An artistic-looking crowd assembled at YBCA Friday evening for the 1st of 2 performances of Meg Stuart's improvisational piece Auf Den Tisch! (At the Table!). The audience sits at & around a large conference table, which is the stage. At first it is unclear who are the performers. People took turns speaking into microphones at the table & describing the physical sensation of fear, then someone read a list that he got off the Internet while another performer struck poses. People changed into costumes & enacted compulsive or repetitive behaviors, though there was nothing I had not seen from years of riding the 22-Fillmore. One performer's role consisted of lounging around in his underwear while drinking a coke. 45 minutes in, I zoned out, so I don't know much about the remainder of the 90 minute show. At one point the musicians were so loud I covered my ears. Toward the end a performer threw candy from a piñata into the audience. My event companion would have liked a piece, but there was clearly not enough to go around. Walking to Market Street after the show, we fell into conversation with another attendee who knew a lot more about improvisational performance art. When I admitted that I had been bored, he explained that out of chaos can appear moments in which something happens. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. He then added, "But tonight there was no twice."§ Meg Stuart: Auf Den Tisch!
Meg Stuart, Keith Hennessy, Hahn Rowe, Jorge Rodolfo De Hoyos, Ivo Dimchev, Jennifer Lacey, Julie Phelps, Maria F. Scaroni, Julie Tolentino
March 25, 2011 8:00 pm
YBCA Forum
2 comments:
This sounds like hell. So is the 22-Fillmore at times, but at least you can get off.
The 22-Fillmore is a zoo, but it is never boring. There may have been more to the show, but at a certain point I simply stopped paying attention. That 3 minute post-show conversation made the outing worthwhile. This fellow also noted that the show only makes reference to itself, making it hard to see it as anything but trivially self-absorbed.
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