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Live Arts Exchange Performance Festival at Bootleg
By Reza Vojdani
An Evening with William Shatner Astrerick (Photo by Ilan Bachrach
The Live Arts Exchange (LAX), produced by Los Angeles Performance Practice and the Bootleg Theater, brings together a collection of unconventional work from artists both within and outside the LA theater community. Amongst the various artistic styles, genres, and mediums making their way onstage, the backstories and inspirations of the pieces paint a colorful portrait of the experiences and thought processes behind the innovative artists and performers. Far from the grips of traditional theatrical four-wall structure, the pieces’ idiosyncrasies and themes provide new angles from which to approach tried and true topics; certain to intrigue the average theatergoer if not inspire. The festival opened Sept 16 and runs through this weekend. Here’s a preview of what’s still up and running. All events are at Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd., LA. Tickets for all events https://liveartsexchange.org/tickets/
An Evening with William Shatner Asterisk:
Despite initial reactions from the title, An Evening with William Shatner Asterisk’s creator and director Phil Soltanoff says the piece’s “sci-fi inspirations are zilch.” Instead, Soltanoff characterizes the piece as a spin on the theatrical one-man show using over 6000 video samples of William Shatner playing Captain Kirk from the original Star Trek series. The choice to use Shatner’s performances, Soltanoff explained, was made due to Shatner’s proliferation in society rather than the subject of the TV series; Shatner provides a familiar face to help the audience navigate the more unusual cadence and presentation of the more existentially focused script, written by Joe Diebes.
Fri., Sept. 19, 8 p.m.; Sat., Sept 20, 4 p.m.; Sun., Sept 21, 7 p.m.
Dedicated to a True Lover (and therefore probably nobody):
Dedicated . . . (Photo by Amanda Shank)
Dedicated to a True Lover (and therefore probably nobody) brings together onstage themes of introspection and reflection and the film work of German director Rainier Werner Fassbinder. Inspired by her work on a production on one of Fassbinder’s plays, director Zoe Aja Moore sees the piece as both a response of Fassbinder’s introspective work and as an exploration of how artists as a whole reflect on and respond to art on a personal level. With the inclusion of audience participation as an additional layer of response, Moore feels that the piece provides an opportunity for both the artists and audience to consider the role of identity in performance art.
Sat., Sept. 20, 8 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 21, 4 p.m.
Dedicated . . . (Photo by Amanda Shank)
Sleighting:
Sleighting (Photo by Rachel Ho)
Perhaps the most technical show of the festival, Sleighting is director Rachel Ho’s first foray into live performance. Coming from a background of computer animation, Ho says that the piece is meant to show the potential of how developing technology may change the nature of live performance. Rather than focusing on the carefully, pre-rendered animation sequences as seen in movies, Ho’s work looks to show the capabilities of technology for real time improvisation, giving performers and artists a new level of visual liberty and creativity to work with. Ho notes that her interests focus less on advancement of current tech, but rather new creative implementations for it.
Sat Sept. 20, 3 , 9 and 10 p.m.
Seighting (Photo by Rachel Ho)
