US PREMIERE
Life in this House is Over
PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance, Pavilion Theater, 2980 Route 66, Chatham NY
Friday & Saturday, August 15—16 at 8 pm
Making its US premiere at PS21, Life in this House is Over is an original theater work from rising American interdisciplinary artist Samantha Shay.
An emotionally-charged, darkly funny, gut-punch of a piece, this large scale performance combines theater, music, and dance, which collide into each other in unexpected ways.
Inspired by the writing of Anton Chekhov, Life in this House is Over is a tragicomic work set at a funeral and a wake, entering a world beyond known logic to examine the social awkwardness, humor, and weirdness of grief.
The piece was developed at Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, where Shay was a guest artist & researcher. It features artists from two significant theatrical lineages: current and former artists of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch (including luminary Julie Shanahan, who returns to PS21) and the Polish Grotowski Institute theatre company, Teatr ZAR.
Life in this House is Over director Samantha Shay spoke to Chronogram to discuss the piece, how it came to be, and her inspirations.
“Probably the reason I became a director was seeing [Pina Bausch’s] work,” Shay reflects. “I thought I was going to be an actor, and I saw Pina Bausch and started making my own pieces.” Shay’s journey took her Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal, where the play was developed. Multiple of the company’s esteemed dancers will perform in the premiere at PS21.
The work is also heavily inspired by the writing of Chekhov, from which it derives its name. “He was writing at the precipice of tremendous change and uncertainty, which is what we find ourselves in,” Shay says. “He was predicting, in a way, revolution.”
CRELLIN PARK DAY
Crellin Park, 2940 Route 66, Chatham NY
Saturday, August 16, 3 pm. Free!
Join the international ensemble of Life in this House is Over for a free family-friendly performance of traditional polyphonic singing as part of Chatham’s annual Crellin Park Day. The ensemble features singers and performers from celebrated company Teatr ZAR, whose work emerged from expeditions collecting centuries-old polyphonic songs that have their roots in the beginning of the human era and are likely some of the oldest forms of polyphony in the world.
The performance will feature traditional songs from Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia, Croatia, and Corsica, as well as original and contemporary re-imaginings that appear in Life in this House is Over as never heard before.
Directly following the performance, the ensemble will teach the audience a traditional celebration song from Georgia and lead the crowd in a powerful collective rendition.