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"A (radically condensed and expanded) Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again" at the 2015 Under the Radar Festival. (Photo by Brian Rogers)

Offscript: Theatre That Eats the Audience

Senior editor Eliza Bent talks to theatre critics Helen Shaw and Alexis Soloski about the experimental theatre festivals currently happening in New York City, what they loved and why you should go see some weird theatre right now!

Every other week, the editors of American Theatre curate a free-ranging discussion about the lively arts.

It’s that time of year again! At least if you live in New York City. It’s time for festival January, a time of year where all labels of theatre, dance, opera, performance art, live something goes out the window!

For this edition of Offscript, senior editor Eliza Bent talks to Time Out New York theatre critic Helen Shaw, and Guardian and New York Times theatre critic Alexis Soloski about Under the Radar, COIL and all the other experimental theatre festivals happening right now in NYC (by the time you finish reading this paragraph, another festival will be born).

Plus, editors Rob Weinert-Kendt, Diep Tran and Eliza recommend things. Diep saw the TEAM’s RoosevElvis as part of her COIL binge, and thinks you should read the script, now available from Oberon books. Rob did not like the movie version of Into the Woods but it did make him discover the joys of the script of Into the Woods (printed by TCG Books).

And Eliza has four recommendations: Adrienne Truscott’s rape comedy Asking for It, currently touring in Australia; the British anthology television series “Black Mirror” ; the novel The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer set in a summer arts camp; and Hari Kunzru’s op-ed in the Guardian about Charlie Hebdo.

And to make it not all about New York, we also give shout-outs to other festivals happening right now in other parts of the country. So kudos to Revolutions International Theatre Festival in Albuquerque, N.M.; the Fertile Ground Festival in Portland, Ore. and the PuSH International Arts Festival in Vancouver, Canada.

Go see some weird theatre!

You can download the episode here.  Subscribe via iTunes or RSS.

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