HAGGADDAH 3/19 Preview Cancelled, Still Set To Open 3/20

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN DATES
Due to a production schedule conflict, the March 19 preview has been cancelled for "Haggaddah" by Witness Relocation at La MaMa. The show will open as scheduled March 20.

REVISED SCHEDULE:
March 20 to 29
La MaMa E.T.C. (Annex Theater), 74A East Fourth Street
Presented by La MaMa E.T.C.
Th-Sat at 7:30 pm; Sun at 2:30 pm
$25/tdf, Box office (212) 475-7710, www.lamama.org
REVIEWERS ARE INVITED on or after MARCH 20.

DESCRIPTION:
Witness Relocation, led by Dan Safer, has been dubbed "a dance-theater anarchist's utopia." Safer is getting a reputation as a sort of "bad boy" director, both for shows that resist categorization and for the vehement physical style of his work. The company's work normally includes aspects of dance, installation art, live video, task-based performance, timed activities, competitions and improvisation of all sorts (movement, dramatic, and philosophical).

The project is a vibrant artistic rendering of one of the world's most ancient holidays, presenting the story in a way that anyone from any culture can get inside it. Audiences will be seated at a 50 foot long table, with the show happening on and around it. The traditional Seder is a ritual telling of the Exodus from Egypt on an intimate scale. This show examines the ritual in a large, post-modern context. There will be a spectacle combining dance, theater, music and design to immerse the audience in an intense experience of both the story and the act of coming together to tell it.

Safer adds, "Lots of times the Seder can be incredibly dull, but its story kicks ass. We're gonna make it kick ass."

Dan Safer is a recipient of The Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists (a partnership of Avoda Arts, JDub Records, and the Foundation for Jewish Culture, made possible with major funding from UJA-Federation of New York). The culmination of this Fellowship will be this performance.

The actors are Abigail Browde, Heather Christian, Sean Donovan, Mike Mikos, Wil Petre, Sam Pinkleton, Orion Taraban and Laura Berlin Stinger. Director/choreopgrapher is Dan Safer. Set and lighting are by Jay Ryan. Sound design is by Ryan Maeker. Video and projections are by Kaz Phillips. Costume design is by Deb Oo. Dramaturg is Yoni Opppenheim.

Since the Seder is a ritual to pass the story on to children, the question naturally arises if this one is OK for kids. It is, but only for the teenage ones (who will rock on it). "I guarantee," says Dan Safer, "it'll make teenagers talk about the story and question it. We did."

For more info on Witness relocation, please see: http://witnessrelocation.org.
Complete write-up on this show is at: http://www.jsnyc.com/season/haggaddah.htm

 

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