I managed to squeeze in three performances though hundreds have been taking place across the city for the past couple of weeks. The performances run until November 22nd so I highly encourage you to check at least one out.

Talk Show by Omer Fast

What a pleasant surprise! I went to this performance because it was taking place directly before the show I really wanted to see by Candice Breitz at the same theater. Interestingly enough, I ended up walking out of the other work and throughly enjoying every moment of Fast’s work. A bit like an adult version of the childrens’ game “telephone” two actors sit in comfy chairs on a stage set up like a talk show set. Each dialogue begins with the phrase, “So, tell me about your brother…” One actor then goes on to tell the story of a beloved brother who ends up becoming a serial killer and the strife that the situation has caused him (or her) and his (or her) family. The “applause” light goes on and that actor leaves the stage. Another actor arrives and sits down to say, “So, tell me about your brother…” The former interviewer becomes the interviewee and the stories continue in depth from then on. Some actors brought a great deal to their performance while others, clearly uncomfortable without lines, went for easy laughs and phoned it in. The ones who were good were VERY good. There was a mix of known and unknown actors as well as some character actors I recognized by didn’t know the names of. Jill Clayburgh and Lily Taylor were outstanding. Honestly, I thought I might get bored hearing the same story over and over but each actor made it his/her own and I found it fascinating which elements they chose to keep and which they changed. It was a tremendous piece of work.

New York New York, video on character development

New York New York by Candice Breitz

Candice Breitz is another video artist whose work I typically enjoy. And the video portion of the work presented at the Abrons Art Center was quite good. However, the evening took a turn for the worse when the live portion began. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stomach another act so I left at the intermission. The work involved four sets of identical twins who were asked to create a persona that they would then both portray in a live event on stage. It could have fictional or real characteristics of the twins’ lives, but the character had to be extremely detailed as the other cast members were given descriptions of the characters they would be interacting with on stage. The video taken during the creation sessions involved a split screen with both twins describing their persona. There were hints at differences in character between the twins in their real lives during this segment and I found that fun. The next session was a “performance” involving four of the twins (the other set would be performing the exact same situation in act two) set in a Manhattan apartment with a similar plot to “Waiting for Godot”. The whole work was an interesting experiment in human relations and sounds good in theory, however in practice, it was simply painful to watch. I even found some of the dialogue offensive and difficult. One character (an androgynous female with an accent) stole the show and was its only redeeming quality. She brought a realness to the piece. It would have been nice to stick around to compare and contrast performances, but alas, I had other performances to check out and more art to see.

Keren Cytter at The Kitchen

History in the Making, or the Secret Diaries of Linda Schultz by Keren Cytter

I first came across the work of Keren Cytter at the New Museum’s opening exhibition. It was a video work that mesmerized me. In the play/dance/video/performance at The Kitchen last week there were two screens: one on the left and one on the right side of the stage. These were most often used for actors to stand behind and act out scenes in silhouette. On the far right of the stage was a third screen that had video projected onto it, serving as a background for actors with imagery and lights. The piece itself involved humor, romance, politics and was performed by 5 actors: 3 men and two women (one of whom was Cytter herself). The premise was the telling of the story of liberal activist John Webber and graphic designer Linda Schultz, who are each unexpectedly transformed into the opposite sex. The performance “uses the artist’s trademark ‘kitchen-sink existentialism’ to wittily address the frustrations and confines of social roles.” While I enjoyed the performance, as it was unfolding onstage I began to think about my Accessible Art audience and whether or not it would be entertaining to the masses. It certainly was thought-provoking but I think I’ll stick to watching her video work in the future.