From devastating events—war, prison, Chernobyl—come experimental performances of resiliency, compassion, and originality. Out There 19 features five cross-national, interdisciplinary groups of collaborators Lebanon/Germany, Brussels/Ukraine, Finland/US, Argentina/Britain, US/Rwanda. Throughout January, be inspired by the resourcefulness and creativity of international artists whose work eclipses borders, both real and imagined. Engage with live art that explores transformation with intensity and necessity, purpose and passion. Take a walk through an exhibition with a one-of-a-kind violinist. Get Out There onstage and in the galleries.
OUT THERE 2019
A Festival of Performance Alternatives
January 10-February 2
Buy tickets to four or more different shows and receive a 25% discount (30% Walker Members).
THE MANY SIDES OF RABIH MROUÉ: OUT THERE OPENING-NIGHT CELEBRATION
Thursday, January 10, 5pm
Walker Cinema and Galleries, Free
Witness other dimensions of Rabih Mroué’s creative output at the Out There 2019 opening-night celebration. Experience his brilliant Sand in the Eyes, a lecture-performance on the image politics of Islamist recruiting videos in contrast to images shot by drones (Walker Cinema, 7 pm), followed by an audience discussion moderated by former Walker Moving Image Curator Cis Bierinckx. Then join a reception with the artist. The evening also marks the official opening of Mroué’s latest cycle of artworks Again we are defeated, presented within the exhibition I am you, you are too. And don’t miss the premiere of Borborygmus, January 11–12.
Program Schedule
5–9 pm Opening of Again we are defeated, Gallery 2
7–8 pm Sand in the Eyes lecture-performance
8–8:30 pm Q&A with Rabih Mroué
8:30 pm Reception with the artist
OUT THERE 2019
The Artists
LINA MAJDALANIE, MAZEN KERBAJ AND RABIH MROUÉ
Borborygmus
Friday, January 11 – Saturday, January 12, 8pm, McGuire Theater
$25 ($20 Walker Members)
Walker Commission
World Premiere
“[Mroué’s] understanding of what it is to be human, in all of its beauty and ugliness, burns through with an intensity that, despite—or because of—its theatricality, hits the viewer directly in the gut.” —Frieze
Just as Rabih Mroué synthesizes video and audio, acting and projection, art and theater in his performances, so does he interweave history, testimony, and storytelling to destabilize facts and fictions. Born in Beirut, Mroué often draws material for his work from the Lebanese Civil War of the 1990s and contemporary Middle East conflicts. This new dramatic-comic theater piece is created in collaboration with Lebanese actor/writer/director Lena Majdalanie and artist/musician Mazen Kerbaj. Here, the performers’ identities and judgements of one another shift as the taboos, fears, and failures of their lives and countries are laid bare. In Arabic with English surtitles.
Post-show reception
Friday, January 11: Stay after the show for a post-show reception with the artists.
Read More
CNN on Rabih Mroué
Mazen Kerbaj website
KANEZA SCHAAL IN COLLABORATION WITH CORNELL ALSTON AND CHRISTOPHER MYERS
JACK &
Thursday, January 17 – Saturday, January 19, 8pm
McGuire Theater, $25 ($20 Walker Members)
Walker Commission
“Everything that happens in the space Schaal has carved out for us always feels beautifully, powerfully sacred.” —Artforum
With topics ranging from The Honeymooners and Amos & Andy to debutante balls and social programs, JACK & is a place of theatrical imagination that inhabits the in-between space between dreams and reality. This comedy of errors starring Cornell Alston considers reentry to society after prison through a prism of ancestral ceremonies, baking fiascoes, feminist painters, and the dreaming one must sacrifice to the state while incarcerated. With references to diverse social codes, JACK & gives creative dream time its due. Featuring design by artist/author Christopher Myers and live music by Rucyl Mills.
Post-show reception
Thursday, January 17–Saturday, January 19: Stay after the show for a post-show reception with the artists.
Read More
Kaneza Schaal website
Hyperallergic on JACK &
OUT THERE BONUS MUSIC EVENT
PEKKA KUUSISTO
Tuning Meditation
Saturday, January 19, 3pm
Gallery 3, Free for Walker members, Out There ticket holders, and SPCO subscribers or free with gallery admission
“A violinist whose rare gift is to become rather than perform the music he plays.” —The Guardian
In a rare solo performance, Finnish violin star Pekka Kuusisto explores themes of the Walker’s exhibition I am you, you are too—citizenship, belonging, borders, and barriers—through Pauline Oliveros’s immersive Tuning Meditation and a series of interactive video and audio collaborations. Centered on a piece written to provide healing in response to the political chaos of the late 1960s, this interactive performance invites participants to engage in listening as an act of peaceful activism and joining vocally as an act of community building in our own tumultuous political climate.
Copresented by the SPCO’s Liquid Music Series
Read More
BBC profile on Pekka Kuusisto
The Guardian interview
BERLIN
Zvizdal [Chernobyl, so far—so close]
Thursday, January 24 – Friday, January 25, 8pm
Saturday, January 26, 7pm & 9:30pm
McGuire Theater, $25 ($20 Walker Members)
“Slowly and sensitively, a remarkable portrait is created, offering no simple answers to the questions that arise, even the central one of why Pétro and Nadia choose to stay.” —Irish Times
Thirty years after Chernobyl, an elderly couple still refuses to leave. This portrait of love, stubbornness, and survival in the Ukraine brings audiences into intimate relationship with Pétro and Nadia Lubenoc through an immersive hybrid of documentary film and theatrical installation. Tentative, then trusting, the Lubenocs allowed the Antwerp-based Berlin to document their lives, resulting in a singular portrait of necessity, rather than choice.
Post-show reception
Thursday, January 24, 2019: Meet the artists at a post-show reception in the Cityview Bar.
Friday, January 25, 2019: Stay after the show for a Q & A with the artists.
Read More
View Trailer
Artist Q&A
ArtsDesk Review
January 31–February 2, 8pm
McGuire Theater, $30 ($24 Walker Members)
“Unforgettably potent…Past and present intersect with extraordinary power and eloquence in this deeply affecting show.” —The Independent
From the horrors of the battlefield to today’s global uncertainties, Minefield unveils its truths through brutal honesty, compassion, and startling humor. This enthralling piece of documentary theater is presented by Buenos Aires–based writer, director, visual artist, and actor Lola Arias, who returns to the Walker (The Year I was Born, Out There 2014) with a masterpiece that sold out multiple runs at London’s Royal Court Theatre and has toured globally to wide acclaim. Using a range of experimental techniques, six Argentine and British veterans from both sides of the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War explore the treacherous minefield of their memories—storytelling that conveys a sense of humanity onstage in a rare and moving way.
Post-show reception
Thursday, January 31, 2019: Meet the artists at a post-show reception in the Cityview Bar.
Friday, February 1, 2019: Stay after the show for a Q & A with the artists.
Read More
View Trailer
Lola Arias website
The Stage interview
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