Finally ripped it — from Performance Mix Festival, February 2009, Joyce Soho.

Enjoy!

Artifact @ Performance Mix Festival from Aya Ogawa on Vimeo.

Apologies for the long delay.

Thanks first to those who made it out to the PERFORMANCE MIX Festival!  It was great fun all around, and I will get around to posting a video of it soon.

Exciting announcement:  oph3lia has been nominated for a 2008 New York Innovative Theater Award for Best Ensemble!  Awards ceremony will take place on Septmber 21, 2009 — so stay tuned!  If you’d like to cast your vote for the show, visit this link!

Here’s a clip from a run-through at our last ARTIFACT rehearsal.

artifact rehearsal run thru from Aya Ogawa on Vimeo.

knife inc. will present a work-in-progress excerpt of ARTIFACT at New Dance Alliance’s PERFORMANCE MIX Festival on February 24 and 25.

knife inc. presents

ARTIFACT (work-in-progress excerpt)
written & directed by Aya Ogawa
video & lights by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
sound by Rich Kim
performed by Drae Campbell, Ryan Edwards, Ikuko Ikari, Joan Jubbett Bauer,
Eunjee Lee, Alanna Medlock, Jason Quarles, Sophia Remolde, Adam Rihacek

This movement piece combines video and sound design for an intimate journey through geography and memory.

presented as part of the PERFORMANCE MIX Festival
February 24 & 25 at 8PM
Joyce Soho
Tickets: $18 - small house, will sell out fast! Buy in advance!

I’m so glad you asked.

Aya will be in Spain for much of September for an international collaboration project produced by the New Project Group within the International Theater Institute. Read more about this and other of Aya’s travels and projects here.

knife, inc. will be presenting something (something not yet created?!) for the New Dance Alliance’s Performance MIX Festival in February 2009. Stay tuned for more info!

“extraordinary, astonishing, near-perfect masterpiece.” — Culturebot

“Compelling…Harrowing…Great theater.” — The New York Times

“A smart, beautiful, and touching production that is unpretentious and fun… Do not miss this show, and once you see it, tell everyone you know.” — NYtheatre.com

“airy…lovely…graceful… must not unwatch’d go.” — Time Out New York

“…a brilliant exploration of suspension–in time, in space, between words, and between bodies.” –Obscene Jester

“a riveting experience that succeeds because of its incredible imagery and its ability to access raw emotional territory.” –Back Stage

HERE Art Center and knife inc. present

oph3lia

Written & directed by

Aya Ogawa

An immigrant woman embarks on a mysterious journey through New York where she discovers that she can go through life without ever uttering a word.

In a Christian international school in China, where the students have formed their own hierarchies within the school walls, the arrival of a new teacher and a transfer student sends the fragile microcosm spinning.

Cultures clash in a theatre producer’s office: in the maddening mix of languages in the world of entertainment production, compromises of artistic integrity punctuate the struggle in the creation of ‘art,’ and the interpreter bears the brunt.

Dreams and reality converge in oph3lia, as Shakespeare’s Hamlet inspires a haunting collision of cultures, exploring different facets of Ophelia in contemporary contexts, interweaving three distinct stories that center on themes of isolation and disconnection.

Set and costume design

Clint Ramos

Lighting and video design

Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew

Sound design

Rich Kim

Music

Andy Gillis

Assistant Director

Joan Jubett

featuring:

Laura Butler, Drae Campbell, Dawn Eshelman, Connie Hall*, Ikuko Ikari,

Hana Kalinski, Eunjee Lee*, Mark Lindberg, Alanna Medlock, Jy Murphy*,

Jorge Alberto Rubio, Magin Schantz, Maureen Sebastian*

Stage Manager

Stacey Haggin*

*AEA member. Equity Approved Showcase.

____________________________________________

Remaining Showtimes

Mon. June 30@ 7:30pm

Tues. July 1 @ 7:30pm

Wed. July 2 @ 7:30pm

Post-show Discussions

June 26: Immigration - Stranger in a Strange Land

Directions

At HERE Arts Center – 145 6th Ave.

(between Spring & Broome, enter on Dominick)

Google Map

Tickets

www.here.org

212-352-3101

$18 / $15 with student ID

Links

* Listen to Director Aya Ogawa talk about the show on youtube!

* Interview with Aya on WPS1 Art Radio!

Before the show the actors come together in a tight huddle

and count to twenty.  One person for each number, and if two people say the same number, it’s back to one.

“Stunning… superb…” [read the original post here]

“Oph3lia pulled together so many things people talk about - globalization, technology, post-modern identity, art vs. commerce, alienation of modern society, the challenges of human interaction and intimacy, the search for connection and meaning - and wove them into this beautiful, heart-breaking, hilarious, world-unto-itself. You MUST GO SEE THIS SHOW! This show should travel around the world, playing at every international festival, at Shakespeare festivals, pretty much everywhere. I’m still reeling. I think I’m going to take a break from seeing shows for awhile because I don’t want to ruin the extraordinary feeling I have.”  Wow Andy… thank you.  Read the original post here.

It’s hard to believe that we are already past the half way point in the run. Today’s Sunday matinee was our 9th show out of 16! The second week of performances were surprising to me in their consistency. This group of actors never ceases to amaze me with its persistence, heart and sense of fun.

One of the highlights of the week was the special Gala performance on Thursday. It was great to have a really packed house, consisting mostly of friends and supporters. Kayoko and Nicole organized the whole she-bang afterwards, which was amazing — honestly I don’t know how they did it — the liquor donations, the food, the silent auction with fancy prizes. Also with the wonderful help of Joan, Melissa, Nancy and Tmonkey everything went smoothly. Here are some pics from the party.

Peter singing some of my favorite tunes. Hearing his voice was making me cry. Seriously.

Magin, Sophie and Pete in the foreground, Alanna, Jy and Melissa in the back.

And this was an amazing shot:

Ikuko and all the men who have played Hamlet opposite her in this process (from left to right, Mark, Peter, Aaron)! This was taken a split second before Ikuko understood what was going on and her brain exploded.

One of the favorite things I get to see before each show is when the actors huddle up just before places. This view gives me hope for humanity.

I’m looking forward to 7 more shows!