Santa Monica Cultural Affairs’ 2018 Art @ Tongva Series Continues with Immersive Theater and Auditory Performances
April 4, 2018 9:25 AM
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. – The City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs’ Art at Tongva series continues this weekend with Among Us with director Marike Splint and Los Angeles Performance Practice. Among Us is an audio-theater experience where you and the city take the stage. Go from the bustle of the Santa Monica Pier to the green surroundings of Tongva Park while listening to meditative prompts that reveal what may lie beneath the surface of daily life. Among Us takes you through familiar places and invites you to look deeper. This is a ticketed event at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/among-us-tickets-44463924796.
On April 25 and 26, Art @ Tongva presents work by Artistic Director Annie Saunders and her company Wilderness. Wilderness push the envelope of the traditional theatre-going experience. Inspired by unexplored and uninhabited spaces, they create experiential and interdisciplinary theatrical events that disrupt the boundaries between observer and observed. This live immersive experience will activate the intimate “rooms” of Tongva Park for two nights only. This is a free event.
Leaves of Grass is a text and movement work, originally created with Sarah Corman of Frantic Assembly. The piece examines how we as couples grow to become alike, what that means about the insularity of the self, and how this phenomenon of similarity affects our relationships. On Paper is a durational and intimate duet that examines domestic relationships through movement, music and recorded sound. Both works are newly revised and staged for the landscape of Tongva Park.
Audiences are invited to find their way freely through the space, encountering at different moments each performance. The program highlights Tongva Park’s unusual geography of gardens, winding paths, and urban vistas, reimagining the small, exquisite spaces of the park designed by James Corner Field Operations, the creative geniuses behind the High Line in New York.
Art @ Tongva is a series of intimate and informal events in Tongva Park running since 2014. The season will continue in May with additional performances of Among Us and an evening of performance and art by contemporary indigenous artists. Art @ Tongva is co-produced by Santa Monica Cultural Affairs and Dyson & Womack
For updated information, visit smgov.net/tongvapark/events.
Visit bigbluebus.com for bus routes to Tongva Park. Ample bike parking is located near each park entrance (Ocean Ave., Main St., and Olympic Blvd.).
Parking is available at the Civic Center Parking Structure, 333 Civic Center Dr. First 30 minutes free, $1 per each additional hour. $5 maximum per day.
More Information
Marike Splint is a Dutch theater maker, based in Los Angeles, specializing in performance in public space. Fascinated by the theme of belonging, she explores the relationship between people, places, and identity. She has created shows in sites ranging from a bus driving through a transitional neighborhood to wide open meadows, taxicabs, train stations and hotel rooms. Her work has been presented by festivals and theaters all around the world, such as Urbane Kunste Ruhr (Germany), Oerol Festival (The Netherlands) and the Live Arts Exchange Festival (USA). Splint received her MFA in directing from Columbia University and currently serves as a faculty member in the Department of Theater at UCLA.
Wilderness was founded in 2011 by Artist Director Annie Saunders. Saunders is a director and live artist whose work includes the founding of the award-winning company Wilderness, original work with Neil Bettles and Gemma Fairlie, and co-commissions for the Lyric Theatre, Watford Place, and Greenwich Festival and Latitude. She holds an MA in literature and critical studies from the University of London, and trained at the Sanford Meisner Center for the Arts, the American Conservatory Theater and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In addition she worked for ten years as creative activist with Eve Ensler’s V-Day. She brings Wilderness to Art @ Tongva with site-specific adaptations of two works, Leaves of Grass and On Paper.
2018 SEASON: Art @ Tongva: Wonder Room – occurred on March 28th, Art @ Tongva: The Wilderness - Two evenings of physical performance theater created especially for the park by experimental theater company Wilderness, Wednesday & Thursday, April 25 & 26, 7:30 - 9 p.m. nightly; Art @ Tongva: Among Us - four interactive audio-theater performances, April 7 & 8 and May 12 & 13, 4 p.m. daily; an evening of interdisciplinary performance and art by contemporary indigenous artists, Wednesday, May 30, 7:30 - 9 p.m.
SANTA MONICA CULTURAL AFFAIRS
Santa Monica Cultural Affairs brings the City’s art scene to life for residents and visitors by supporting engaging and accessible cultural events for all ages throughout the year. Cultural Affairs nurtures local arts organizations, promotes artist involvement in the community, manages the landmark Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and presents and produces innovative programs citywide at the Annenberg Community Beach House, the historic Miles Playhouse, 1450 Ocean and in the city’s parks, enriching Santa Monica’s reputation as an international cultural destination. For more info visit smgov.net/arts.
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Media Contact
Constance Farrell
Communications & Public Information Manager
Constance.Farrell@santamonica.gov
More Information
https://cityofsantamonica.box.com/s/k7p9ikpltb1eqnkqqyzv8280svr9kwfv