This image released by The Public Theater shows a scene from "Arguendo," running January 12-14 at The Public Theater at Astor Place as part of the Under the Radar Festival 2013. (AP Photo/The Public Theater, Kevin Monko)
Theater festivals fire up a cold New York
This image released by The Public Theater shows a scene from "Arguendo," running January 12-14 at The Public Theater at Astor Place as part of the Under the Radar Festival 2013. (AP Photo/The Public Theater, Kevin Monko)
By MARK KENNEDY
AP Drama Writer /
January 6, 2013
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All the festivals are hoping to take advantage of the thousands presenters, producers, vendors, managers, artists and donors who descend on the city for the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters convention, which kicks off this year on Friday.
The show by Elevator Repair Service was born out of Collins’ own personal interest in constitutional law. The case it is based on — Barnes vs. Glen Theatre — was one of Collins’ favorites, bringing up everything from humor to profound questions: Does a state law against nudity violate the First Amendment? What is dance? What is live performance?
‘‘Something that has always interested me is that fuzzy line between theater as an art form — something that you make — and theater that’s just something happening,’’ Collins said.
The show is subversive, thought-provoking, sometimes silly and fascinating — all typical attributes of the company. But how far will it go? Will any of the actors strip down to illustrate the case?
‘‘Are we going to be going to be doing any naked dancing ourselves?’’ Collins said, chuckling playfully. ‘‘This is a work in progress so I think there may be some experiments on that front still to come.’’
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Online:
http://www.undertheradarfestival.com
http://www.ps122.org
http://www.here.org
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