughes, and former director of the NEA theatre and musical theatre program Gigi Bolt. After twenty-two years where do we stand in the Culture Wars and what is the future of the National Endowment of the Arts? Moderated by Paul Bargetto
@ 9:00 pm
Festival Opening Night Party
Celebrate with festival artists at the opening party with DJ and video art. An extra-special toast is planned for the supporters of the Kickstarter campaign! Free Admission.
Romanyeah – Live Video Performance
By Cinty Ionescu and presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. Music composed by Brennan Green Live music performed by Jeanann Dara
Saturday June 30 at 9:00pm, Sunday July 1st at 7:00pm @ The Living Theatre, Saturday, July 21 at 8:00pm and Sunday July 22 @ 5:00pm – @ Clemente Soto Velez in the Flamboyan Theater – FREE ADMISSION
Take a walk on the wild East side with Romanian video artist Cinty Ionescu (winner of the 2011 Excellence in Video Design award at the NY International Fringe Festival) as she weaves an immersive video and musical journey through contemporary Romania. http://cintyionescu.weebly.com
Talk show: common ground
Tuesdays, July 3, 10, 17, & 24 @ 7:30 pm at Clemente Soto Velez in the Kabyitos Theater FREE
Meet the undergroundzero artists and their guests in a live-streamed talk show hosted by Artistic Director Paul Bargetto and Saviana Stanescu.
Dance party: latenightzero
Saturdays, July 7, 14, 21, & 28 @ 11pm at the Living Theatre FREE
A late night dance party with guest DJs and VJs. Boogie down with the avant garde at the legendary Living Theatre.
DŁUG / DEBT – Polish Poster Exhibition
Friday June 29 – July 29 @ The Living Theatre – Free
Presented by Ola Niepsuj with generous support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw. Curated by Ola Niepsuj, Agata Endo Nowicka, and Maria Zaleska
Contemporary Polish Poster Art and Illustration on the subject of Debt with some of the best designers working in Poland today.
PRODUCTIONS OPENING WEEK ONE
The Gospel of St Matthew
Presented by the Living Theatre & East River Commedia
Thu 7/5, Fri 7/6, & Sat 7/7 @ 7:30pm; Sat 7/7 @ 4:00pm; Sun 7/8 @ 5pm at the Living Theatre $20
Director Paul Bargetto collaborates with the Living Theatre to stage the life of Jesus Christ as told in the Gospel of Saint Matthew inspired by Pier Paolo Passolini’s 1964 film Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo. www.eastriver.org www.livingtheatre.org
Trace of Purple Sadness
Presented by LEIMAY Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya
Thu 7/5, Fri 7/6, & Sat 7/7 @ 8pm; Sun 7/8 @ 5pm at Clemente Soto Velez in the Flamboyan Theatre $20
Meditative dance and poetic video design unify in a mesmerizing experience constructed by LEIMAY, the duo behind CAVE, The NY Butoh Festival and the Soak Festival.
TITANIC! A Folk Rock Opera
presented by Tribeca Lab and Ten Directions, written and performed by Al Ramos and Stefan Zorich along with Stuart Rudin, Lynn “Ice” Berg, Audrey Crabtree and other special guests Friday Nights – July 6, 13, 20, and 27 @ 10:00pm $20.00 @ The Living Theatre
Downtown veterans Tribeca Lab reprise their cult musical hit TITANIC! in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic performed by the musical duo Low End (Al Ramos and Stefan Zorich). The entire adventure and ultimate tragedy are told in an original song cycle by the ship’s Captain E.J. Smith and First Officer William Murdoch.
DEBT! – Performative Lectures on Debt
Curated and produced by Amiel Melnick, Paul Bargetto, & April Sweeney – Michael Ralph, Peca Stefan, Saviana Stanescu, Robert Wosnitzer, Nick Mirzoeff, HOBO Arts Warsaw, & Ida Daniel
An experimental lecture series on debt. Five artists from Eastern Europe paired with five American scholars will present their collaborative research in a series of performative lectures on the nature, history and meaning of debt.
Fri 7/6, Sat 7/7 @ 7:30 Ida Daniel and Nick Mirzoeff
Thu 7/12, Fri 7/13 @ 7:30 Saviana Stanescu
Sat 7/14 @ 7:30 and Sun 7/15 @ 5:30 Stefan Peca and Robert Wosnitzer
Thurs 7/19, Friday 7/20 @ 7:30 Hobo Arts Warsaw and Michael Ralph
C.S.V. in Los Kabayitos Theater FREE
New play readings: playgroundzero
Curated by Saviana Stanescu
Sundays, July 8, 15, 22, & 29 @ 1pm at Clemente Soto Velez in the Kabyitos Theatre $5
playgroundzero is a series of works-in-progress play readings curated by playwright Saviana Stanescu. This year Saviana has selected four fierce and diverse women playwrights including Dawn Saito, Cecilia Copeland, Penny Jackson, and Pamela Jackson. Each presentation will be followed by a talkback with the artists. www.saviana.com
July 8 – 1 pm SWORD OF SEA by Dawn Saito – Directed by Maria Mileaf
July 15 – 1 pm COURTING by Cecilia Copeland – Directed by Matt Dickson
July 22 – 1 pm: ALL ALICES by Penny Jackson – Directed by Joan Kane
July 29 – 1 pm: G.E.M.S by Pamela Jackson
Little West 12th Night
Conceived by Rachel Murdy & written by Peter Lettre
Original workshop created in collaboration with Stephanie Dodd, Cynthia Croot, & members of Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant $25 (photo by Rick Kim Photography)
Sun 7/8, Mon 7/9, Sun 7/15, Mon 7/16, Sun 7/22, Mon 7/23, & Sun 7/29 @ 8pm Mon 7/30 @ 7am
Former meatpackers, displaced club kids, personal assistants to a wealthy hotel heiress, and artists trying to find their way back home … these are your guides in this modern-language riff on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Neighborhood history provides the backdrop for four intersecting tours with visits to a number of local establishments. Note: Wear comfortable walking shoes. Meeting point will be sent at time of purchase. Cake will be served. www.avantgarderestaurant.com
PRODUCTIONS OPENING WEEK 2
Disquiet
Directed by Anna Brenner
Wed 7/11, Thu 7/12, Fri 7/13 & Sat 7/14 @ 7:30pm, Sat 7/14 @ 5pm & Sun 7/15 @ 5pm at The Living Theatre $18
A new play by veteran undergroundzero resident artist Anna Brenner (winner of the 2009 undergroundzero audience award) inspired by The Master and Margarita, Fernando Pessoa, and her upstairs neighbor. www.annabrenner.com
Cho H Cho
Presented by One-Eighth, Directed by Daniel Irizarry
Wed 7/11, Thu 7/12, Fri 7/13 & Sat 7/14 @ 8pm, Sat 7/14 @ 5pm & Sun 7/15 @ 5pm at C.S.V. in the Flamboyan Theater $20
Cho H Cho’ is an original theater collage created by the new theater collective One-Eighth directed by downtown all-star Daniel Irizarry. The play explores and observes the culture and values of globalized consumption through the lens of quantum physics, DaDa, Artaud, and the loving and violent extremes of the body. www.facebook.com/OneEighth
Baal
By Bertolt Brecht. A Hoi Polloi production,
directed by Alec Duffy
July 12 – August 5, Thu – Sun @ 8pm Pay What you can. For TICKETS ARE FIRST COME FIRST SERVE AT THE DOOR – NO ADVANCE RESERVATIONS http://www.jackny.org/ JACK, 505 1/2 Waverly Ave, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
OBIE Award-winning theater company Hoi Polloi inaugurates its new Brooklyn performance space, JACK, with Bertolt Brecht’s first play, Baal, about a self-destructive poet who incites chaos wherever he goes. Helmed by Artistic Director Alec Duffy (Three Pianos, Shadows), the immersive production features an ensemble of seven actors taking on thirty roles, with set design by Mimi Lien and music by Steven Leffue. www.hoipolloiworld.com www.jackny.org
PRODUCTIONS OPENING WEEK 3
Habits of Imagination
Directed by Shannon Sindelar. Sound Design by Erik T. Lawson
Suffolk Street Community Garden (Suffolk Street between Houston and Stanton) Sunday July 22nd @ 3:00pm
Director Shannon Sindelar (31 Down, Incubator Arts Project) stages an outdoor public installation/performance using live broadcast radio and audience interaction in a celebration of John Cage’s one hundredth birthday.
…BUT THE NEXT MORNING
by Doris Mirescu / Dangerous Ground
Wednesday July 18 – Wednesday August 15 – @ 7:30pm pre show starts at 7:15pm NO LATE SEATING
@ Scapegrace 20 Wyckoff Ave, in Bushwick, Brooklyn – RESERVE TICKETS HERE. Cash at the Door only.
(No performances Mondays and Tuesdays or on July 26, 27, 28 and August 4, 9, & 12)
… BUT THE NEXT MORNING is a multimedia art-installation/performance event inspired by Jacques Rivette’s 1974 film Céline and Julie Go Boating created by undergroundzero resident artist Doris Mirescu and her company Dangerous Ground.
Anything is possible as a parallel reality reveals another realm of existence where spectators cross the line from mere observation into action. It is a fairy-tale, a puzzle, a thriller, a farce, a play, and a film all at once. This intricate, and layered set-up of live video feed, projections, and performance combine to create a unique theatrical environment that deconstructs perception and uncovers new terrains of intimacy and participation. www.dangerousgroundproductions.com
Take What Is Yours
presented by anecdota – originally conceived by Erica Fae script by Erica Fae and Jill A. Samuels, directed by Jill A. Samuels @ The Living Theatre Wed 7/18, Thursday 7/19, Friday 7/20, Saturday 7/21 @ 7:30, Saturday 7/21 at 4:00 and Sunday 7/22 at 5:00 Tickets are $25.00
Take What Is Yours, the (too) little-known (true) story of how American women fought and won the right to vote, is back by popular demand! A Critics’ Pick in both The New York Times and Backstage, this new play has been called “riveting… powerful… positively Hitchcockian” by The NYTimes, “engaging and visceral from start to finish” by The Huffington Post, “a theatrically poetic evocation” by Backstage, and “a brilliant docudrama” by Theatremania. http://takewhatisyours.wordpress.com/
Servers
by Patrick Flynn
Tues 7/17, Wed 7/18 & Thur 7/19 @ 8pm at C.S.V. in the Flamboyan Theater $20
Servers is a live play for television in three installments that explores the stranglehold technology has over public privacy, and a plan that leaves an entire television network in the dark. Inspired by early television artists of the 1950s Rod Serling and John Frankenheimer, the play will be live broadcast on public access television and the Internet. www.phantomstreams.org
PRODUCTIONS OPENING WEEK 4
HOME / SICK
Presented by The Assembly
Wed 7/25, Thu 7/26, Fri 7/27, & Sat 7/28 @ 8pm, Sat 7/28 @ 4pm & Sun 7/29 @ 5pm at the Living Theatre $18
A reprise of the Assembly’s critically acclaimed play on the Weather Underground. Disgusted by the Vietnam War and rampant inequality at home, a handful of leaders from the 1960s U.S. student movement seized control of Students for a Democratic Society and reshaped it in the name of overthrowing the United States’ government. Based on real events, home/sick explores the Weather Underground’s inspiration and idealism, infighting and ultimate disintegration, in a passionate examination of collective action. www.assemblytheater.org
Oxygen
Presented by B-Floor Theatre Company (Bangkok)
Wed 7/25, Thu 7/26, Fri 7/27, & Sat 7/28 @ 8pm, Sat 7/28 @ 4pm & Sun 7/29 @ 5pm at C.S.V. in the Flamboyan Theater $20
The US Premiere of the latest production by B-Floor, hailed in the Bangkok press as “Thailand’s most active and vibrant physical theatre company.” Oxygen is a visual, movement and multimedia exploration of Thailand’s tumultuous political situation from 2010 to the present. The performance explores a nation deprived of the oxygen of free expression. www.bfloortheatre.com
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