The Public Theater announced the line-up today for the 10thAnniversary of the world-renowned UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL, running January 8-19, 2014. A highly-anticipated program of The Public Theater's winter season, the 2014 UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL, curated by Co-Directors Mark Russell and Meiyin Wang, will include artists from across the U.S. and around the world, including 600 HIGHWAYMEN, Lola Arias, Edgar Oliver, tg STAN, SKaGeN, Andrew Ondrejcak, John Hodgman, Sekou Sundiata, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Toshi Reagon.
This year THE FESTIVAL LOUNGE will serve as the late-night hub for several January festivals including American Realness, COIL, and PROTOTYPE. In addition to the cutting-edge artists performing downtown at The Public Theater as well as Japan Society, La MaMa, St. Ann's Warehouse, and The Freeman Space, UTR 2014 will also include a special performance by Joe's Pub artist Toshi Reagon in The Martinson Theater; post-show talkbacks; an acting workshop by tg STAN; CULTUREBOT discussions; and The Public's INCOMING! Series that will premiere three new works-in-progress.
"Under the Radar has become a highlight of the New York theater season. Under the crazy, inspired leadership of Mark Russell and Meiyin Wang, it gives us news bulletins from the future of our culture," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "The creation of the Devised Theater Initiative is a great leap forward for The Public in its relationship to independent theater ensembles, in New York and internationally. We will now have a year-round effort to support the work of experimental theater artists, in all their diverse glory."
Single tickets to all UTR shows at The Public are only $20 and go on sale Tuesday, December 3. Member tickets priced at $15 are on sale now. Tickets for partner venue events at La MaMa, Japan Society, St. Ann's Warehouse, and The Freeman Space can be purchased directly from the venues. Single tickets for shows at The Public Theater may be purchased at The Taub Box Office at The Public at 425 Lafayette Street; online at www.undertheradarfestival.com or by phone at 212-967-7555.
Over the last decade, The Public's UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL has presented 144 companies from 36 countries. It has grown into a landmark of the New York City theater season and is a vital part of The Public's mission, providing a high-visibility platform to support artists from diverse backgrounds who are redefining the act of making theater. Widely recognized as a premier launching pad for new and cutting-edge performance from the U.S. and abroad, UTR has presented works by such respected artists as Elevator Repair Service, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Gob Squad, Belarus Free Theatre, and Young Jean Lee. It has shown a strong commitment to devised theater that helps artists redefine artistic models as they endeavor to go beyond conventional theater practices.
Co-Director of this year's Festival, Meiyin Wang has been named Director of The Public's Devised Theater Initiative (DTI), a year-round program that will invite exceptionally talented theater-makers at all stages of their careers to make their artistic home at The Public. DTI will expand The Public and UTR's commitment to the diversity of artists, perspectives, and the artistic forms in which they reveal themselves. The initiative provides resources to artists and ensembles for the commissioning, development, production, presentation, and touring of new work.
"The artists in UTR constantly invent new ways to disrupt the recognized systems of making work and our ways of looking at the world," said UTR Co-Director/DTI Director Meiyin Wang. "With the Devised Theater Initiative, we want to actively carve out space for that disruption - to nurture long-term relationships with theater-makers, instigate that energetic collision of wildly different theater-making practices and perspectives, and follow the artists' lead towards the future of the art form."
As part of this year's 10th Anniversary Festival, UTR will feature the UTR RESOURCE ROOM, an interactive visual exhibit on display at The Public that will examine the history of devised work with Under the Radar at The Public Theater over the last decade. It will be open daily from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. from January 8 through January 19. Designed by Dickie DiBella and spanning from the Ford Foundation Lobby to the Levine Mezzanine and into the Festival Lounge, the exhibit will cover the groundbreaking performances at Under the Radar, as well as be a resource room that covers UTR festival artists' unique methods of making performances.
"Our tenth edition of the Under the Radar FestiVal May be our most ambitious yet," said UTR Co-Director Mark Russell. "Artists from Chile, Belgium, Switzerland, the UK, and Japan will join a new generation of American artists, along with such masters as tg STAN, Roger Guenveur Smith, Sekou Sundiata, and Lola Arias. We are pleased to work again with our partners La MaMa, Japan Society, and especially St. Ann's Warehouse, where UTR was brought to life 10 years ago. The Public Theater will be the center of the festival - where you can go from show to show and meet the artists after in The Lounge- and it will point the way to Under the Radar's next 10 years."
For the first time, The Public Theater will be the late-night center of the downtown festival scene. Four popular festivals will collide at THE FESTIVAL LOUNGEas Under the Radar invites the American Realness, COIL, and PROTOTYPE festivals to come together to bring an eclectic mix of adventurous music, cabaret performances, and late-night offerings to all our intrepid audiences and festival artists. Artists include DJ AndrewAndrew, Invincible, Ethan Lipton, Nick Hallett, Holcombe Waller, Middle Church Jeriesse Johnson Gospel Choir, and others. The Festival Lounge will feature DJ sets and a cash bar and run January 9-19, from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. every night. For a full line-up of music programming, visit www.undertheradarfestival.com.
The 2014 UTR Festival will also offer three new works and works-in-progress in the INCOMING! Series, a DTI program that offers theater artists the freedom and flexibility to experiment with new material. This year's line-up will feature works by ANIMALS, Daniel Fish, and Sean Edward Lewis.
Joe's Pub at The Public, celebrating its 15th Anniversary this year, will team up with UTR to present Toshi Reagon & BIGLovely: Sacred Storiesin The Martinson Theater on Sunday, January 19 at 8:00 p.m.
The "UTR Pack" is back by popular demand, granting admission to any five shows at The Public plus El Año en Que Nací at La MaMa (**except Sacred Storiesand the INCOMING! Series) for only $75. Tickets are on sale now to Public Theater members. The "UTR Pack" is also on sale now to both members and the general public.
The Public Theater will offer Post-Show Talkbacks after select performances during the Under the Radar Festival. For a complete schedule, please visitwww.undertheradarfestival.com.
The Library at The Public will also be open nightly for food and drink, beginning at 5:30 p.m., and Joe's Pub will continue to offer some of the best music in the city.
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