New York’s Public Theater annually holds a festival called Under the Radar. This year’s festival is, as you would imagine, going online. That’s a great thing for those of us who haven’t been able to travel to New York the previous 16 years to see their ambitious slate of programming.

Under the Radar shows become available on January 6th and run through January 17th. Not all programs start on the sixth and some have staggered schedules.

Most of the programs will be available for streaming on demand. Two shows have specific performance dates and times. Two other shows, A Thousand Highways (Part One): A Phone Call from 600 Highwaymen and Disclaimer from Piehole (US) have specific performances, but are sold out. They are not included in this preview.

All programming can be found on the Public Theater website.

Here’s the programming in this year’s Under the Radar Festival:

A scene from “Capsule” (Photo by Melissa Bunni Elian/Courtesy Public Theater)

CAPSULE – January 6th – January 17th

Whitney White and Peter Mark Kendall have created this show that looks, with clear-eyed focus, on the tsunami of events that defined 2020 including race. They explore, through text and music, themes of connection, isolation and breaking apart that define the last year. Rather than approach their subject in the traditional media approach of strict partisan perspectives, they choose to rely on a more nuanced approach.

White has two musicals in development: Definition which was part of the 2019 Sundance Theatre Lab and Reach for It, a five-part look at the women in Shakespeare’s play commissioned by the American Repertory Theatre in Boston.

Kendall is an actor perhaps best-known for his roles on CBS All-Access’ Strange Angel and The Americans on FX. He’s appeared on Broadway in the 2017 revival of Six Degrees of Separation.

Taibi Magar and Tyler Dobrowsky directed and produced Capsule. The performance runs 50 minutes.

A scene from “Espíritu” (Photo by Felipe Fredes/Courtesy Public Theater)

Espíritu – January 6th – January 17th

Chile’s Teatro Anónimo performs Espíritu which takes place in utter anonymity. The city where it takes place is unknown. The people involved are all unnamed. Yet they all struggle with a personal response to the way their emotions are controlled by rampant consumerism and exploitation of political beliefs. Eschewing those external pressures while they can, the characters in Espíritu seek out a hidden devil in hopes of capturing it.

Writer/director Trinidad González uses songs, choirs and dances to narrate this story which foresaw the looting that lead to one million Chileans protesting their President Piñera and demanding his resignation.

The music is by Tomás González.

A scene from “Rich Kids” (Photo by Peter Dibdin/Courtesy Public Theater)

Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran – 8 performances January 7th-10th, January 14th-17th

Artist, writer, director, activist Javaad Alipoor won a Scotsman Fringe-First Award for his 2017 play The Believers are But Brothers. The success of that play lead to a film and then Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran, which had its debut at the 2019 Fringe Festival and serves as the sequel to the first play.

Rich Kids, which also won a Scotsman Fringe First Award, will be performed live as part of Under the Radar. As a result, there are only eight performances, all of which require reservations.

The performance ponders the gap between the haves and the have-nots in Iran. Or perhaps more bluntly, what life is like for those who happen to be children of Iran’s elite. If you watch the show, you’ll need your phone with you and access to Instagram as that is part of the way Rich Kids plays out.

Alipoor describes the modifications he’s made from the original work to accommodate the streaming experience. “In this online version of Rich Kids we want to find a way to bring a genuine interaction between the digital and the theatrical, to bring out the pervasiveness of the original work, and really explore those parts of the show that speak to the feeling that our world is falling apart.”

Mark Fisher, writing in The Guardian, said of the show, “It’s dazzling, discombobulating and alarming.”

Inua Ellams in “Borders & Crossings” (Photo by Caleb Femi/Courtesy Public Theater)

Borders & Crossings – 4 performances – January 7th – January 10th

If you saw Barbershop Chronicles when England’s National Theatre Live program was making their productions available for free streaming, then you are already familiar with the work of playwright Inua Ellams.

The Nigerian-born Ellams moved to England at the age of 12 after fleeing sectarian violence in his homeland. He spent three years in Ireland and returned to London. Borders & Crossings is a live performance that finds Ellams exploring his own history of migration and its influence on his work; how his own experiences have influenced his perception of our world and allows for him to recite some of his poetry and other writings. He will be performing live from London.

A scene from “the motown project” (Photo by Joseph P Alvarado, edited by Lance Cain/Courtesy Public Theater)

the motown project – January 8th – January 17th

In 2009, Alicia Hall Moran debuted the motown project at New York’s The Kitchen. The work finds the mezzo-soprano fusing her passion for the music of Motown with enduring works from opera. With this unique mash-up, Hall Moran created a unique look at love and passion.

The press release for the original production described the project thusly, “Hall Moran’s aim is to showcase the beauty and drama of each musical form by interpreting it through the other – searching for that common thread shared by opera and Motown and performing the result.”

For those who saw The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess on tour, she sang the role of Bess. Her work is not limited to the opera stage. She’s performed at jazz clubs across the country and collaborates and performs with her husband, Jason Moran.

This 60-minute filmed performance (not from 2009) finds Hall Moran being joined by Thomas Flippin on guitar, Jason Moran on piano, Reggie Washington on bass and Steven Herring and Barrington Lee on vocals. Choreography is by Amy Hall Garner.

Justin Elizabeth Sayre (Photo by Matthew Dean Stewart/Courtesy Public Theater)

Devised Theater Working Group’s INCOMING! – January 6th – January 17th

In 2014 the Public Theater added a new program to their Under the Radar Festival. Called Devised Theater Working Group, it was created to encourage the creation of new work through the collaboration of non-traditional artists.

Incoming! is a 30-minute film that showcases the work of Devised Theater Working Group.

They are Savon Bartley, Nile Harris, Miranda Haymon, Eric Lockley, Raelle Myrick-Hodges, Mia Rovegno, Justin Elizabeth Sayre, and Mariana Valencia.

The short films are:

Edna’s Best Friend Jeans (Valencia)

What We Forgot (Lockley)

Black Code Studies (Harris)

He Has the Prettiest Handwriting (Myrick-Hodges)

My Beatnik Youth (Sayre)

Elevator (Rovegno)

ich liebe zu lange (Haymon)

What’s in a Name? (Bartley)

As a reminder, all of these shows are free. It is suggested you make reservations for the programming. All of which can be done on the Public Theater website.

Main Photo: A scene from the motown project (Photo by Joseph P Alvarado, edited by Lance Cain/Courtesy Public Theater)

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