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Showcase seeks to push theater
away from the 'tyranny of text' QuestFest 2006 Members of Pilobolus Too demonstrate a very physical approach
to modern theater as they kick off “QuestFest Baltimore” Jan.
12-15 at Towson University’s Mainstage Theatre.So-called "visual
theater" might not yet be the most widely known among
the new genres of art. But it's definitely going to get a big
spotlight in Baltimore over the next two weekends via an ambitious
two-week arts celebration called "Ques tFest Baltimore." The event will showcase 11 separate acts specializing in theater based more on movement than language. If it all sounds impossibly artsy and non-commercial, remember forerunners in the field such as Cirque du Soleil and the Flying Karamazov Brothers. The festival is a production of the Lanham-based, nonprofit group Quest Arts for Everyone, which reaches out to form partnerships with groups of disabled persons, especially in the deaf community. According to festival director Paul Harrelson, the latest lineup of performers should appeal to an array of audiences. "For theses performances, we're bringing together people from a variety of communities and backgrounds," Harrelson says. "One of the things we saw was that people working in visual theater needed a whole venue to showcase their work." Featured acts will run the gamut from clowns to acrobatic dance troupes to burlesque performers. The one thing they all have in common, says Harrelson, is that they're all storytellers who don't rely on words. Many of the acts mix music, multimedia and elements of dance to come up with something new, Harrelson explains. "We define visual theater as theater in which movement is the central organizing principal," he says. "In the work that we do, we want an audience to go into a piece, watch it, and be able to understand it without language. "There really is a tyranny of the text," he continues. "In theater training programs around the country, it's all still very text-based. In Europe, movement theater - meaning theater in which you don't have to know the language in which it's presented - is more accepted because of the close proximity of all the languages to one another." Different stages The festival will be staged at three venues: Towson University, the Theatre Project and the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. Kicking things off will be Pilobolus Too, an offshoot of the internationally renowned Pilobolus Dance Theatre. The tr oupe can be seen at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 12-14 and 15, Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., in Towson University's Mainstage Theatre. An in-house Quest production called "Mosaic" can be seen Jan. 12 and 14 at 8 p.m., Jan. 13 at 10 a.m., and Jan 15 at 1 p.m., in Towson's New Studio Theatre. It's billed as an exploration of individuals forced to conform to the boundaries set by society. Quest will also be presenting two other homegrown productions. "Rivers" will blend classical Indian dance and American sign language in its story about an Indian poet. It can be seen Jan. 19 at 10 a.m., Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 21 -22 at 4 p.m., in Towson University's New Studio Theatre. Quest will also premiere a production featuring "physical performers" Eric Beatty, Willy Conley and Mark Jaster called "Lost & Clown'd." The show, which Harrelson says will mix mime and clowning, will run Jan. 19 at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., Jan 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 22 at 3 p.m., in To wson University's Mainstage Theatre. The Theatre Project will host the Australian performer known as Asphyxia, Thursday to Saturday, Jan. 12 to 14 and 19 to 21, and Sundays Jan. 15 and 22 at 3 p.m. The deaf performer will give a Baltimore premiere of "Blood Makes Noise," her story about a deaf woman and the woman's budding romance with a hearing man. On the bill with "Blood Makes Noise" will be a production by Massachusetts' Chimaera Physical Theatre called, "Into the Night." The show, which is getting its Maryland premiere, looks into the lives of two characters and their capacity to love. Singapore-born artist Ramesh Meyyappan's adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Masque of Red Death" get a U.S. premiere Friday, Jan. 13 at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m., at the Creative Alliance. Meyyappan will also premiere "This Side Up," which explores how people deal with urban sprawl. It can be seen Jan. 19 and 21 at 8 p.m., Jan. 20 at 10 a. m., and Jan .22 at 1 p.m. Towson University faculty member Naoko Maeshiba and Japanese movement performer Tatsuya Aoyagi will give a local premiere of their politically charged show, "Remains of Shadow," which tells of the unintended consequences of cultural exchange between the United States and Japan in the early 1900s. It can be seen Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 15 and 16 at 4 p.m., in Towson University's New Studio Theatre. The festival closes with a three-act production put together by Megan Hamilton of Baltimore's Creative Alliance. Called "Serious + Hilarious," it will feature local burlesque performer Trixie Little, the children's troupe Nicolo Whimsey and "aerialist actor" Mara Neimanis. The show will be staged Saturday, Jan. 21, 8 p.m., at the Creative Alliance. While visual theater doesn't have the same following as those of the classical art forms of theater and dance, Harrelson says watching it can offer an experience audiences won't get from other genres. "It's a theater that really touches the heart," he says. "When I'm watching these pieces, I sort of get into this Zen-like trance state, and the performance seems to wash over me in a way that spoken language doesn't." QuestFest performances will be held Jan. 12-22. A discussion about the viability of visual theater will take place Jan. 15, 1 p.m., at Towson University. Tickets to performances run $10-$20. Call 410-539-3091 or 410-704-ARTS, or visit: www.questfest.org.
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