JANUARY 8-18, 2015, ABRONS ARTS CENTER

American Realness returns January 8-18, 2015, for its sixth consecutive season, kicking off the centennial anniversary of the historic Playhouse at the Abrons Arts Center. The 2015 program utilizes all three theater spaces at Abrons to construct a rich and rigorous program featuring three world premieres, four North American premieres, two New York premieres, two theatrical premieres, one avant-premiere and eight encore engagements for a total of sixty-three performances of twenty-three productions over eleven days. In addition, American Realness includes one off-site engagement presented by Gibney Dance at the Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center at 280 Broadway.

Featuring artists from across the US with a concentration of New York makers and a small selection of international artists, American Realness offers audiences local, national, and international perspectives on the complicated and wondrous world we inhabit. Through visceral, visual, and text-based explorations of perception, sensation and attention, artists expose issues and questions around identity, form, ritual, death, history, pop-culture, cooperation and the professionalization of art making in an American-focused, globally-minded context.

American Realness 2015 presents:
Three World Premieres:
• Keith Hennessy, Bear/Skin
• Jack Ferver, Night Light Bright Light
• Miguel Gutierrez, Age & Beauty Part 2: Asian Beauty @ the Werq Meeting or The Choreographer & Her Muse or &:@&

Four North American Premieres:
• Florentina Holzinger & Vincent Riebeek, Kein Applaus für Scheisse
• Jeremy Wade, Death Asshole Rave Video
• Ivo Dimchev, Fest
• Neal Medlyn, Pop-Star Series, The 2015 Emerald Edition: The Lionel Richie Opera + Coming in the Air Tonight, Unpronounceable Symbol, …Her’s a Queen, Brave New Girl, Wicked Clown Love, King

Two New York Premieres:
• Tere O’Connor, Sister
• Michelle Ellsworth, Preparation for the Obsolescence of the Y Chromosome

Two Theatrical Premieres:
• luciana achugar, OTRO TEATRO: The Pleasure Project
• Tere O’Connor, Undersweet

One Avant-Premiere:
• Simone Aughterlony, Antonija Livingstone, & Hahn Rowe, Supernatural

Eight Encore Engagements:
• Miguel Gutierrez, Age & Beauty Part 1: Mid-Career Artist/Suicide Note or &:-/
• Karen Sherman, One with Others
• Cynthia Hopkins, A Living Documentary
• The Ballez, Variations on Virtuosity, a Gala Performance with the Stars of The Ballez
• Liz Santoro & Pierre Godard, Relative Collider
• My Barbarian, The Mother and Other Plays
• Dynasty Handbag, Soggy Glasses, A Homo’s Odyssey

Additional events include:
• A Movement Research writing workshop with Claudia La Rocco titled To Whom It May Concern.
• Members of the House Reception: Kick off the festival with a Champaign toast for “Members of the House” aka American Realness 2015 Kickstarter backers. Pledge at least $25 to the AR2015 Kickstarter
campaign to attend.

• Kiki with the House of Realness: American Realness joins forces with Zurich-based party KUNT and New York Party Impresario Susanne Barscht for a blow-out festival party with a Swiss focus. The event will feature performances from Swiss artists Marie-Caroline Hominal, Daniel Hellmann, Emma Murray,
Kiriakos Hadjiioannou, and Alexandra Bachzetsis with additional performances from NYC nightlife.