The 11th Dimension

Produced by ETdC Projects' Lab in association with Roi Escudero & Valentin Ewan

Designed and Directed by Roi Escudero

Nomination: Outstanding Performance Art Production

About ETdC Projects' Lab

ETdC Projects' Lab was founded by conceptual performance artist Roi Escudero creates post-modern immersive works for the stage. Their immersive dramatic spectacles and postmodern performance-artwork is inspired by cultural storytellers and the mystique of the fantastic and vérité. Hand-make the visual elements: sets, costumes, masks and life-sized body puppet characters, utilizing recycled materials and found objects as well as multimedia video are hallmarks of ETdC Projects’ productions and used to exaggerate everyday reality and blend together fantasy, magic, myth and natural phenomena.

Photos by James Ewan

About The 11th Dimension

“Sometimes to get to paradise you have to journey through hell.” Through their travels across space and time, the existential heroic beings of light, the Bubulinos, struggle with the ephemeral and physical troubles of mankind’s present, striving to keep their “divine child” pure. In their quest to rescue the Bird of Truth, the Bubulinos guided by Antonin Artaud, traverse The Inferno of today’s world and arrive to the true paradise of life. The 11th DIMENSION is a post-modern vérité tale inspired by The Theory of Everything, Antonin Artaud, Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of “a body without organs”, and Dante’s 9 Circles of Hell. It was created for the stage by award winning conceptual-performance artist Roi Escudero. This performance-art piece blends magic realism and surreal humor with a persuasive visual art collage containing nostalgic music hits. Roi uses her background in visual arts and theatre to create immersive works on stage.

What first attracted you to this subject matter?

Roi: I was challenged by Artaud’s words: “No one has ever written, painted, sculpted, modeled, built, or invented except literally to get out of hell.” His words inspired me to create a performance-art piece merging Artaud’s brilliant madness with Dante and his Divina Comedia.

What was your favorite part of working on this project?

Roi: Enjoying a space to rehearse thanks to the generosity of The LIT fund and The Times Center NYC, and experimenting and collaborating with other artists in the creative process.

What was the most challenging aspect of this experience for you?

Roi: Merging my Bubulinos contemporary vérité tales with the brilliant madness of Artaud and the poetic universe of Dante was a strong effort of knowledge that challenged my imagination.

What did you want the audience to take away from your piece?

Roi: I hope that they leave the theatre with questions and a heart in peace, with space for love, sensibility and tolerance.

What was it like to work with this company of artists?

Roi: I love sharing this nomination with my phenomenal co-producer Valentin Ewan and the talented artists at ETdC Projects’ Lab, our guests and sponsors. Each one of them were precious in the creative process and production of The 11th DIMENSION: Ioan Ardelean, John Cencio Burgos, Lia Barcellona Tamborra, Richard Stevens, Ruben Celiberti, Jack Placidi, Cesar Valderrama, Antonio Miniño, David Stalling, James Ewan, Horacio Gerpe, Karina Alexander, Carter O'Brien Ford, Gabe Garcia, Shennie Shaw, Dinyasia Crum, Sean Phillips, and Patrons of the Arts Joan and Frederick Nicholas, founder and former Chairman of the Board of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Los Angeles, CA. Much thanks also to: The Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation, The Indie Theater Fund, The League of Independent Theater, The Times Center and Planet Connections. IATI Theater, Erez Ziv, FRIGID New York, Marcina Zaccaria, Randi Berry and Patricia Herrera-Latin-Media. Gracias IT Awards! Merci Artaud and Grazie Dante.

What does receiving this nomination mean to you?

Roi: This nomination means a lot to me, “toda una vida de trabajo”. Thank you IT Awards for recognizing performance-art for the stage as a “whole.” Performance-art is an achievement of my lifetime. My work is a platform for other artists to collaborate and experiment with imagination. I dedicate this nomination to the Dreamers. I know by experience that it is not easy to achieve the American Dream. As an immigrant and as a citizen, I love the Americas from South to North. Muchas gracias IT Awards for the nomination!

MEET THE 2019 NOMINEES: Arkham

Radiotheatre's 10th Annual H.P.Lovecraft Festival: Arkham
Written, directed, and sound designed by Dan Bianchi
Presented by Radiotheatre in association with Theatre At St.John's

Starring Frank Zilinyi, R. Patrick Alberty, Alejandro L. Cardozo, Sarah Gwynne Walker, Joshua Nicholson.

PRODUCERS
Pastor Mark Erson (Theatre At St.John's, Co-producer)
Dan Bianchi (Radiotheatre, Artistic Director/Co-producer)

CREW
Wes Shippee (Tech Director)

NOMINATED FOR: Outstanding Performance Art Production

PHOTO: Cynthia Bianchi

About the Show
Each year Radiotheatre presents a festival of their own adaptations of terror tales by H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) whom Stephen King calls "the Grand Master of 20th Century American Horror" and whose works have gone on to inspire hundreds of artists, writers, filmmakers, game makers around the world to this day (2018's Best Picture and Best Director Oscars went to THE SHAPE OF WATER - a direct descendant of Lovecraftian Horror by Guillermo Del Toro, a Lovecraft fanatic).

What attracted you to working on this project?
Radiotheatre , a unique live audio theater complete with great storytellers, original orchestral scores using Hollywood software and award winning sound design is unlike any other theater company in NYC. It is perhaps best suited to present the weird works of H.P.Lovecraft in its unique format than any other medium...including $200 mil movies.

What was your favorite part of working on this production? And why?
Challenging the audience to use their own imaginations to provide the visuals rather than offer them whatever the director decides is best to view. RT is as simple as sitting around a campfire in the dark telling tales...yet, in today's world of expensive theater and films, it offers something none of those can deliver...asking the audience itself to participate. So, when the audience stands and cheers at each curtain and remains for a half-hour praising the work of the actors and crew, it is unlike most other low budget productions I've seen.

What do you want the audience to come away with after watching your production?
The audience left each evening smiling and cheering and thanking the artists for allowing them this unique experience they don't get at other shows.

PHOTO: Cynthia Bianchi

Why are the nominees from this production awesome?
The core group at Radiotheatre has been together for 15 yrs and the rest have been here for 4-5 yrs. Everything works like clockwork, new or old works. Truly a family atmosphere.

Was there anything odd, quirky, innovative, funny or otherwise noteworthy about your experience with this production?
We are often asked to perform at the big H.P.Lovecraft NECRONOMICON in Providence RI (His hometown) and the attendees over the week cannot believe our shows. However, our fog set off the alarms last year and the whole audience was asked to stand in the rain while the FD cleared the space. Yet, all 400 people re-entered to see the show afterwards.

What does this nomination mean to you?
NYIT is our awards for our work in OFF OFF Broadway which is our home for those of us who don't intend to bring our unique artistry to Broadway and Beyond, etc. Radiotheatre began when NYIT Awards began and has received many noms and awards and recognition and we are always grateful to them!

MEET THE 2019 NOMINEES: Befuddled 101

Befuddled! Or, 101 Reasons to Thank Your God for Donald J Trump, Vladimir J Putin, and My Dad Who's a Dick!
Written and Directed by Rob Reese

Presented by Amnesia Wars Productions

Rodney Umble as The Monologist

Lexi Orphanos as The Stage Manager

Monica Furman as The Russian Translator

NOMINATED FOR: Outstanding Performance Art Production

Photos by Rob Reese

L-R: Monica Forman, Rodney Umble, Lexi Orphanos

ABOUT THE SHOW

Monologist Max Silver is jolted from his mundane existence into a schizophrenic Max Headroom style dystopia. An immediate intersection of his parental resentments, his painful breakup, a deficient understanding of American politics, Russian history, artistic manifestos, and every bit of media he’s ever consumed result in a hilariously failed journey of self-discovery.

A manic, multi-media event featuring vodka shots, vaudeville dance, slapstick and wholesale theft from established artists.

Join Max as he endures breakneck cue-calling and biting criticism by his antagonistic Stage Manager Laventry Beria, and incomprehensible heckling by Ivan The Translator.

INTERVIEW WITH ROB REESE, PRODUCER

What attracted you to working on this project?

After touring through much of eastern Europe with The Wooster Group, Piloblous Dance, and other companies I became fascinated with the effects of Communism and dictatorships on peoples' lives. The piece that resulted is an expression of those ideas through my own biographical filter.

What was your favorite part of working on this production? And why?

The incredibly creative collaboration from the performers is what made this piece stand out. Their individual artistic visions and playful professionalism were fundamental to this process.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production? And why?

The performer (Lexi Orhpanos) embodying the 'role' of the Stage Manager was not only performing her character, but was actually firing the tech of the exhibition as a real Stage Manager would. This is >100 cues on several different machines interactively displaying video, audio, and lighting cues.

What do you want the audience to come away with after watching your production?

Confusion! Any entrenched opinion an audience member has about any of the topics addressed in our exhibition should have at least been shaken.

Why are the nominees from this production awesome?

They are talented, engaging artists who also couldn't be nicer, smarter, or easier to work with.

Was there anything odd, quirky, innovative, funny or otherwise noteworthy about your experience with this production?

Almost nothing about this show wasn't odd, quirky, innovative, or funny. I'm sorry the honest answer is the least press-worthy.

What does this nomination mean to you?

Amnesia Wars has been doing Comedy and Theater for >20 years and Performance art for merely 3. This nomination gives us some level of "credential" in performance art.