The Under the Radar Festival is laying new foundations after recent setbacks initially made the project's future look unclear. Once produced by The Public Theater, the experimental theatre series was put in "extended hiatus" in 2023, but quickly reemerged via a collaboration between many NYC non-profit theatre companies.
Now, the Festival is proving that it's here to stay. Organizers have announced the Festival will return in 2025, with performances running January 4-19. News of the 2025 dates comes alongside the appointment of Kaneza Schaal and Meropi Peponides as co-creative directors, who will lead the Festival alongside founder and Artistic Director Mark Russell.
The upcoming Festival, its 20th since its founding in 2005, will again be presented across NYC at various companies. Among the works already announced: Khawla Ibraheem's A Knock on the Roof; Faustin Linyekula's My Body, My Archive; TECHNE, an experiential exhibition of large-scale artworks from John Fitzgerald, Godfrey Reggio, Marc Da Costa, Matthew Niederhauser, Margarita Athanasiou, and Stephanie Dinkins; an all-female staging of Shuji Terayama's Duke Bluebeard's Castle; Aakash Odedra Company's Little Murmur; and the annual Under the Radar Symposium. Partner theatres include New York Theatre Workshop, piece by piece productions, Live Artery, New York Live Arts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Japan Society, New Victory Theater, HowIRound Theatre Commons, The Simons Foundation, and The Onassis Foundation.
The Festival is making moves to be a producing force and has already commissioned work from Alex Tatarsky, Jenn Kidwell, and Nile Harris.
"The Under the Radar Festival has been a major influence in shaping my perspectives, sensibilities, and passions as a theatre maker and producer," says Peponides in a statement. "Its global reach and the platform it gives international artists is an essential part of the ecosystem of New York City performance, and has shown how this work forges connections between people across the world, and speaks truth to the human condition. It is an honor to join Mark and this stellar team to help chart a path for the festival’s future."
“There are so many New York Cities," adds Schaal. "So often they don’t touch. My family squatted a building just blocks from PS122, NYTW, The Public—but never stepped foot inside them. As Under The Radar expands into its new life, how can we live up to the promise of theatre, the promise of participatory society, of people gathering around campfires to tell stories, of the Greek’s ‘demos kratia’, literally ‘people power,’ where voting and theatre happened alongside each other? At its best New York is a city of entry points, places to begin and dream the impossible. As developer empires engulf the city, we are losing those entry points. Under The Radar has always protected entry points to craft, community, the city, and the world. I am thrilled to join and expand this practice. ”
“I am thrilled to welcome Meropi Peponides and Kaneza Schaal to the Under the Radar artistic team," says Russell. "Under the Radar has always been a collaborative effort. Last year, we took a step towards creating a city-wide festival with contributions from producers across the city, proof of the resilient and innovative strength of New York's art scene. The addition of Meropi and Kaneza, with their unique perspectives, will help us build a festival ready for the future.”
Further programming is to be announced. Visit UTRFest.org for more.
