Staff Picks No. 29
Midnight Cowboy Radio: Ally Ibach
The Tank
February 1st - February 4th 2024
EXTREME BIAS ALERT!!!! I am the dramaturg on this one-person show by Ally Ibach and I love this small little nest of theatrical space. We ran for a few nights at Theater Row in United Solo back in September after a run at The Secret Theater in Woodside, and after running as part of the inaugural Locally Grown Festival at Baltimore Center Stage, Ally's now bringing the show to The Tank.
The play follows Peg, a conservative AM radio host in small-town Kentucky, through an evening of her show's broadcast. In the late night hours ahead of Labor Day, she chats with truckers on their way to rekindle love, long lost friends, students getting ready for school, and angry pro-life activists; all the while, she is orchestrating a hush-hush abortion on the side lines.
Ally gives voice to a rural contingency who's politic, it is safe to say, is abhorred by the majority of our audiences here, yet who suffer a particular genre of auto-obfuscated oppression. Midnight Cowboy Radio is a celebration of the labor required to advocate for yourself, no matter who or where you are.
Go!!!
Staffer: Laia Comas
Titanic Depression: Dynasty Handbag
New York Live Arts
January 14th - January 20th 2024
A retelling of James Cameron's Titanic but like this: "Handbag plays various characters in the film, such as 'Rose,' who sparks a torrid, interspecies romance with 'Jack,' a mute octopus escaping the warming seas by stowing away on the ship disguised as a giant ladies hat." Period. It's the surreal, experimental climate-crisis, eat-the-rich satire we've been longing for since the wave of white-lotus-triangle-of-badness-the-MenPoo crashed painfully over our heads.
Staffer: Lena Engelstein
DIRT: Sour Milk
Exponential Festival @ Loading Dock
January 17th - January 19th 2024
Everything I've seen at Exponential so far has been such a hit, and I'm excited to see DIRT this week -- audience participation, live + virtual elements, what more can you ask for!
Staffer: hillary gao
Admin Reveal: Shawn Escarciga (Miss Lady Salad)
Exponential Festival @ Brick Aux
January 25th - January 27th 2024
You have likely seen the memes of MISSLADYSALAD on Instagram: pop and obscure imagery loudly collaged with subversive captions on politics, privileged, and current events. Usually I remember Shawn's performance art as the opposite: gentle, subtle, solemn...did somebody say MULTITUDES!? I am looking forward to Admin Reveal to have a distraction-free experience with the memes, and to connect the dots of the story-lines that have been developing over the past three years.
Staffer: Travis Amiel
Brittain Ashford & Alec Spiegelman play songs for you (together)
Exponential Festival @ The Brick Theater
Thursday, January 18th 2024
Any bummer can be an opportunity, I always say. thingNY got covid and had to postpone their show that I Staff Picked last week. BUT Brittain Ashford and Alec Spiegelman stepped in and up and are going to do a very special one-night concert! Intimate, sweet, based in kindness and optimism. Voices like angels. Swoon!
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Clubbed Thumb’s Winter Works: Julia Izumi, Justice Hehir, Hayley Stahl, Lauren Zeftel, Carsen Joenk, Miranda Cornell
Houghton Hall
January 25th - January 28th 2024
Winterworks, Clubbed Thumb's snowy, minimalist branch that sometimes feeds into its full-production spree, Summerworks, is a great chance to see rising directors and playwrights craft bare-bones but high-reward new plays. Come for short goodies and a really delicious set of actors bringing them to life!
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Malinxe: Autumn Chacon, Laura Ortman
Prototype @ The Playscape
Saturday, January 20th 2024
One of my treasured performance experiences of last year included solo pieces by Autumn Chacon and Laura Ortman at the Whitney. Now, working in collaboration on a Prototype Fest commission, they debut a new original opera, an adaptation of La Llorona folklore. La Llorona is a volatile, grieving water spirit ever-seeking the children she drowned. Performed near where the Hudson meets the NY Bay, this will be some deep strange river music sung with the old gods. Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas