Out There, the Walker Art Center’s annual boundary-defying festival of alternative performance, will be presented January 4–27 in the William and Nadine McGuire Theater. Featuring new works by an international array of today’s most innovative artists, the 19th season of Out There opens January 4¬-6 with the world premiere of the Walker-commissioned Must Don’t Whip ‘Um by Cynthia Hopkins, an alt-country theatrical prequel to her captivating Accidental Nostalgia that was presented at Out There in 2005. The series continues January 11-13 with the London-based Lone Twin’s Nines Years, a new performance by the internationally acclaimed duo that attempts, for the first time, to bring together their entire body of work in one 90-minute show.
From January 18–20 Out There 19 features Young Jean Lee’s Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, an irreverent new work that follows a character named “Korean-American” as she explores her romanticized, half-informed understanding of the world. Out There 19 concludes January 25–27 with San Francisco’s new theater upstarts The Riot Group performing Pugilist Specialist, a timely and riveting work detailing the planning of a modern political assassination.
Inside Out There
Again this year, Out There includes a unique interactive series on the stage of the McGuire Theater, Inside Out There, which offers an opportunity to get the inside story from visiting Out There artists and to participate in interactive workshops. Events take place at 11 am each Saturday in the McGuire Theater. To reserve a spot, call 612.375.7600. Admission is $6 ($4 Walker members) for individual events or $20 ($12) for the series of four.
Out There and Then Some . . .
Drink with the artists every Thursday at a post-show gathering.
Talk with the artists every Friday at a post-show discussion.
Learn from the artists every Saturday morning at an Inside Out There workshop.
A complete listing of Out There performances follows.
OUT THERE 19
January 4–27
William and Nadine McGuire Theater
Tickets and information: 612.375.7600 or walkerart.org/tickets
Cynthia Hopkins
Must Don’t Whip ’Um
World Premiere
Thursday–Saturday, January 4–6, 8 pm
$20 ($16; $12 Thursday, Walker members)
“With a wry sense of the absurd and understated way of knocking your socks off, Hopkins combines an intelligent and compelling dramatic presence with old-timey, bluesy pop for a riveting performance. The effect is always dazzling.” —digitalcity.com
Cynthia Hopkins held capacity crowds spellbound when the Walker presented Accidental Nostalgia in 2005. The piece was so fresh and downright fun that the Walker immediately commissioned its theatrical prequel. Must Don’t Whip ’Um explores the outrageous life of a fictional pop star from the ’70s, who is under surveillance by the CIA as she performs her “farewell concert” and subsequently joins a Sufi brotherhood. Joined by her band Gloria Deluxe and video artists/designers Jeff Sugg and Jim Findlay, Hopkins offers an infectious blend of alt-country, cabaret, Southern soul, and multimedia theater unlike anything else.
Produced by Arts at St. Ann’s in association with Accinosco, and co-commissioned by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, with support from the William and Nadine McGuire Commissioning Fund; Philadelphia Live Arts Festival; and On the Boards, Seattle. Additional support is provided by the Moore Family Fund for the Arts of the Minneapolis Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art.
Inside Out There: Cynthia Hopkins
Saturday, January 6, 11 am
Jump from page to stage with the helpful insight of director/performer Hopkins in this 90-minute storytelling workshop.
Lone Twin
Nine Years
Thursday–Saturday, January 11–13, 8 pm
$20 ($16; $12 Thursday, Walker members)
“They come from England. Bewildered, hopeful, dogged. I expect they could read the phone book and be funny.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nine years ago, two friends set off to see the world and do a show or two. Seven hundred performances later, they decided to mark their anniversary with Nine Years, an extensive, whimsical, and downright strange theater work that integrates videos of their travels, pedestrian philosophies, and pleasantly peculiar world views. Gary Winters and Gregg Whelan, undoubtedly two of the most charming, bizarre, and playful artists on the live art scene in Britain, are hard to pin down and always up for a challenge. Their presentations have ranged from gallery, studio, and stage shows to “performative walking lectures” and a legendary 12-hour slow dance in which they were dressed as blindfolded cowboys. Called “indefatigable travelers, sojourners, and conjurers of clouds,” Lone Twin makes its first Minnesota appearance.
Supported in part by the British Council USA.
Inside Out There: Lone Twin
Saturday, January 13, 11 am
How does contemporary performance—often located at the extremes of experience—approach sociability, cooperation, and collaboration? Explore such ideas through activities directed toward the making of small performance events for public spaces.
Young Jean Lee
Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven
A show about white people in love
Thursday–Saturday, January 18–20, 8 pm
$20 ($16; $12 Thursday, Walker members)
“Young Jean Lee’s hysterically funny Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven . . . is perfect . . . politically incorrect . . . shockingly racist . . . directed brilliantly.” —Time Out New York
Provocative writer/director Young Jean Lee’s worst nightmare is to make anything as predictable as a confessional, Korean American identity play with a flowery Asian-sounding title, so she decided to do just that. Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven follows a character named “Korean-American” as she navigates—like a contestant in an identity-politics video game—the increasingly disturbing levels of a pseudo-Korean world. Full of blunt observations and unexpected turns, Lee’s warped, funny take on her heritage raises difficult questions about race, culture, and identity that leave the audience uneasy, exhilarated, and grappling for answers. Copresented with the National Performance Network (NPN).
Produced by HERE Arts Center.
Inside Out There: Young Jean Lee
Saturday, January 20, 11 am
Playwright/director Lee shares some useful and unusual perspectives on getting past writer’s block that are effective for both experienced writers and occasional dabblers. Bring pencil and paper and prepare to write.
The Riot Group
Pugilist Specialist
Thursday–Saturday, January 25–27, 8 pm
$20 ($16; $12 Thursday, Walker members)
“ . . . sharp, funny, evocative and distinctly original—as crisp as the stripped-down design and as invigoratingly forceful as the performances.” —San Francisco Chronicle
The Riot Group—San Francisco’s new theater upstarts who have received uniform acclaim on international stages—offers a timely and chilling work detailing the planning (and ultimate mishandling) of a modern political assassination. Spartan staging, an ominous soundscape, and acerbically funny double-time dialogue propel this psychological gripper, as four highly trained U.S. soldiers are assigned the task of eliminating a troublesome Arabic despot. Riffing on influences as disparate as Moby Dick and the Marine Corps Manual, Pugilist Specialist dissects the ethos and secret drive of the American military’s hunt for evil in foreign lands and reminds us that “victory forgives dishonesty.” Copresented with the National Performance Network (NPN).
Inside Out There: The Riot Group
Saturday, January 27, 11 am
Join artistic director Adriano Shaplin and The riot Group for a two-hour practical workshop in theater-making and playwriting techniques. Write, revise, and stage short plays in this crash course on ways that a small company can make new work.
