Getting Raw: The Live Arts ’On Stage offerings get ugly in the best way.

It may be called Musical Theater, but as I ’ve said before, at the Live Arts and the Philly Fringe, do you ever get what you expect? Richard Maxwell will turn you on your ear and make you question everything you would have liked to think about humanity. His latest production is not your familiarly happy scenario of boy meets girl …Often, in his work, Maxwell depicts a stark reality on Novocain. In highly charged emotional situations, we would often like to think we would act rationally. But in this show, passions get trapped in a pressure cooker and explode in actions that no human being could be proud of, nor could they deny the urge to commit. Exploiting the primitive rituals of men, Caveman (pg 13) forces the audience to witness the less attractive side of human interaction. Watching Maxwell ’s work is never easy, but we ’re not coming to see work at these Festivals for a simple theatrical experience. If you missed Showcase this past weekend, there is still hope for you to get your much-needed dose of Richard Maxwell. So, suck it up and take your medicine like a man. Caveman opens September 9th and runs through the 11th at the Arden ’s Haas Stage.

Dawn Falato ’s, St. Anthony ’s Body (pg 36) should also be no piece of cake. This skill-full physical performer delves into the mind of those suffering from neurological disorders and introduces us to Claire, a women struggling to regain control of her body after an infection decimates her nervous system. Using movement, mask, and puppetry, this Hotel Obligato founder, is capable of taking the audience on a difficult but rewarding journey. She ’s a powerful performer in a small venue, so she may blow the roof off Mum Puppettheatre ’s intimate space. This also means you should get tickets ahead of time, as a Philadelphia favorite, she may sell out by the end of her run.

WHAT HAS PIG IRON DONE THIS TIME? WWI melo-dramas, one-man shows in Spanish, puppetry with metal shards, Cabaret ’s in insane asylums …just when you think they ’ve done it all, Pig Iron Theatre Company comes back and knocks you on your bum. Teaming up with Adriano Shaplin, the fierce writer for The Riot Group, Pig Iron pommels us with a dirty, dirty adaptation of Witold Gombrowicz ’s gothic thriller, The Possessed. I saw a workshop showing of Hell Meets Henry Halfway (pg 33) earlier in the summer and this is no warm and fuzzy clown dance. Co-Artistic director and performer, Dito van Reigersburg explains that it ’s a bit of a departure for Pig Iron, “It ’s funny.... It ’s nasty …It ’s delightfully nasty ”. That ’s what I like to hear! He explains that people who think they know Pig Iron will be pleasantly surprised with this new direction. As a previous collaborator with Pig Iron, I can tell you that you will see some surprising performances from the familiar faces of the company members. You will squirm and squeal with delight and disgust, as you should while attending the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe.

Don ’t forget to get your tickets now for the Rude Machanicals while the weather ’s a little cooler as the third floor of Christ Church can get steamy. How Late It Was, How Late (pg 31) runs until the 12th. Don ’t be the one who missed this cutting-edge company while they were in town.

Sabooge Theatre ’s physical tale of a mutated child and his twisted relationship with his mother closes tonight at Mum Puppettheatre. If that synopsis of Fathom doesn ’t peak your interest, I might as well stop right now.

But I won ’t!

There are more productions in the Festivals that should be beautifully hard to swallow! In Black Palace Pink Party, you can promenade through a party with a sexy Satan worshiper. It ’s the latest f-you from Reliant Projects who perfectly disturbed audiences in 2000 with Bell and Clock. Hide the children, cause they ’re back to party.

And The Guided Tour will show you the corners of Philadelphia where the carriages just don ’t go. If you think you know Philly, Kaibutsu will show you otherwise. Definitely take your out-of town friends but again, space is limited so get your tickets soon. It ’s been consistently selling out.

Word of the day: SQUIRM

Your ex-administrator,
Lee Ann Etzold

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Nick Stuccio, Producing Director and co-founder of the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe.

Every year, we wait in anticipation for that extra thick City Paper that holds the map to the Festivals. Once it’s contents are shaken free, we paw at our fresh a shiny guide, searching for that piece of art that’s going to make our day… our week…our life. But where do we look? We certainly skip that letter towards the front from that guy who always seems to send emails and postcards to us about the Festival and makes us feel warm and fuzzy about being a part of it, but why? It’s this letter that is our orientation…our key to the map that will guide our artistic journey for over two weeks! That guy is none other than Nick Stuccio, Producing Director and co-founder of the Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festivals. He knows what he’s talking about so let’s look at the letter again… together. It’s on pg 5 right before the Table of Contents.

He warns us from the beginning, “…we are in new territory.” The new look of the guide might have raised some brows and some questions, but Nick Stuccio has been prepping us for this change for a while. It’s all about trying to organize that art which does not want to be defined. And Nick Stuccio and Program Director, Deborah Block, definitely have a handle on it. Many of the categories for the Live Arts programming are fairly self explanatory. There is work in “Other Places” than conventional theatres and there is work that is actually “On Stages”. “Bodies in Motion” describes the shows with more physicality. And “Performance Installations” tend to be based in the visual environment. These loose phrases give us an idea of what we’re in for, but still allow the work to define itself.

Now, let’s flip to page 16 and 17 where we find everything we need to know about some of the special programming and events going on during the Festivals. From workshops and discussions with Shen Wei, to the opportunity to write a review with critic Merilyn Jackson, Festival Plus gives us those extra opportunities to interact with the artists in the Festival. We just finished the Music Weekend (pg 18-19) so I hope you stumbled upon that on your own, but don’t overlook the second week of the Emerging Artists, Program 1(pg 20). This programming focuses on giving artists and audiences the opportunity to take a chance on each other! In this multiple-bill evening, early-career artists develop their own vision and voice for audiences who are looking for the next big thing. Artists like Elisa Lane, who is a founding member of Hotel Obligato, strut their stuff on their own… some of them, for the first time. Lane’s physically theatrical investigation into social edifices, Underneath It All, will incorporate dance, clown, commedia dell’arte, and mime. She will be sharing a bill with Dead Genius Productions who brought us Apple of Discord last year. This company uses text and movement to bring to the stage Robert Lennon’s, Substitution Chart, a formulaic look at love and loss. And to complete the evening, Workshop for Potential Movement will present, It’s Not a War, It’s a Pageant. Choreographer Katherine Tebordo has collaborated with some familiar faces from both the dance and theatre communities here in Philadelphia to riff on the American cult of independence and the individual’s struggle with major life decisions. As you sit there at Mum Puppettheatre, you might feel the flow of this carefully programmed evening and not recognize it as the work of Nick Stuccio and Deborah Block, but that’s OK. They want you to focus on the work of the artists instead.

I always find it exciting to see a peice in its’ early stages. Especially when I know I may see it again in a finished form. The In Progress (pg 22) programming provides a forum for established artists to workshop new work. You still have the opportunity to see Tania Isaac and Paule Turner explore new work and be a part of the post show discussions that happen after every performance. It makes you, as an audience member, feel like a real part of the creative process and helps these talented artists, get closer to their vision.

This is the Live Arts Festival Nick Stuccio has imagined for us and although you may only glance at his letter, or steal a glimpse of him in the back of the audience at a show, he and the staff at 211 Vine Street have put together an event that will not go overlooked and for many people, has put Philadelphia on the artistic map.

Movies Quote of the Day:
“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto”

Your ex-administrator,
Lee Ann Etzold