REDCAT Welcomes Dutch Theatre Ensemble, 11/17-20

There is no way to know exactly what will happen this November when the daring Dutch theater ensemble Wunderbaum premieres a new theatrical event developed through collaborative conversations with Los Angeles artists during a three-week REDCAT residency. Following the residency, Wunderbaum's Looking for Paul will receive its world premiere at REDCAT with performances beginning on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 and running through Saturday, November 20, 2010.

Controversial public art work by Los Angeles-based artist Paul McCarthy was the inspiration for Wunderbaum's Venlo series, named for the small, conservative town of Venlo located in the southern part of The Netherlands. These interactive performance events were created with local collaborators in various European cities ---town hall meetings that devolve into chaotic beer-fueled parties, polite conversations that grow into raging debates, and public art unveilings that explode into cultural stand-offs. In Los Angeles the group's new Looking for Paul proceeds in a quasi-documentary style to explore the larger themes that informed Venlo: the dynamic relationship between public artworks and communities, the functions of contemporary artistic practice vs. popular culture---and, of course, the wide-ranging work of artist Paul McCarthy.

Arriving from The Netherlands on Monday, November 1, 2010, Wunderbaum begins process of developing Looking for Paul, working collaboratively with John Malpede, founder of Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD), as well as other Angelenos recruited to participate in dialogues, staged public actions and video segments that will shape the final performances. While Wunderbaum's work is at times unpredictable, the ensemble's genuine passion and heightened theatrical sensitivity have made it one of the most closely watched young collectives---always surprising and never easily forgotten.

Known internationally for their intelligent and lively blend of humor, social politics, and theatrical intensity, Wunderbaum has been amassing attention from audiences and critics worldwide since its founding in 2001. Los Angeles audiences experienced the group's last raucous work in March of 2006 at REDCAT, the U.S. premiere of Lost Chord Radio. That inventive theatrical adventure created by Wunderbaum in collaboration with renegade music group Kopna Kopna, prompted the Los Angeles Times to write, "Fresh and original... [Wunderbaum] is political and raw, it's actors also rockers."

The culmination of Wunderbaum's three-week residency, Looking for Paul makes its Los Angeles premiere at REDCAT on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 and runs through Saturday, November 20, 2010. Curtain for performances on Thursday-Saturday is 8:30 pm. Tickets are $25-30 ($20-25 for students with current I.D.) and are available at www.redcat.org or by calling 213 237-2800. REDCAT is located at the corner of W. 2nd and Hope Streets, inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex (631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012).

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