Performance Picks: Hitler’s Dog, Burlesque, and Three Festivals

This week and next: more performance festivals than you ever knew could happen at the same time. And plenty more to choose from.

FESTIVALS

PS122’s COIL Festival
Through Jan. 17, various times and various venues. Full programming, schedule, and tickets here. They may not have moved into their renovated East Village space yet, but that’s not stopping Performance Space 122 from presenting their contribution to APAP, the COIL Festival. Exploring the theme of transformation, they’ve hunkered down in venues all over, including La MaMa and Paradise Factory in the East Village and New Ohio Theater in the West Village. Offerings include Annie Dorsen’s live musical piece utilizing algorithms to slowly transform The Beatles’s Yesterday into Tomorrow (from the musical Annie) and Frank Boyd and the TEAM’s one-man live jazz radio show.

Under the Radar Festival

Through Jan. 17 at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., East Village. Various times. Full programming, schedule, and tickets here. 
The Public Theater (yes, the one where Hamilton started) and cabaret/concert space Joe’s Pub house a bevy of performances from artists across the globe, including South Asian trans performance duo Darkmatter and Toshiki Okada’s Japanese exploration of basketball, and Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble’s “ritual meditation” on toxic masculinity. Not only that, but they’ll also be offering several roundtable conversations and a pop-up library in partnership with Strand.

American Realness

Through January 17 at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand St., Lower East Side. Various times. Tickets are $20. Full programming, schedule, and tickets here. 
Lower East Side fixture Abrons Arts Center presents the seventh consecutive iteration of its festival centering around new dance and contemporary performance works. This time around, they’re showing works such as M. Lamar’s futuristic black metal opera, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko’s exploration of the black male body’s “erotic fear,” and Larissa Velez-Jackson and co. improvising and composing an entire sound and movement piece in real time. Also featuring engagements at MoMA PS1 and Gibney Dance Center.

THURSDAY

Take Care
Through January 25 at The Flea Theater, 41 White St., Tribeca. 9pm (Mondays at 7pm). Tickets are $15-35 and can be purchased here. 
Artistic Director Niegel Smith and Todd Shalom’s inventive production returns, with just as much audience participation as before. If the notion of participatory theater makes you queasy, know that the folks at Take Care have worked hard to craft an environment revolving around how people respond to a “vicious hurricane” of imminent danger, but one where you can choose just how much you participate, if at all. But, come on. It’s cold in those seats. Get up.

FRIDAY

Thank You For Everything
At House of Yes, 2 Wyckoff Ave., Bushwick. 10pm, free. More info here. 
What’s that? Something at House of Yes is free? That’s right, after the success of their opening weeks, the shiniest iteration yet of this performance and party space is throwing a shindig to say thanks for all the folks that have supported them. There’ll be performances aplenty, most likely the sort involving impressive aerial routines and dazzling costumes. And if you go, you must look at the bathrooms. They are truly works of art in themselves.

SATURDAY

HyperGender Burlesque: Winter Carnival
At the WOW Café Theater, 4th Floor of 59-91 E 4th St., East Village. 10pm. $15. More info here. 
There’s a bevy of burlesque shows to be found in the city, but few with such an intriguing name as HyperGender. Located in historic women-centric queer art space WOW Cafe Theater (initially founded by notable performance artists Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver), this burlesque cabaret takes on a wintry spin right as the weather begins to turn bitter again. Featuring HyperGender’s regular roster of performers and special guests Matt Knife, Dottie Dangerfield, and more.

SUNDAY

The Offending Gesture
Continues through January 23 at The Connelly Theater, 220 E 4th St., East Village. Tickets are $25 ($15 for students). 
In 1941, a businessman teaches his dog the Nazi salute. What could go wrong? I was lucky enough to see a workshop production of this new music-sprinkled Mac Wellman play about a year ago hosted by my university theater program. Even in that small black box setting, it carried an odd type of magic—full of absurd humor, several (human) dogs, and a chorus of feline beings singing Alaina Ferris’s beautiful score. Surely this production, produced by The Tank in apt association with 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center, will be even more of a treat. A dog treat, that is.