The First Ever
Catskills Experimental Theatre Festival

August 4 - 13, 2000

"The First Ever Catskills Experimental Theatre Festival" was a ten-day event that featured nine original performances by solo artists and ensembles from Canada and the United States. Not only did the guest artists present their performance work, but they also participated in what we called "the internal work exchange."

In the exchange, all the artists gathered together each morning for a series of structured workshops and training demonstrations that were led by a different artist or group each session.

In addition, the artists contributed to evening academic seminars, participated in play readings, taught public workshops, and also helped to run the festival (tasks included cooking, cleaning, train pick ups, trash and recycling, set strikes, etc.). The artists received 50% of box office sales, and they were given free room and board.

Scroll or link below to read about the Performances, Workshops, Cabaret, and Dance Party that took place as part of this amazing event.

Performances

Arca Nova -- a world premiere by resident company, NACL Theatre. Arca Nova is an epic, song-filled ensemble performance, set inside an ark that carries the audience along a tempestuous passage. Directed by Brad Krumholz, and featuring eight actors who sing, dance, stilt-walk, play musical instruments and tell elaborate physical stories, the performance unearths and redescribes the mystical foundations that exist within the texts of "The Book of Genesis." Friday and Saturday, August 4th and 5th at 8 PM-- $15/ $12/TDF

Chariot of the Sun -- a young people's show, for ages 8 and up. Greek mythology and the ancient world are brought to life with stories, poetry, mask, and physical action. Actor Jeffrey Benoit (Connecticut) brings to NACL his internationally acclaimed interactive performance for young audiences, which includes the fantastic story of Phaethon, the boy who attempts to drive his father's chariot across the sky. Sunday, August 6th at 3 PM -- $8

The Sibyl -- a riveting performance by Cleveland's Theatre Labyrinth, featuring Brett Keyser and directed by Raymond Bobgan. The Sibyl is adapted from the brooding novel by Nobel Laureate, Par Lagerkvist, and is told by an excommunicated monk who questions the idea of a benevolent divinity. The story is infused with original music, folksongs, poetic text, and highly choreographed action. The Performance has played in Cleveland and at the Odin Teatret, where it garnered an overwhelming response. Sunday, August 6th at 8 PM -- $15/$12/TDF

The End and Back Again, My Friend -- New Orleans actress Kathy Randels and musician, Sean LaRocca explore, in a unique travelogue format, Ms. Randel's experiences in Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovnia and in her ancestors' home, Ireland. Using the Greek mythological characters Odysseus and Penelope, the performance investigates longing for home and the desire for adventure, comparing the obsession with consumerism in America with the economic struggles of former Yugoslavia. Wednesday, August 9th at 8 PM -- $15/$12/TDF

It's A Small House and We've Lived in it Always -- a new work by New York City's most respected and loved lesbian theatre troupe, Split Britches Theater Company. Obie Award-winning veteran theatre artists Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver bring from their experience as artists and women a humorous and intelligent performance about boundaries in a relationship. Friday, August 11th at 8 PM -- $15/$12/TDF

ASPHYXIA and Other Promises -- NACL's 1999 hit, featuring NACL actresses, Tannis Kowalchuk and Allison Waters. Written by NYC poet and playwright, Henry Israeli, and directed by Brad Krumholz, ASPHYXIA and Other Promises tells the tale of a young woman who is captured by a cruel nun and led from her oppression by Asphyxia, a chaos-embracing fairy god mother on stilts. Saturday, August 12th at 8 PM - $15/$12/TDF

Me@sure 3.1 -- a contemporary version of Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" by Toronto's OOmph! Theatre Group whose influences include Montreal's Carbone 14, and New York's The Wooster Group. Using live video, music samples, explosive dance, puppetry, and fragments of Shakespeare's text, Chad Dembski directs a modern morality play with humor, attitude, and creative multi-media technique. Sunday, August 13th at 8 PM - $15/$12/TDF

Workshops

Theatre Labyrinth -- Saturday, August 5th, 12 PM to 3 PM. Tuition is $20
The company will lead participants through a series of demanding exercises that explore physical attention and the use of voice and text.

Group Songs in Harmony -- Saturday, August 12th, 12 PM to 3 PM. Tuition is $20
Singer/actress/vocal coach, Holly Holsinger leads participants in gentle warm-ups and vocal exercises to singing songs from around the world in three and four part harmonies.
The workshop is for anyone who loves to sing.

Cabaret

On evenings after Festival performances, NACL will be the site of an eclectic cabaret featuring local and visiting talent.
Join the company for refreshments and more entertainment.
If you would like to perform in the cabaret, please contact the NACL Cabaret Coordinators.

PHYXADELICA... A Dance Party

Saturday, August 12th at 10 PM following the performance of ASPHYXIA and Other Promises, NACL will throw a dance with good music, a live DJ, and refreshments. Tickets are $10, and if you see ASPHYXIA and Other Promises that night, you get in for FREE.