FROM THEATER GROTTESCO:

PIE DAY, Saturday, March 14, 2020

Given what we know today, we have postponed The Other, until further notice. Just a few days ago we were ready to perform as planned, thankful to be a small organization, able to offer an artistic experience in a time of great change. A Pandemic is a likely time of paradigm shift. What a thing to experience together.

The Other grew out of 14 months of extreme ensemble research. It is a buffoon show, conceived to poke fun at and offer a surprising look at America’s political situation. As a structured improvisation, it is alive and in the moment. Layers of the Pandemic found their way into the tapestry on a daily basis in the rehearsal hall. We imagined unexpected, uncontrollable, and highly contagious laughter. 

Now it is up to all of us to imagine a world that may never be the same. Let’s fill it with truth, humanity, and good cheer. Be smart, stay healthy. Remember to walk out on this great good earth. Wonder, imagine, and laugh every chance you get.

Stay tuned for new Grottesco online programming that can be taken in, in your PJs

The Grottesco board, staff and ensemble

Theater Grottesco presents

The Other • A New Theatrical Creation

Performed by Myriah Duda, Susie Perkins, Koppany Pusztai, Danielle Reddick, Susan Skeele, and Ali Tallman under the guidance of Grottesco’s founder, John Flax.

Theater Grottesco presents The Other, the company’s 17th original production.

The Other is a companion piece to last fall’s production of Different, a second structured improvisation. The company continues its research into ensemble, this time handing physical and vocal structures to a family of Buffoons who will recount their own whacked versions of fairy tales. Buffoon is a little known style inspired by Medieval leper colonies and ships of fools, where those who were different were cast out from society. The legend goes they found each other, one by one, in the forests or on the waterways, and formed their own strange societies, reflections of our own.

These people have nothing to lose. They are the King’s Fools, the only ones permitted to speak truth to power. Of course, they have to be very careful. If they go too far it could be fatal.

Like Different, The Other cast will work without memorized text or choreography. Who tells each piece of a fairy tale, how the details are added, and how the powerful Grottesco physicality weaves it into something that might be considered a musical composition, is something that will be different every night and can only be experienced live.

In Grottesco’s world of physical theatre, ensemble is where the actors create moving imagery, like a dynamic painting. They come to know their fellow performers so well that the audience can witness the artistic equivalent of basketball's no-look pass, an antidote for the age of individualism, and a reminder of the magical possibilities of working together and of live theatre. 

Strange and unexpected connections to our lives and times leap from the stage in daring bursts, as the Grottesco performers fly without the net of memorized text and rehearsed choreography.

Contact:
(505) 474-8400

Website:
theatergrottesco.org

About Theater Grottesco:
Founded in Paris in 1983, Theater Grottesco is known internationally for visual and explosive original theater productions. The Grottesco ensemble rekindles interest in live performance by juxtaposing classical and modern theatrical styles with poetic research of culture and imagination, giving voice to marginal elements of our contemporary society, and taking audiences to the brink of emotional wonder and soulful reflection. Theater Grottesco is a 2017 award winner of the National Theater Program.