The revolution is upon us.
The Tricklock Company's fourth annual Revolutions International Theatre Festival began last week. The cultural exchange, experimental and political art and otherwise madcap eclecticism that is the festival won't stop until the end of the month.
The program brings artists from all over the world to five local venues, UNM's Rodey Theatre and Theatre X among them.
The Tricklock Company requires every company that participates in the festival to also teach something of its style and tradition to the Albuquerque community. Free workshops are provided to UNM students and selected high schools in hopes of influencing more people to "run away with the circus," said Joe Pesce, the artistic director of Revolutions.
He said one of the festival's goals is to introduce young people to alternatives to standard American theater.
"If the naturalism isn't up their alley, they might just give it up and get a cubicle job for themselves," Pesce said. "We might be catching some of those kids, showing them the vast world of arts and saying 'you could have a place here.'"
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So far, visitors have included poet Vanessa Hidary, who gave workshops to high schools in addition to her performances at the Outpost Performance Space. Hidary is known as the "Hebrew Mamita" from New York, and her one-woman, autobiographical show, "Culture Bandit," has been heralded as a noteworthy commentary on American race and culture.
"People are ready. People want to see people take risks," she said. "People are not as precious as I believe we make them out to be about race."
This weekend, the Tricklock Company will present "The Glorious and Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid," as part of the festival for one of its last local appearances before the show hits the road for an international tour in August.
Pesce said the company chose to tour with the satirical Western show because it is representative of American culture and told from an American perspective. He said the show raises questions about the American hero worship of murderers, as seen in the monikers given to killers and in violence in popular movies.
"There's a direct sociological lineage from the way we promote Billy the Kid to the Columbine killers to the Beltway snipers," he said. "We don't even know their names. We give them their killer names, and somehow we attach glory to them."
He said the show was also ideal for the international tour because of the war in Iraq.
"We've taken a lot of inspiration from our very own cowboy president, Mr. Bush," he said. "The language that he uses to defend our right to do battle anywhere in the world is straight out of a Wild West movie."
Also this weekend, the Akhe Russian Engineering Theatre will present the dark and semi-comical "White Cabin." According to a news release, the show portrays everyday events in an exaggerated fashion, exposing their bizarre nature in a chaotic, untraditional piece of avant-garde theater. Akhe will also be conducting workshops with graduate theater students at UNM.
The What, When and Where
What: "The Glorious & Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid," "A Wild West Show & Cabaret," "The Greatest Serial Killer of Our Time!"
When: Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m., Jan. 24, 25, 2 p.m.
Price: $10 Students, $15 General
Where: Theatre X
Tickets and info: 925-5858
www.tickets.com
