Out There 2018: Festival continues with Dana Michel's Mercurial George
Thursday, January 11 — Saturday, January 13, 8pm
$25 ($20)
“[Mercurial George] offered poetic portraits of the self-unmoored from others… [she] found companionship, rather heartbreakingly, in objects that populated her stage…” —New York Times
In her idiosyncratic yet masterful solo, Montreal-based choreographer/performance artist Dana Michel wanders through seemingly random heaps of debris onstage as she begins her intense and occasionally comical search for what lurks behind the concept of “identity.” This haunting performance carries audiences on a journey through alternate realities, identities, and emotional states as the artist uses props and objects in order to become the archaeologist of her own enigmatic persona. Stretching out time with minimalist and deconstructed movement, she bathes her universe in childhood naiveté and sacred mystery. Contains mature content. Upper Midwest Premiere.
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OUT THERE 2018
A Festival of Performance Alternatives
January 4—27
Buy tickets to four or more different shows and receive a 25% discount (30% Walker Members). Unless noted, all events take place in the Walker’s William and Nadine McGuire Theater.
OUT THERE 30th Anniversary Party
Saturday, January 27
The Soap Factory, 514 Second Street S.E., Minneapolis
10pm — midnight, Free
Join the cast of Forced Entertainment and Walker Curator Philip Bither for a toast to 30 years of Out There. Hang after the show for free drinks, nibbles, a chance to chat about Quizoola!, and a look back at three decades of experimental performance. All are welcome to attend this free celebration.
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Other Upcoming Performances
The Fever
Thursday, January 18 — Saturday, January 20
Thursday 8pm, Friday — Saturday 7 & 9:30pm
$25 ($20)
“A lovely, haunting meditation on the human connection, and disconnection… a poetic evocation of our mostly unspoken—and uncalled-upon—dependence on one another.” —New York Times
One of the most talked-about companies to emerge in recent years from New York’s vital downtown theater community, 600 Highwaymen presents its latest hit among audience members seated on the McGuire Theater stage. The work tests the limits of individual and collective responsibility as well as our willingness to be there for one another—themes that resonate more urgently than ever in fractured and factionalized present-day United States. Performed in complete collaboration with the audience (participation optional), The Fever examines ways that we assemble, organize, and care for the bodies around us. Copresented with the National Performance Network (NPN).
Limited capacity.
Real Magic
Thursday, January 25 — Friday, January 26, 8pm
$25 ($20)
“Beckett meets trash TV.” —Nachtkritik (Germany)
To the sound of looped applause and canned laughter, a group of performers attempts an impossible illusion—part mind-reading feat, part cabaret act, part chaotic game show. Real Magic creates a world of absurd disconnection, struggle, comical repetition, and acting virtuosity in which they endlessly revisit moments of defeat, hope, and anticipation. The Forced Entertainment collective, founded and directed by Tim Etchells, has long been the lauded and leading experimental theater company in the UK and one of the most influential in the world.
Walker Commission.
Quizoola!
Saturday, January 27
4-10pm, The Soap Factory, 514 Second Street S.E., Minneapolis
$25 ($20)
“A performance that changes the Rule Book.” —The Independent
Out There 2018 concludes with an unconventional six-hour performance/social event at which Forced Entertainment unfurls its dark and hilarious classic. Audiences come and go as they please (bar open throughout) while performers unceasingly ask and answer questions—philosophical, trivial, or deeply personal—creating an unforgettable marathon performance experience. The performance runs from 4 to 10 pm. Stay after the performance (10 pm to 12 midnight) for a party with the artists as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Out There. Presented as a part of Spot On: Site-Specific Adventures and in partnership with the Soap Factory.
Limited capacity.
BBC on Forced Entertainment’s International Isben Award
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Acknowledgments
The Walker Art Center’s performing arts programs are made possible by generous support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through the Doris Duke Performing Arts Fund, the William and Nadine McGuire Commissioning Fund, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
600 Highwaymen
Commissioned by The Public Theater and made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, with lead funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Jerome Foundation, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s New York Theater Program.
Forced Entertainment—Real Magic
Support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Producers’ Council members Leni and David Moore, Jr./The David and Leni Moore Family Foundation. Forced Entertainment received the 2016 Spalding Gray Award, a commissioning collaboration between New York’s PS122, Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum, Seattle’s On the Boards, and the Walker Art Center.
Forced Entertainment—Quizoola
Support provided by Producers’ Council members Leni and David Moore, Jr./The David and Leni Moore Family Foundation.