our facebook pages have been disabled. both. so we are going to attempt to use our blog pages (there are 2) to communicate with all you people. ps. we luv you and have some wonderful photos from norway to share with you. here is a nice review of our cinderella show at issue project room.
I saw Ann Liv Young for the first time on Saturday night in Cinderella, and here are a few reflections:- For me, the best part of Cinderella was how Cinderella/Sherry/Ann's provocations managed to make the audience the source of the performance's content and mythology. This was more true of her verbal interactions with individual audience members than the well-publicized poop, which in the end became (again, for me) part of the background. That's not to say it was gratuitous, far from it - it actually succeeded in creating a special bond between the audience. I'd suggest this falls in the category of performance events that are impossible to understand unless you were there, and open to the experience (as soon as you try and describe them, they become laughable, which isn't at all the effect they have in real time).- the most affecting part of the performance for me was later on when Cinderella/Sherry/Ann, after a rough early verbal encounter, re-engaged with a man who had been somewhat critical of the performance, and managed to draw out his inner quest to emerge from the shadow of his father - a dramatic situation that has resonated with us since the time of Oedipus and before. Then, a female friend who had crossed the space to comfort the man who was bravely opening up before us was then confronted by Cinderella/Sherry/Ann in her turn. It turned out that the woman friend was shortly to be married in circumstances which, under the laser sharp scrutiny of our hostess, she appeared to be alternately ecstatic and defensive about. In these two quests - the man in a mortal struggle to break free of his father, the woman blanching at the enormity of her pending sacred union - I found more mythological resonance than in dozens of performances I've seen previously.- If I were to hazard a guess at the message of the performance I saw, it was "work hard to be yourself, freedom must be earned but you must be free." Which I found rather refreshing in a time when so many around us seem intent on telling us what to think, and there's a real danger of losing ourselves if we listen without questioning. It's also quintessentially American.@ Diane from Santa Fe- The New York Times is not the best place to look if you want to understand what she's about. The paper made an editorial decision years ago to concentrate its available resources on an uptown and film/media centric point of view. As a result, the NYT now lacks a viable context for truly throwing light on downtown artists like Ann Liv Young - who, moreover, makes the affirmation of the power of the individual over the power of institutions like the New York Times an essential element of her performance. While I understand why the Times did this - and continue to appreciate and enjoy insights from the likes of Tommassini and Kimmelman - Macauley really does not strike me as the right choice of reviewer for this artist.
