The high-flyers
Live Arts - the part of the festival whose two dozen or so shows are invited or commissioned - is very international this year: In a number of productions, major names in the avant-garde from all over the world have teamed with local artists.
Some of these shows are already booked for world tours. Some are premieres. Some are, like Jersey peaches, tasty local produce. Some sound intriguing, or nasty, or just plain weird. My wouldn't-miss-it list:
Disco Descending Karen Getz's sequel to her raved-about Suburban Love Songs (2006) assembles a local cast of faves for a comic dance/drama about suburban fortysomethings who try to resurrect a dead friend through the power of a disco ball. Or something like that.
The European Lesson Norwegian director/choreographer Jo Stromgren casts local favorites (among them Aaron Cromie, Jeb Kreager) in what promises to be a hilarious and pointed comment on international culture, with fake languages, funny accents, and all kinds of travel tips.
Flesh and Blood and Fish and Fowl Geoff Sobelle and Charlotte Ford create a collection of grim fairy tales about taxidermied rats in an illusion- and rhyme-filled spectacle.
The Melting Bridge Thaddeus Phillips of Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental concludes his Americas Trilogy (previously: E!Conquistador!, Flamingo/Winnebago). Weighty questions (what is the future of life on Earth?) combined with Mexican wrestling. Likely to be Phillips' signature combo of the jokey and the intellectual, with nifty theatrics.
Oedipus at FDR Going the old joke of Chekhov-on-ice one better, Emmanuelle Delpech-Ramey's version of Sophocles' ancient Greek tragedy, Oedipus at Colonus, will be performed on skateboards in that most urban of amphitheatres, FDR Park.
Sea of Birds Sebastienne Mundheim's elegant puppets enact - with dancers - childhood memories and fantastical characters.
