Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – HERE and Dixon Place keep New York’s invaluable Off-Off-Broadway tradition of absurd, anything goes theater alive and well: FUSIFORM GYRUS & TOE PICK

• By drediman
• February 21, 2018
• No Comments

Much of New York’s invaluable avant-garde Off-Off-Broadway scene, in which pretty much anything goes, flies under the radar. This is not surprising, given these shows’ lack of marketing budgets, their tiny and out-of-the-way spaces, and limited runs. Also, many of these shows are typically tightly packed together within theater festivals (that usually take place in January) – Under the Radar, Coil, Next Wave, American Realness, Exponential, just to name a view – so as to make it difficult to fully appreciate and distinguish each work’s artistic point of view. Thankfully, we have a handful of institutions in the city, notably HERE Arts Center and Dixon Place, that specialize in giving rising (and established) experimental theater-makers the flexibility and support (e.g., low or no rent) to push the boundaries of the form.

Tom Nelis and Paul Zimet in Talking Band’s production of Ellen Maddow’s “Fusiform Gyrus” at HERE Arts Center.

Talking Band has a heady brew on its hands with Ellen Maddow’s Fusiform Gyrus (RECOMMENDED), which is currently in performance at HERE Arts Center. Tom Nelis and Paul Zimet play a pair of scientists – of the vaudevillian variety – who portray, in their uniquely droll way, the joys and necessary frustrations of scientific discovery. What’s particularly endearing is the way they depict the fumbling humanity of an endeavor that’s usually characterized by its rigorous demands and limited expectations. The whimsical duo is accompanied, somewhat haphazardly, by a quintet of brass players, who act as the driving force for their continued support for their continued pursuit of scientific truths. Although the whole thing can seem a tad vague at times, there’s enough delightful shenanigans in Ms. Maddow’s absurdist, light-hearted fantasia to keep theatergoers entertained.

Zackary Grady as Tonya Harding in “Toe Pick” at Dixon Place.

Over at Dixon Place, I also recently caught Toe Pick (RECOMMENDED), Zackary Grady’s totally transcribed play chronicling the incidents leading up and subsequent to Nancy Kerrigan’s attack at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. What’s hilariously explored here is not only the notion that fact is sometimes stranger than fiction, but also the absurdity of the media and even the limitations of language itself. All this aside, the Mr. Grady’s collage – the entire show is culled from television interviews, sports commentary, and other such preexisting material – is tremendous fun. As directed by Christopher Murrah and choreographed by Adam Fleming, Toe Pick is an irresistible hodgepodge of drag, dance, and comedy. Even if its send-up of the final group of the women’s figure skating competition at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics seems a tad gratuitous and woefully veers off topic, it’s still inspired satire, especially for figure skating buffs who fondly remember the event.

FUSIFORM GYRUS
Off-Broadway, Play
Talking Band at HERE Arts Center
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Through February 25

TOE PICK
Off-Broadway, Play
Dixon Place
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through February 24