We’re pleased to report The Ring Cycle has been included in The L Magazine‘s 2011 ‘Best of Art & Performance’ list:
Best Regular- Motion Sports Sequence The Ring Cycle Part 1+2 at The Bushwick Starr
The Bushwick Starr’s Sue Kessler joked before the performance we attended that every season they seem to have at least one (this time two) sports plays. This adaptation of the first half of Wagner’s Ring Cycle took the action into the ring, where its mythic competitors became ridiculous 80s pro wrestlers whose choreographed moves were nevertheless thunderous.
Paul Bargetto, Artistic Director of undergroundzero has invited our company to be a Resident Artist in the festival. undergroundzero has, for the past three years, showcased some of the most daring work in the city. It’s given our company the opportunity to take risks on new projects (namely The Terrible Temptation to Do Good and the first incarnation of The Ring Cycle). We’re very pleased to be asked to be permanent residents as this festival takes off in a new direction.
undergroundzero will be on hiatus this year, but will return next summer.
Incubator Arts Project has selected The Ring Cycle (the whole deal — parts 1-4) to be a part of their 2012 Season! We’ll have more details for you as they become available, but for now, just know you’ll get a chance to see the whole gang back in action in April 2012.
We’re so pleased to note, in this beautiful holiday season, that Tom Sellar of The Village Voice mentioned our production of The Ring Cycle (pt. 1+2) as one of his favorite productions of the year! Yay!
Sellar: I also enjoyed The Ring Cycle (Part 1 +2) at the Bushwick Starr, which was a really clever re-creation of the opera.
Soloski: That was the mash-up of Wagner with 1980s professional wrestling?
Sellar: Well, it was more than that. They made it clear that the story of the Ring on one level is actually a primal family drama, which was really insightful. They were sort of making fun of domestic realism, but it worked very well.
After a little bit of back and forth with the IRS, PL115 is pleased to report that we are now our own 501(c)(3) organization!
We bid a fond farewell to our longtime fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, as we take the training wheels off the bike and begin to ride on as our own non-profit.
How does this change things? Very little. Your donations to PL115 are still fully tax-deductible contributions — but they will now be sent to us directly (via the post) or on PayPal (online).
More information on how to give can be found on our Donate page.
More great press for The Ring Cycle! Julia Furlan writes for WNYC Culture:
“If a show in Bushwick celebrating the camp and desolation of Reagan’s 1980′s by way of Wagner sounds like a hipster mashup worthy of ironic T-shirts, think again. Performance Lab 115′s production of “The Ring Cycle (Parts 1 and 2)” uses ’80′s wrestling as the lightning rod through which to channel the epic deities of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle with a sense of unadulterated fun.” Read the full article »
Only 3 performances left — this Thursday, Friday and Saturday — 8PM at The Bushwick Starr.
Woton, leader of the gods, took some time out of his busy day to tell us about what’s been going on since The Ring Cycle (Pt. 1) rocked the stage at undergroundzero 2010, and get you psyched for Part 2:
Only 3 performances left! The Ring Cycle (Part 1+2) plays through this Saturday, October 30 only — at The Bushwick Starr. Don’t miss it.
Check out today’s New York Times for their take on PL115′s Ring Cycle (through October 30 at The Bushwick Starr).
I’ll give you a hint… it’s awesome:
“This cheeky adaptation, by Dave Dalton, Jeremy Beck and the company, addresses Wagner’s agenda with remarkable sensitivity and insight.
…
The final scene, in which Wotan condemns his beloved daughter, the brassy tomboy Brünnhilde (Sara Buffamanti), transcends cheeky parody to achieve a genuinely haunting potency.”