Arts Workers Are Artists Too
Performance Space New York
Feb. 8, 2024
Assemble the stage. Hang the soft goods. Focus the lights. Focus the projector. Coffee break.
Usually, when I write down these words, it’s for my work in production management, where I’m responsible for creating the schedule for “load-in”, the period of time when design and technical elements are installed and prepared in a venue ahead of a given production or performance. Load-in usually begins and ends hours, days, or even weeks before an audience ever enters the space. And usually, if these activities are being performed in front of a sizeable paying audience, something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Not so during Performance Space New York’s third annual Arts Workers Are Artists Too event, where the opening act, a mini load-in of sorts, was but the first of many unusual and exciting pieces created and performed entirely by members of Performance Space’s crew.
The event, organized by Performance Space’s associate production manager, Sarai Frazier, “celebrates and shines a spotlight on the inherent artistry embedded within the daily lives of arts workers,” and also serves as a fundraiser for the Derek Lloyd Production Fellowship, of which Frazier is an alum.
“This is a crew space!” Andy Sowers, Performance Space’s production manager, announced the start of that first performance. Normally just a safety warning denoting an active work zone, the words took on a new and special meaning: Here, at least for one night, the each member crew was the featured artist, the special guest, the VIP they had become so used to supporting, often invisibly and silently. In my reviews, I do my best to uplift the contributions of designers, crew, and less-cited production staff, and in this rare and fun case, there were nothing but.
Between DJ sets, various works of visual art on display, silent auctions, a raffle, nearly a dozen performance, video, and musical acts, and a Super Smash Bros tournament, all hosted by the kooky Champagne Jerry, Arts Workers Are Artists Too was jam-packed with something for everybody. What was especially exciting to me was the sheer volume of experimental, immersive, and boundary-pushing performance pieces that were unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
Right after mini load-in was complete and Frazier gave a rousing welcome speech to us, the stage went dark. A door near the back of the theater opened. There was the sound of chains dragging across the floor, bells tolling through the speakers, and a disturbing thumping gradually moving closer to us. Trying to describe exactly what happened next is difficult: Imagine an evil, exhilarating, post-apocalyptic drag performance led by Žilvinas Jonušas, which then turned into a campy, over-the-top rendition of “Willkommen” from Cabaret. I was transfixed by the insanity, absurdity, and intense physicality of Jonušas’ piece.
Later in the night, during a piece called Untroubling by Matthew Deinhart and Sara Vandenheuvel a large, raised, house-shaped structure filled with balloons that had been ominously sitting upstage was finally wheeled downstage in front of the audience. At the start of this performance, Sara, who regularly does costume design, was the star, and seemingly “trapped”, neck-deep in the balloons inside the enclosure. In a gradual, somber progression, Sara was eventually able to free herself by popping balloons, one by one, until only she remained in the enclosure, along with some kind of lotion‑y residue that was inside the balloons. The act of opposing balloons seemed to elicit mixed emotions; sometimes the act of freeing oneself from a situation means leaving things behind, which can hurt even if it’s the right and necessary thing to do. That’s what I was thinking about as I watched the unusual ballon-popping piece, at least.
During intermission, a few folding tables were set up in front of the stage with a wide variety of audio equipment and gadgets: effect pedals, synthesizers, and all sorts of knobs and switches whose functions are known only to the wizards we know as audio technicians. At the start of the next act, titled What’s this one do by “Jimmy Kavetas and Friends,” the techs-turned-performers did something I’ve never seen before in my life: we, the audience, were asked to come fiddle with all the equipment on the table to our heart’s content, with no instruction. Once again, one of my worst production nightmares was turned into a gold mine for experimental performance, thanks to the ingenuity of Kavetas and his band, who played their own instruments onstage to flexibly accompany whatever auditory madness we were creating from the audience.
These are just a few of the acts held during the event, each of which could’ve held their own in any of NYC’s experimental performance art festivals. The entire night was a showcase of abundant artistic rigor, boldness, and novelty that regularly surprised and delighted me. The fact that each part was created and performed by the folks who normally serve behind the scenes only affirms what Performance Space New York, Sarai Frazier, and the event had been saying all along: Arts Workers Are Artists Too, and pretty amazing ones at that.
Support The Artists: The Derek Lloyd Production Fellowship accepts donations here.
Up Next For Me: There are a few unhinged musicals running in NYC right now that have piqued my interest… stay tuned.
