Staff Picks No. 95
Long Play Festival : Bang on a Can + tons more!
Various Venues Across Downtown Brooklyn
May 1st-4th 2025
From Thursday May 1 to Sunday May 4, at venues across Downtown Brooklyn (BAM, Roulette, Issue, BRIC, Irondale, Public Records, and more), pioneering New Music ensemble Bang on a Can presents their 4th annual Long Play Festival. Over 50 concerts celebrate sound, music, noise, and contemporary composition; a cornucopia of innovating musician working across experimental genres. Performers include luminaries like Kim Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Anthony Braxton, and Tim Hecker; national and international newer voices like Sophia Jani, Ben LaMar Gay, and Meara O’Reilly; and brilliant locals like JJJJJerome Ellis, Mary Halvorson, and Luke Stewart. It’s a feast! Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
Quantum Physique : Tiresias, Johanna Constantine, Fashion, Vile, Mizuho Kappa, Kennie Zhou, Vangeline, God Complex, Jarrett Key, Gage Spex, &&&&&
The Chocolate Factory
Saturday May 10th 2025
If you have not experienced a Tiresias show, expect music like a kaleidoscope and vibes like ocean waves. This next show, however, might have a different flair: it's an experimental performance art rave. HELLO! A number of artists will be there for the 10pm go, and if I wasn't at a baptism (it's own little rave, if you will), I'd be there, cause the event blurb says it all: "for those seeking embodied out-of-body experiences."
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Tiresias brings together experiences and worlds and beings like no person I have ever met. I am not really a party guy. I feel out of place at parties almost 100% of the time. But the events that are technically parties or raves or Bacchanals that Tiresias throws… I deeply enjoy. They are transformative and transportative.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Lobster : Kallan Dana, Hanna Yurfest, Emma Richmond, Needy Lover
The Tank
April 25th-May 17th 2025
If you saw "Racecar Racecar Racecar," you know that Kallan Dana's is a highly theatrical, time-bending voice. Such aesthetic looks like it is also on display in the new piece "Lobster," which combines pot smoking in the Chelsea Hotel, a fascination with Patti Smith, and, yes, crustaceans. I'm not sure what I'm in for, which is how I like to go into a play: if the blurb says it all, do I really need to go?
Staffer: Billy McEntee
A(U)NTS! : Julia Sirna Frest, Jehan O.Young, Megan Hill, and Zoë Geltman
The Brick Theater
May 8th-24th 2025
A(U)NTS! is finally here! A true dream team, if ever there was one… It is miraculous that these talented humans have all come together to be a(u)nts. If you are at all interested in feeling good, I recommend this show. If you are at all interested in the mysteries of middle age like I am, I recommend this show. If you think about ants a lot like I do, I recommend this show.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
I love a weird wacky vibe and what better way to begin the month of May than with a new work at the Brick? Ring in your spring with nature’s greatest miracles - A(U)NTS! I’ve seen Geltman perform so I am eager to see what her mind brings to us as a writer, especially in what seems like a raucous, spunky new work that taps into that sweet sweet creative flow by the mandibles. “A line of liberated ants marches in.” Sign me tf up.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Full stacked team:
Written by Zoë Geltman, Directed by Julia Sirna-Frest
Cast: Jehan O. Young, Megan Hill, Zoë Geltman
Set Design: Jiaying Zhang
Costume Design: Ásta Bennie Hostetter
Lighting Design: Megan Lang
Sound Design: Carsen Joenk
Puppet Design: Mark Fox
Stage Management: Sarah Samonte
Producer: Sarah Jones
In Scena : Pier Lorenzo Pisano, Lina Prosa, Fabio Banfo, and more
Various
May 4th-18th 2025
Despite living in a highly international city, I don't see enough theater that originates in countries other than England (thank goodness for Criminal Queerness Festival) or is performed in other languages — but In Scena! will change that for me. Celebrating its 12th year, this festival brings together new Italian works that perform across all five boroughs, so no matter where you are, a performance is near you. Put a more reductive way, when you're here, you're family.
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Everything You Have Is Yours : Tatyana Tenenbaum, Brighid Greene
DCTV
May 2nd-8th 2025
Beautiful dance film? At the iconic DCTV? Yes, please! There are conversations with the artists after. treats during, and, hot tip, ask for a tour of DCTV from one of the staff. It is SUCH a cool space with lots of interesting nooks and crannies.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister