Abrons Arts Center to Premiere Mark Dendy's LABYRINTH, 10/9-26

Abrons Arts Center and Mark Dendy Projects present Labyrinth, a new dance-play by Obie and Bessie Award-winning choreographer Mark Dendy. A tragicomic, autobiographically inspired retelling of the Theseus myth, Dendy's Labyrinth is set in present-day New York City and performed by a cast of four in multiple roles. Performances run October 9-12 (Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 5pm) and October 15-26 (Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 5pm), at Abrons Arts Center's Underground Theater.

In Labyrinth, Dendy interweaves character portraiture, myth, autobiography, and fantasy. Set in New York City, with Theseus hailing from Athens, Georgia, and aided by a transgender Ariadne, the hero quest is given a picaresque spin. En route to choreograph a Rockettes number, an artistically conflicted Theseus washes down anti-anxiety pills with absinthe just as Superstorm Sandy is approaching the city. His journey through the mythic labyrinth is peopled with a Jungian underworld of colorful, disenfranchised characters, and pits him against multiple forces including a mechanical bull at the Bellevue Psych Ward. With Dendy's signature wit, intense physicality, and searing social commentary, Labyrinth explores a world of inner demons and, ultimately, redemption by way of midlife crisis. The play is performed by Mark Dendy, Heather Christian, Stephen Donovan, and Matthew Hardy, with sound, music, and video created live on stage by the performers amid an ever-changing set of found objects.

Labyrinth is written by Mark Dendy. Original music by Heather Christian. Lyrics by Mark Dendy and Heather Christian. Dramaturgy by Tom Cole. Lighting design by Jay Ryan. Video, set, and costume design by Stephen Donovan.

Labyrinth was developed over the last two years at residencies and workshop performances in New York City at The Actors Fund Arts Center, DANCENOW at Joe's Pub, Danspace Project, Dixon Place, Dance From The Heart 2013: DRA at Cedar Lake Theatre, New Work/New York at Parkside Lounge, and at Barking Legs Dance Theater in Chattanooga, TN, Dance Place in Washington, D.C., and DANCENOW Silo in Bucks County, PA.

Labyrinth is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Tickets are $20 and are available through Abrons Arts Center's box office at (212) 352-3101, or online at www.abronsartscenter.org. Tickets will go on sale in early August. Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street), New York, NY 10002.