A darkened stage breaks its stillness with the dissonant phrases of a quarter grand piano. Dim lights cast the figure of a woman lying on the floor of her living room. Her hectic energy hovers over the space. The phone rings. The protagonist finds herself on the receiving end of two wrong-number calls. This small,
More
maeshelle west-davies debuts her latest performance piece, not alone 2.0, at Helmut on Friday, 11 March 2022. She is well-known in art and culture circles in Leipzig, where she has lived and worked as an artist, MC and event producer for many years. Raised in the US, maeshelle spent several years living in the UK
More
Storytime, kids! In November 2016, right after the U.S. presidential election had been called for Trump, I was supposed to be hosting a Smut Slam in North Carolina, in a small liberal city surrounded by a sea of Trump-voting Republicans. Smut Slam, for those of you just finding out, is a community dirty-storytelling open mic.
More
Love hurts, and for some people, that’s the point. Trying to write a one-line introduction to this play has me stumped. “A skeletal outline of common events wrapped up in an uncommon friendship.” That is the closest I could get to describing ETL‘s production of Gruesome Playground Injuries, by Rajiv Joseph. It opened on 3
More
60 minutes is not a long time, but BATS manages to evoke love, playfulness, fear, hate, loneliness, and more. It truly is like going to a movie. Not one word is spoken. Yet, plenty is communicated about how we interact with and affect others through choreography, visuals, and music. This is tap, Sebastian Weber style.
More
Art is not instantaneous, nor are openings. It took a little while after restrictions lifted, but now there are vernissages all over town, pretty much every weekend. Excited people arrive early and find lines out the door, some are turned away due to capacity restrictions. Wait, did I say art exhibitions or clubs? Now is
More
