In New York, Broadway enters a winter lull in January, when Off-Broadway and its surrounding areas come alive. Even though most of the tourists return home after the holidays, many theater artists come from all over the country to take part in the annual festival, where fascinating new works are presented one after another.
The venerable Under the Radar Festival (Saturday through Jan. 19) is flourishing again now that its Public Theater days are over, and some of the city's biggest companies are participating. The Prototype Festival (Thursday through January 19th) offers a full menu of interdisciplinary operas, and the Exponential Festival (through February 2nd) focuses on emerging local experimental theater makers. There's also the International Fringe Encore Series (until March 16), whose line-up includes Gwyneth Goes Skiing, one of two shows focused on Gwyneth Paltrow at last year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Included.
It's a prosperous month on festival stages and elsewhere. Here are nine shows worth remembering.
“Blind Runner”
In this hour-long play by Iranian writer and director Amir Reza Kouhestani, a political prisoner in Tehran asks his husband to help a young woman who lost her eyesight during protests run a marathon in Paris. An even more dangerous race is the one that begins there. The idea is to cross the English Channel through a tunnel without getting hit by a train. Co-produced with Arian Moayed's company Waterwell and performed in Persian with English subtitles, the two-player piece explores themes of surveillance, repression, and the relentless pursuit of freedom. Critic Michael Billington called it “fascinating”. Part of “Under the Radar”. (Saturday to January 24th, St. Ann's Warehouse)
“Wonderful Joe”
Canadian puppet artist Ronnie Burkett shows off his amazing ability to control a large group of marionettes by himself. Rarely seen in New York, he will arrive this month for a brief performance of a new work that made the Globe and Mail's Top 10 Shows of 2024 list. This story is about an old man, Joe, who loses his home due to gentrification and ends up on the street, and his old dog Mr., who approaches misfortune as an adventure. However, this is not a puppet show for small children. Viewers must be 16 years or older. Part of “Under the Radar”. (Tuesday through January 12th, Lincoln Center)
“Dead as a dodo.”
The Wakka Wakka (“Immortal Jellyfish Girl”) company descends into the underworld with this glittering doll creation depicting a pair of skeletons: a dodo and a boy. Their ancient bones are decaying. And then, out of nowhere, this bird grows new bones and sprouts fresh feathers. And it looks like the dodo isn't dead after all. The show, directed by Gwendolyn Warnock and Kirjan Wague and written with an ensemble, is suitable for ages 7 and up. However, please be careful. Wakka Wakka is not shy about the darkness. Part of “Under the Radar”. (Wednesday through February 9th, Baruch Performing Arts Center)
“Old Cock”
American History and Politics is Robert Schenkkan's dramatic bailiwick. He won a Pulitzer Prize for “The Kentucky Cycle'' and a Tony Award for “All the Way.'' and Brian Cox, who starred as Lyndon B. Johnson in Schenkkan's latest Broadway production, “The Great Society.” But in this satire, the playwright collaborated with Portuguese troupe Mara Voadora and director Jorge Andrade to tell a story unique to Portugal, depicting the country's symbol, the rooster, and the dictator who ruled the country. Contrasting Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. Decades. Part of “Under the Radar”. (Wednesday to January 19th, 59E59 theaters)
“Grief Camp”
Elijah Smith, a master of fine arts candidate at the University of Texas at Austin, has previously branched out into New York theaters with works such as the intriguingly bizarre and fragmented elegy “Dead Class, Ohio,” and this time around the world. He will make his off-Broadway playwright debut in the premiere. Directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters (Dana H.), the film follows a group of teenagers dealing with loss at a summer cabin in Hart, Virginia. And yes, this camp also has a permanent guitarist. (Thursday through February 16th, Atlantic Theater Company)
“Show/Boat: River”
Target Margin Theater, an experimental company, is no stranger to revisiting classics. Adapted and directed by David Herskovitz, this interpretation of “Show Boat” is based on Jerome Kern's 1927 film about entertainers and others aboard a riverboat on the Mississippi River in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It aims to reconstruct Oscar Hammerstein II's musical. “Show Boat,'' a groundbreaking film for its time with its themes of racism and interracial marriage, has long been accused of being racist in its own right. A content advisory warns that “this work contains racist language and incidents.” Part of “Under the Radar”. (Thursday through January 26th, NYU Skirball)
“Knock on the roof”
Golan Heights-based writer and performer Kaula Ibraheem plays a Gazan woman rehearsing what to do if she hears the sounds of Israeli low-altitude warning bombs (Israeli “roof-thumping sounds”). There is. That means you only have a few minutes to evacuate. Her home before the air strikes intensified. The play, directed by Obie Award winner Oliver Butler (What the Constitution Means to Me), who developed the play with Ibraheem, won an award at this summer's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The production, part of Under the Radar, moves to London's Royal Court Theater in February. (January 10th to February 16th, New York Theater Workshop)
“Antiques”
Jordan Harrison's new play imagines a late human history told by the “non-organic beings” who will become our successors. The story begins on the night in 1816 when Mary Shelley told her ghost story, and travels through time to the year 2240. Based on themes that Harrison considered in “Marjorie Prime'', the film depicts what it means to be human and whether or not we have sown the seeds. our destruction. Produced in collaboration with New York's Vineyard Theater and Chicago's Goodman Theater, it is scheduled to open this spring. Directed by David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan. (January 11th to February 23rd, Playwrights Horizons)
“Vanya of Huron Street”
Matthew Gasda, a playwright and director who gained attention a few years ago with his stage play “Dime Square,'' will present an adaptation of Chekhov's “Uncle Vanya,'' which he spent the past year working with actors. Dimes Square star Bob Lane (who briefly returned this month) plays the title role in Vanya, with fellow Dimes Square star Asli Mumtaz playing Vanya's love interest Yelena. . (January 14th to February 4th, Brooklyn Theater Research Center)
