This year, from January 8–19, Under the Radar presents works from Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang; Back to Back Theatre; Josh Fox; Aleshea Harris and The Movement Theatre Company; Makuyeika Colectivo Teatral and Héctor Flores Komatsu; Ahamefule J. Oluo; Teatro y Su Doble, Aline Kuppenheim, and Guillermo Calderón; Selina Thompson; and Amir Nizar Zuabi. The festival will also include works by Nick Payne, Wang Chong, and Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental; Touretteshero and Battersea Arts Centre; and Suguru Yamamoto at partner venues throughout New York City.
The 2020 fortnight will also include Under the Radar + Joe’s Pub: In Concert performances; the INCOMING! works-in-process series; and the Under the Radar Professional Symposium. The Library and the mezzanine will also be open for Under the Radar: Late Night, where UTR artists and audiences can gather to meet, celebrate, and discuss what they’ve seen.
For more details visit PublicTheater.org.
As you curate your UTR experience, we recommend six shows, in particular, not-to-be-missed:
Susan, by Ahamefule J. Oluo (U.S.)
January 8-9, 11-13 (Running Time: 90 Minutes)
Oluo explores his family history in this musical telling of “his mother’s life as the white, Midwestern wife of a Nigerian chief, and later a destitute single mother; and his own journey to Nigeria as an adult, to visit his late father’s village and discover a family on the other side of the world.”
Grey Rock, written/directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi (Palestine)
January 8-9, 11-13, 17-19 (Running Time: 95 Minutes)
A Palestinian man dreams of rocketing to the moon, but when his family finds the spaceship he’s been building in their shed, hysteria follows. Produced by Remote Theater Project in association with GOH Productions, the cast features actors from the West Bank and Israel, including Khalifa Natour.
The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes by Back to Back Theatre (Australia)
January 8-13, 16-19 (Running Time: 60 Minutes)
Five neurodiverse activists gather for a meeting to discuss a history “we would prefer not to know and a future that is ambivalent.” The play by Michael Chan, Mark Deans, Bruce Gladwin, Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, and Sonia Teuben addresses the global food industry, human rights, the effects of automation, and AI.
salt., by Selina Thompson (U.K.)
January 10-13, 16-19 (Running Time: 75 Minutes)
Two artists retraced the Transatlantic Slave Triangle from the U.K. to Ghana to Jamaica back in 2016. As they sweep the bottom of the Atlantic floor, they are able to imagine a semblance of the past. This show is what they found.
The Truth Has Changed, by Josh Fox (U.S.)
January 11-13, 16-19 (Running Time: 90 Minutes)
Fox performs this solo show, directed by him and Ron Russell, from the perspective of a reporter who witnessed key moments in American history from September 11 to Trump. As Fox deconstructs the history we thought we knew, the truth will blow you away.
Not I, by Touretteshero and Battersea Arts Centre (U.K.)
January 10-13, 16-19 (Running Time: 60 Minutes)
Directed by Matthew Pountney and co-presented by UTR and BRIC, Jess Thom, a performer with Tourettes, takes on the Beckett play. With insight into neurodiversity and representation on stage, all performances are ASL integrated and are Relaxed.
