SoLow Fest 2014 Kicks Off Today
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 19, 2014
From a cheesesteak eating competition to catcalling and personal love letters, the 5th annual SoLow Fest is in its biggest year with more than 40 solo performances.
Following our 2014 theme "Lost and Found," artists are searching for darkness in the depths of the Earth, testing the extremes of trust and earnestness, to experimenting within social media to build plays through Twitter.
SoLow Fest is an inexpensive artistic event dedicated to presenting new and experimental work of solo artists in Philadelphia. This eleven-day festival continues its unique aesthetic of performances within non-traditional venues throughout the city. As always, audiences and artists are invited to experience SoLow Fest's diverse and original work with affordable Pay What You Can contributions.
SoLow Fest offers a grass-roots, raw feel with focus on original and solo performances. There is no umbrella organization producing the festival; the festival's curators consider SoLow a compilation. There are no application or marketing fees and no screening processes. The most important component is that 100% of revenue goes immediately back to the artists. This year's festival will feature artists including Baset, Corinna Burns, Chris Davis, Sam Henderson, Josh Hitchens, Kevin Meehan, Chelsea Murphy, Alex Romania, Magda San Millan, Meredith Sonnen, R. Eric Thomas, Elizabeth Whitney, Annie Wilson, among others.
SoLow Fest was founded in 2010 by Philadelphia performance artists Thomas Choinacky and Amanda Grove. Seeking a way to present their own solo work, with minimal expense, they conceived the idea by jointly presenting their work and reaching out to other interested artists. Now in its fifth year, and with Meghann Williams on board, SoLow continues to experiment with their niche of using non-traditional locations and venues, inspiring artists and audiences alike to challenge the norm of theatre, and making and seeing art that may otherwise never be created. Pay What You Can model. We are changing the norm. We are inspiring individuals to make and produce art that would otherwise never be created.
SoLow Fest (solowfest.com) runs today, June 19 - 29, 2014. Pay What You Can to $15. Contact solowfest@gmail.com for more details.
SHOW DETAILS (Subject to change. Visit solowfest.com/schedule for the most up to date calendar):
Shows are listed alphabetically by show title.
SHOW: Anatomy Lesson
CREATOR AND PERFORMER: Joy Cutler
DIRECTOR: Cara Blouin
TYPE OF SHOW: Memoir (with accessories)
SHOW: Are You the One?
ARTIST: Ellie Brown
LOCATION: Online
TYPE OF SHOW: Multimedia, web based
WEBSITE: http://elliebrown.com/section/394959_Are_You_the_One.html
SHOW: Ask a Sex Abuse Survivor
ARTIST: Michael Broussard
LOCATION: Playground at the Adrienne Theatre (2030 Sansom Street)
TYPE OF SHOW: Interactive theater, spoken word, storytelling
SHOW: Astral Sass
ARTIST: Corey Bechelli
LOCATION: Home near corner of 44th and Walnut
TYPE OF SHOW: Reading with projected visuals
SHOW: Backup
CREATOR: Thomas Choinacky
LOCATION: Home near the corner of 47th and Osage
TYPE OF SHOW: Movement installation, performance art, experimental
WEBSITE: thomaschoinacky.com
SHOW: Baset A.K.A. Nastassja Performing HER Legacy
ARTIST: Baset
LOCATION : Home near the corner of 28th and Girard
TYPE OF SHOW: Multimedia
WEBSITE: basetsatra.weebly.com
SHOW: Bi(?!)lingual
CREATOR: Asaki Kuruma
DIRECTOR: Chelsea Sanz
LOCATION: Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine Street)
TYPE OF SHOW: A theatrical play
SHOW: BODY Play
CREATOR: Kaycee Filson
TYPE OF SHOW: Storytelling
WEBSITE: www.liveoaknola.org
SHOW: Bortle 8
CREATOR: Chris Davis
DIRECTOR: Mary Tuomanen
TYPE OF SHOW: Theater from ocean to the celestial sky
SHOW: Cafe? Americain (working title)
CREATOR: Meredith Sonnen
LOCATION: Home near the corner of 19th and Wharton
TYPE OF SHOW: Multimedia interactive snarky comedy about everyday tragedy of oppression and confusion and the movie Casablanca
SHOW: CatCal]
ARTIST: Dani Solomon
LOCATION: Meet at Fairmont and Broad Streets
TYPE OF SHOW: Site-specific, moving, interdisciplinary, experimental
SHOW: Cheesesteaks Cheesesteaks Cheesesteaks Cheesesteaks Cheesesteaks Cheesesteaks
DIRECTOR and PERFORMER: Mike Durkin
CREATORS: Andrew Carroll, Amanda Damron, Chris Davis, Rose Luardo, Kevin Rodden, Steve Wright
LOCATION: Lot by Pat's and Geno's at Passyunk and Federal
TYPE OF SHOW: Comedy, dance, cheesesteak eating competition, site-specific
SHOW: Earnestness #2
ARTIST: Josh McLucas
LOCATION: Headlong Studios (1170 S. Broad Street)
TYPE OF WORK: Performance art, interdisciplinary, autobiographical theater
SHOW: Enjoy.
CREATOR: Hank Curry
DIRECTOR: Meredith LaBoon
TYPE OF WORK: Pantomime comedy, interdisciplinary, clown
SHOW: I came here to play
ARTIST: Lesley Berkowitz LOCATION: A playground
TYPE OF SHOW: Movement, devised
SHOW: Insomnia in Space
ARTIST: David Lawson
TYPE OF SHOW: Comedy with multimedia
SHOW: Internet Stalker (working title)
CREATOR: Corinna Burns
LOCATION: Quig's Pub/ Plays and Players Theater (1714 Delancey Place)
TYPE OF SHOW: Theater
SHOW: Queer Longing, Queer Failure: A Performative Lecture on Anna Elizabeth Dickinson
ARTIST: Elizabeth Whitney
TYPE OF SHOW: Solo monologue/lecture, theater, interdisciplinary
WEBSITE: www.elizabethjwhitney.com
ARTIST: Melissa Raub
LOCATION: On Twitter
TYPE OF SHOW: Twitter play
SHOW: Shakespeare Boyfriend: Choose Your Own Adventure
DIRECTOR: Polly Edelstein
CREATOR/ PLAYWRIGHTS: Austin Stanton/Polly Edelstein
PERFORMER: Sarah Lutz
TYPE OF SHOW: Theater
SHOW: SLIDESHOW
CREATOR: Josh McIlvain
LOCATIONS: (2 Venues) At a home near 17th and Delancey, and Moving Arts of Mount Airy @ 6829 Greene St
TYPE OF SHOW: Theater, multimedia
WEBSITE: www.smokeyscout.com
SHOW: Solstice
ARTISTS: Doug Williams and Andrew J. Carroll
LOCATION: Home near corner of 18th and Tasker
TYPE OF SHOW: Site specific, two-part piece, non-linear, free beer!
WEBSITE: solsticeplay.tumblr.com
DOUBLE BILL: Sweating/ Sleeping
CREATORS: Steve Gravelle / Sara Nye
LOCATION: In a home (location TBA)
TYPE OF SHOW: Autobiographical monologue / dance-movement
SHOW: TEMPEST
DIRECTOR: Josh Hitchens (and adaptor from the play by William Shakespeare)
PERFORMER: Ryan Walter
TYPE OF SHOW: Storytelling, classic, theater, magic
WEBSITE: https://www.facebook.com/onemantheatre
SHOW: The Circle of Seven
CREATORS: MM2 Modern Dance Company: Jessica Bryan, Jenna Faye Eugenides, Kaylee Goodwin, Jillian Ikeler, Jennifer Laucella, Alison Liney, and Brianne Scott
TYPE OF SHOW: Modern dance
WEBSITE: www.mm2dance.org
SHOW: The Grief Venture
CREATOR: Cindy Spitko
TYPE OF SHOW: Interdisciplinary
WEBSITE: www.cindyspitko.com
SHOW: The Orange Hair
ARTIST: Gavin Whitt
TYPE OF SHOW: Theater
SHOW: This is Not About 9/11
CREATOR: Sarah Van Auken
DIRECTOR: Ellie Marissa Ruttenberg
LOCATION: Aux Performance Space (319 N. 11th Street Third Floor)
TYPE OF SHOW: Drama
SHOW: Under No One Condition
CREATOR: Amelia Charter
TYPE OF SHOW: Interdisciplinary
WEBSITE: ameliacharter.com
SHOW: untitled commission
ARTIST: Kevin Meehan
LOCATION: Location selected based on commission needs.
TYPE OF SHOW: Interdisciplinary performative art piece with qualities of installation and possibly leaning toward public Happenings.
SHOW: Whacked! An Intimate Evening With Lizzie Borden
CREATOR: Clara Elser
LOCATION: Studio X (1340 S. 13th Street)
TYPE OF SHOW: Theater
TRIPLE BILL: What Sanity
ARTISTS: Chelsea Murphy, Alex Romania, and Magda San Millan
LOCATION: Headlong Studios (1170 S. Broad Street)
TYPE OF SHOW: Multidisciplinary performance, dance, theater
WEBSITES: http://cargocollective.com/alexromania/tofuhotdog and http://www.eve rybodygetinthecar.com/about/
SHOW: You Receive a Love Letter From Me You're Fucked Forever
CREATOR: Sam Henderson
TYPE OF SHOW: Theater
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