This Week in Performance Arty-ness
This last weekend at Theatre off Jackson, the Missoula Oblongata, out of Baltimore, got us revved up for what's looking to be a killer week of experimental theatre and performance. And yes, yes...we can see the eyes of readers rolling already. More performance art! Well, here's the trick--if there's one thing we took away from Missoula Oblongata's The 50 Greatest Ladies and Gentlemen, it's that, quite the opposite of what you might expect, the off-the-wall stuff is (often) more approachable than the mainstream stuff you'd get at the Rep or Intiman or the like.
Missoula Oblongata takes a lack of resources to its self-imposed absurd apex; whereas a lot of theatres struggle to make "professional" looking work, Missoula Oblongata embraces its fringe-y roots and heads straight in the other direction. Everything is home-made, often crudely. The two musicians and two actors who make up the company take the entire show on the road with them, from the sets to the costumes to the lights, all of which are operated live onstage by the small group of performers (with some help from the audience). It's like arts and crafts on crack, and the final production looks like nothing so much as a bunch of summer camp counselors performing a fairy tale with a set designed by deeply disturbed scrap-bookers. Yet somehow, this allows the company to sell the audience on an hour-long story about the effect of war on individuals and society. It was a kick-ass, amazing performance, and while Missoula Oblongata's hit the road for their next stops, there's plenty more in the same vein this week.
Leonix Movement Ensemble Theatre: Leonix, out of LA, uses a mixture of movement, theatre, and music to tackle complex, socially relevant topics. In Crossing the Bridge, tonight and tomorrow at Annex Theatre, the subject is dying and death.
Mon & Tues., 8 p.m. // Annex Theatre // 1100 E. Pike St. // tix $15
Helsinki Syndrome: Seattle's Helsinki Syndrome has been making waves since 2006 with their experimental performance-installations. Most recently seen at the Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards this spring, Helsinki Syndrome are debuting an extended version of their adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, originally presented in a shortened form last year. The show opens Wednesday at Crawl Space Gallery and moves to the Rendezvous' Jewelbox Theatre for one show on Friday before they pack up shop and take the show to Richard Foreman's Ontological Theatre in NYC next week.
Weds. & Thurs. 8 p.m. // Crawl Space Gallery // 504 E. Denny Way // Fri. 8 p.m. // the Rendezvous // 2322 Second Ave. // tix $15, $10 students at the door; Friday performance 21+
Dead Bird Movement: Jessie Smith is a performer of many talents. She's a founding and current member of the much-lauded Implied Violence performance group, as well as of Dead Bird Movement, her own video and dance company. Starting this Friday, Dead Bird is presenting a double-feature of work in a building down in Sodo: Left and Leaving is a gallery installation, which the audience can explore from 7:30 to 8:30, at which point the live dance/music show, Thrashoholic, the company's signature piece, starts. A mash-up and remix of 50 short solo dance pieces, Thrashoholic is a duet between Smith and drummer Jeffrey Mitchell.
Fri. & Sun., 7:30 p.m. // 33 S. Hanford St. // tix $18
Susie J. Lee: We actually wrote about this one last week, but you have one more weekend to catch hot visual artist Susie J. Lee's For these Unclosings, a dance performance/installation Lee put together with dancer Ying Zhou, who performs live with visual art being created by Keeara Rhoades and Reina Solunaya. Or maybe you don't have another weekend, as it looks like it's sold out its run. That said, they've got one final show scheduled at Theatre off Jackson on Sept. 11, so score your tix now.
Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. // New City Theatre // 1404 18th Ave. // sold-out
