Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – UNDER THE RADAR 2026 Roundup, Part 1: Urgently expounding on the human condition, breaking down performative barriers in the process

• By drediman
• January 17, 2026
• No Comments

Approximately halfway through my immersion in the dizzying and ambitious performance lineup that is Under the Radar 2026, I’ve taken the time to pause and collect my thoughts on what I’ve seen so far (running count: seven shows across an astonishing array of institutions citywide). More often than not, I found that these adventurous theatrical experiences — which invariably blurred perceived lines between genres — had something urgent to say about the human condition, whether in a universal sense or within the parameters of specific circumstances and/or perspectives.

BELLOW (Brokentalkers)
Irish Arts Center

Brokentalkers‘ multidisciplinary production of Bellow (RECOMMENDED) is a candid and bittersweet examination of a life fully dedicated to music-making and the sustenance of tradition — specifically as told through the eyes of Danny O’Mahony, one of Ireland’s foremost accordionists. In its attempt to authentically encapsulate the accomplished musician’s life, Dublin-based experimental theater company Brokentalkers have teamed up with both O’Mahony and dancer Emily Kilkenny Roddy, most notably to convey, artfully, the powerful draw of the calling to a life in music and the at times compromising effects of the single-minded pursuit of it. One of the most interesting aspects of the play is its meta-theatrical depiction of the distressed collaborative process between the show’s creators, which has the unexpected, seemingly serendipitous impact of bringing critical focus and candor to the biographical tale. Grounding the theatrical flights of fancy is O’Mahony’s soulful live music-making, which is the glue that holds the show’s disparate parts together.

DREAM FEED (The HawtPlates)
HERE

Just as interested in re-assessing form and subject matter is Dream Feed (RECOMMENDED) by the HawtPlates, a performance trio comprised of Justin Hicks, Kenita Miller-Hicks, and Jade Hicks. Their concept-driven music theater piece centers on the often overlooked subconscious and the potency of its meandering musings. As you can imagine, the work unfolds in organically in a series of surreal vignettes, often partially-formed in stream-of-conscience fragments, that collectively capture the essence of the dream state. As fleshed out by the trio’s exquisite musicianship — as well as some atmospheric design components (especially the lighting) — the net effect is a meditative, associative journey that’s healing and rejuvenating. Despite being and ensemble piece, I can’t help but single out Kenita Miller-Hicks’ performance, the magnetic nexus around which the show arguably revolves.

THE FORD/HILL PROJECT (Lee Sunday Evans & Elizabeth Marvel)
La MaMa

Taking us from the surreal galaxies of dreams to the harsh realities of the real world is Lee Sunday Evans and Elizabeth Marvel’s verbatim documentary theater piece The Ford/Hill Project (RECOMMENDED). Culled and assembled in parallel from the transcripts of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford’s hearings regarding the alleged sexual misconducts of Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, respectively, the show is both a powerful piece of political theater, as well as a ringing endorsement for the #MeToo movement. Having caught the show during its brief previous run at the Public Theater, I’m happy to report that the compact play has lost none of its brazen power to elicit visceral reactions from audiences. The production is simply staged, allowing the documented words to speak for themselves and the performances to serve as pointed commentary on the glaring injustices that have and continue to transpire.

MAMI (Mario Banushi)
NYU Skirball

One of the larger scale offerings of this year’s Under the Radar festival is Mami (RECOMMENDED), a visually striking piece by Greek / Albanian–born Mario Banushi, a young auteur theater-maker who has been making a splash across Europe in recent years. As a monumental dedication to Banushi’s mother — at one point, the director actually goes up on stage to pay his respects — the work registers firstly as a deeply personal homage from one man’s point of view. Given that the wordless and sensuously dreamlike production is pregnant with associative meaning, the show is furthermore a more general meditation on motherhood from the perspectives of both mother and child, ultimately panning out to portray a multi-generational view. Even more broadly, the piece can be interpreted as an allegory for all things life-giving, as evidenced by the regular appearance of food/sustenance throughout. For bringing Banushi’s vision home, I must especially commend the committed and game cast (many of them tasked with performing in the nude, arguably gratuitously) and the poetic contributions of the crack design team.

TESTO (Wet Mess)
Dixon Place

Then there is the fever dream that is Wet Mess’s TESTO (RECOMMENDED). Pushing the boundaries of drag and cabaret, Wet Mess elevates lip-syncing into the realm of true performance art in a guttural manifesto about the search for identity vis-à-vis the process of gender transitioning (the show’s title is in reference to testosterone). Largely performed to pre-recorded interviews conducted among trans men at various points in their respective journeys, the show is thoroughly unfiltered — featuring extreme camp, a ravishing punk aesthetic, and unapologetic hyper-sexuality — coming across as somewhat of an unhinged version of John Cameron Mitchell’s classic Hedwig and the Angry Inch in its depiction of the self-determination of identity. Despite the “take-me-or-leave-me” vibe of it all, Wet Mess — with their sweet, often yearning glances towards the audience — somehow maintains a likability that inspires empathy with their uncompromising point of view.

TRY/STEP/TRIP (Dahlak Brathwaite)
A.R.T./New York Theatres

Just as attention-grabbing is Try/Step/Trip (RECOMMENDED), Dahlak Brathwaite’s hallucinatory theatrical deep dive into the painfully knotted psyche of people of color. More specifically, Brathwaite’s autobiographical tale — which recounts his experience in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program — painstakingly expounds on his complicated “chicken and egg” relationship with his chosen Black identity and the self-perpetuating systemic racism he encounters. Movement and music-driven, the show calls to mind such theatrical works of self-examination as Stew’s underrated musical Passing Strange  and Ntozake Shange’s seminal choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf — comparing favorably to both (a big compliment to Brathwaite’s craft and passion). Although currently a tad too long, this is urgent, viscerally-performed theater that grabs you by the collar and demands to be acknowledged.

WE HAVE NO NEED OF OTHER WORLDS (WE NEED MIRRORS) (Graham Sack)
Onassis ONX

Leave it to the folks at Onassis ONX to mount Graham Sack’s We Have No Need of Other Worlds (We Need Mirrors) (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED), a deeply philosophical play that purposefully collides theater and technology — both in terms of content and staging — in its metaphysical inquiries regarding the workings of the universe. In the piece, Sack (who also appears in the show, giving a pensive performance) recounts the last days of his hospital bed-ridden father, by whom he reads aloud passages from journals of his father’s adventures as a young man. In doing so, he speculates on the ability of memory and technology to create portals to different temporal and spacial planes, thereby attaining a sort of immorality as an alternative to seeming death. Despite its fascinating premise and its impressively immersive and responsive lighting design, Sack’s speculative but slight solo show — even more than any other show in this roundup — still comes across as very much a work in progress (and a tad far-fetched, as well).