FROM THE EDGE -- the USITT-USA PQ 11 National Exhibition
returns from Prague to make its New York debut at La MaMa LaGalleria Dec. 6 to
16, 2012.
This dynamic exhibit of performance design represented
the USA during the
2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space,
an international competitive mega-exhibition that is considered the Olympics of
Design. The USA national pavilion, sponsored by USITT (United States Institute
for Theatre & Technology), focuses on the socio-political issues consuming
American performance makers today.
The exhibit of photographs features the work of 36 design
collaborations from across the United States as well as seminal ensembles in
the USA devoted to making work that courageously pushes boundaries both literal
and figurative. "The Edge"
refers to the brave and precarious edge of creation but also references our
country on edge.
FROM THE EDGE offers a buoyantly self-critical view from
the ground: This is who we are now as Americans. This is how theatermakers irreverently
created self-reflective performances during the dramatic transition in the
White House from 2006 to 2011-- a wrenching reevaluation of core American
values that brought about the rise of an African-American as our country¹s 44th
president.
On display are 36 unique viewpoints from U.S. theater
artists reflecting on those issues consuming Americans today: issues of
identity, healing and obsessions with death and loss after 9/11 and hurricane
Katrina. The pull of conscience is inevitable when engaged in war; anger
directed toward the obliviousness of many to the destruction of our planet;
rising political polarities and ambiguities in reaction to our first African
American president; tensions relative to race and gender; anxieties about
technology; the role of religion in society; challenges of the
differently-abled and finally, a nod to Americans at play, while eating, and
while re-envisioning classic work and performance as we know it.
Some of the featured works include Paul Chan¹s Waiting
for Godot set in New Orleans, Nancy Keystone¹s Apollo and The America Play,
Brian Sidney Bembridge¹s design for The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Rob
Roth¹s Screen Test, and Basil Twist¹s Arias with a Twist. Special recognition
was given to The Builder¹s Association, Cornerstone Theatre, Ping Chong and
Company, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Siti Company, and The Wooster Group for the
inspiration and leadership they have provided through the years. Tribute was
given to two American theatre greats: August Wilson and Ellen Stewart.
FROM THE EDGE
Performance Design in the Divided States of America La
Mama Galleria
6 East 1st Street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue New York,
New York
December 6-16th,
2012.
Wed- Sun 1:00-7:30 p.m.
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