Brigham Young University’s Department of Theatre and Media Arts in conjunction with the Laycock Center for Creativity and Collaboration will present its debut season of the OFF THE MAP art festival, a collection of three non-traditional theatre performances, Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 23-25, in the Harris Fine Arts Center.
Tickets to all performances are $10, with a $4 discount for BYU students and employees for Thursday. A package deal is available that includes all three shows at a discount price of $18 for Thursday and $27 for Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available through the Marriott Center Ticket Office, (801) 422-2981, or at byutickets.com.
OFF THE MAP features non-traditional theatre from three professional, international (Australia, England, Iran) theatre companies. Mime, physical theatre, puppetry, live animation, music, media, solo performance and devised theatre take center stage in these intimate and thought-provoking productions.
“The idea for OFF THE MAP has been germinating in my mind for the last several years,” said BYU arts administrator Jeffrey Martin. “As I’ve traveled near and far, I’ve been fortunate to be able to experience a wide range of contemporary work by theatre-makers from all corners of the globe. I have wondered how and when I might bring a small sampling of some of the incredible international work taking place in the other regions of the world to our students at BYU and the many theatre-lovers in Utah Valley and beyond.”
OFF THE MAP is comprised of three productions:
- “The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer,” from the Last Great Hunt (Australia) theatre company, is a multi-award-winning one-man micro-epic puppet show melds technology and multimedia into a touching story of enduring love and the end of the world. The play employs a unique blend of mime, puppetry, live and recorded music, and live animation to present an exploration of the next and oldest frontier: the deep blue sea. The performance is in the Nelke Theatre at 6 p.m. Jan. 23-25, with an additional showing at 2:40 p.m. Jan. 25.
- “Translunar Paradise,” from the U.S. Premier (England) theatre company, features live accordion accompaniment. This exquisite piece of mask and movement theatre – a poignant tale of life and death told without words – debuted to critical acclaimed and sellout crowds at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The performance is in the Pardoe Theatre at 7:20 p.m. Jan. 23-25, with an additional showing at 1 p.m. Jan. 25.
- “Hamlet, Prince of Grief,” from the Leev Theater Group (Iran), uses household objects and children’s toys to play out a domestic and political history of betrayal and death. Shakespeare’s tragic hero comes to terms with his violent fate through an obsessive retelling of the moments preceding the tragedy. “Hamlet, Prince of Grief” is performed in Farsi with English supertitles. The performance is in the Margetts Theatre at 9 p.m. Jan. 23-25, with an additional showing at 4 p.m. Jan. 25.
For more information, contact Jeffrey Martin, (801) 422-6340, jeff_martin@byu.edu.
Writer: Brett Lee
