July 2, 2008
Collective: Unconscious Goes Under for Good
Well, that’s that. Four years after gentrification forced them to relocate from their longtime space on Ludlow Street to Tribeca, Collective: Unconscious, a hotbed for experimental theater and art, will close for good. The funky little theater was adept at connecting broke performers with broke audiences and letting the sparks fly with minimal risk. The lease on the Tribeca space, where they moved in 2004, is up at the end of the month, and per their publicist, “a massive plumbing problem has rendered its lower level 'lobby' and backstage storage area unusable,” forcing most of the upcoming UNDERGROUNDZERO FESTIVAL to seek new venues. And in retrospect, Tribeca might not have been the best place to turn for affordable rent.
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The last time I saw something here someone barfed on me. I later found out it was part of the show.
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Moved from LES to Tribeca because of gentrification? Am I missing something here?
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I'm sure the loft, shoe store, or tapas bar that will replace C:U will contribute greatly to the cultural life of the city.
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So sad. The Clinton years in NYC were good ones. Anyone remember Manifestations?
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Thank God.
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As a founding member of Collective: Unconscious I just wanted to chime in here and say that we are all incredibly grateful for the support that the community (artistic, freak and otherwise,) has given our art-hole over the years.
The evolution of C:U has always been a crazed mutation in one form or another. This particular change will, I hope, will foster our ability to support our own creative endeavors and projects while we bring our work to other great venues and organizations... maybe even get another space, who knows? New York's artistic community has been forged in struggle and change... it is the fuel that burns brightly and pushes us to make great work.
Please come to C:U next week to see some of the Underground:Zero Festival. An amazing production which I am honored to have been involved in creating, Charlie Victor Romeo (www.charlievictorromeo.com) is playing in the festival, Tuesday -> Friday at 7:30pm prior to leaving the US for a tour of the UK (including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.) I'd say that that energy that we bring to producing quality work which challenges audiences is where the energy needs to be now, space or not.
BTW, I was one of the folks that created Manifestations... thanks for the shout out! Someday it shall return.
Love, Peace and Chicken Grease,
Bob Berger
berger.cvr (@) gmail.com
www.charlivictorromeo.com
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As a co-founding member of Collective: Unconscious and current volunteer/ad hoc Executive Director I wanted to clarify a couple of points about C:U's closing.
Although C:U will cease to have a venue we will continue to support alternative theater and multi-disciplined work in all of it's manifestations! We will be working in partnership with venues around town to bring the public exactly what they have come to expect from us for the past 13 years and more.
The undergrounzero Festival is a perfect example of what you can expect from us in the future. We will be able to focus more on artists projects and bring you more exiting programming. Please come down and see some great theater this month and celebrate C:U's future.
Caterina Bartha
Co-Founding Director
Collective: Unconscious