Ontological-Hysteric Incubator: “Vicious Dogs On Premises”.

The Incubator’s Summer Season began on May 29 with Witness Relocation’s Vicious Dogs on Premises, a playful, funny and extremely physical performance piece which will run until June 14th. On a pink set lined with fuchsia fake fur, 4 actors play a wild game of improvisations interspersed with carefully set and choreographed scenes. It’s a pleasure to watch the actors as they cover a wide range of performance styles: from intimate personal revelations (as people rather than as actors), to loud, expressive dancing, to more classical role playing, their bodies are constantly present and energized. (The performers are all alumni of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and their acting definitely reflects their strong training).

Vicious Dogs on Premises is something of a great improvisational act. Artistic director Dan Safer changes the order of the scenes every night, enjoying the spontaneity and excitement which this brings to the actors’ performances. Safer himself performs each night: in a little desk on the side of the pink stage, Witness Relocation’s artistic director dictates the beginning and end of each scene by using a bell. The actors frantically respond to him, running downstage every time he rings his bell in order to read what’s next on the evening’s play list. And the list encompasses all sorts of subjects: love, death, sex and violence, all make their appearance on the stage . As unexpected relationships develop among the characters, the scenes never last long enough to settle into them. And just when it looks like the evening will be a series of disconnected events and vignettes, a love story pops up, bringing the whole piece together into a (somewhat) more conventional narrative.

Vicious Dogs on Premises is a funny, playful and well directed piece, a meditation on the turmoil that comes about when faced with “too many choices”, a problem well reflected in the frantic energy of the performance. Don’t miss Witness Relocation’s wild and exciting physical theater, an auspicious beginning to the Incubator’s Summer Residencies.

Vicious Dogs on Premises

May 29–June 14
Tuesday, Thursday–Saturday, 8p.m.
Sunday, June 1, 8p.m.
Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 14, additional 10p.m. performances
Tickets: General $17/Student $12
Purchase in advance here or by calling 212-352-3101. Cash only at the door.
For more info on Witness Relocation: www.witnessrelocation.org