One of NYC's best theater festivals may be missing one of its most anticipated productions next month. The Under the Radar Festival—which brings groundbreaking shows from around the world to NYC for a whirlwind 11 day alt-theater overload—has booked the Belarus Free Theater to perform their acclaimed production Being Harold Pinter. (Tom Stoppard said the show "knocked me out.") But there's a slight problem. The government of Belarus, widely regarded in the west as a vile dictatorship, has driven the theater company underground as part of a crackdown on protests against a fraudulent election. more ›

Now celebrating its sixth birthday, the Under the Radar Festival has quickly grown up to become the most thrilling theatrical event of the year. Curated by former PS 122 director Mark Russell, a man with impeccable taste and ultra-long artistic antennae, Under the Radar gathers genre-bending performers from around the world for a twelve day envelope-pushing extravaganza. Tickets are cheap ($15), so it's worth sampling as many of these productions as you can, because most of them will never return. (This year Under the Radar is also giving New Yorkers a chance to catch some recent hits they may have missed, with work from command performances from such innovative companies as Jollyship the Whiz-Bang, The National Theater of the United States of America, and Pig Iron.) more ›

For thoughts on four other Under the Radar productions (Tim Crouch's site-specific England; Pan Pan Theatre's The Crumb Trail; Kassys's LIGA, 50% reward & 50% punishment; Reggie Watts's Transition) click on the above images. more ›

Disinformation is not an easy show to describe, which is a good thing. The first to note is that Reggie Watts, the show’s mad theatrical scientist with Sideshow Bob hair, is one wickedly funny man. In Disinformation he’s supported by a quartet of tireless performers as he coaxes the absurdity out of the corporate bromides, 2012 eschatology, gangsta rap posturing, and commercialized sex that litter the post-modern landscape. Watts prods his subjects obliquely while relating some wildly fantastic stories about secret underground grottos and science fiction camouflage suits like those found in Predator. Mixed with these hilarious monologues, he’s produced a series of bemusing promotional videos for a friendly/sinister corporation called Carnaidesai, a company with a vague purpose but one portentous mission statement: “There’s not much future left, but we’re using all of it!” more ›

The Under the Radar festival of cutting edge international theater, curated by former P.S. 122 artistic director Mark Russell, continues through next weekend. Here’s a brief rundown of three shows seen so far. more ›

THEATER: Over the summer the Belarusian Free Theater was arrested, along with their audience, during a performance of their play Being Harold Pinter, which uses Pinter’s magnificent Nobel Prize acceptance speech as a springboard for theatrical dissent, something the Belarus police state isn't really so into. (For that reason, the company’s performances are normally held secretly in alternating private apartments.) Unable to bring the entire production to New York for his Under the Radar festival, Artistic Director Mark Russell instead invited journalist/playwright Nikolai Khalezin (pictured) to present Generation Jeans, his solo show with DJ; it’s a semi-autobiographical account of a freedom fighter and the beginning of the “Jeans Revolution.” – John Del Signore more ›

In 2004, Mark Russell resigned from his position as Artistic Director of P.S. 122 after more than two decades spent developing the theater into a mecca for wildly adventurous performance art. And he hasn't looked back; in addition to serving as Artistic Director for Portland's Time Based Art Festival, Russell has remained a major force in New York with his Under the Radar Festival, now in its fourth year and headquartered at the Public Theater. The event draws performers and audiences from around the world for what has arguably become the most exciting theater festival in New York City, a town lousy with them. Russell's impeccable taste is integral to Under the Radar's success; as Eric Bogosian – who got his start at P.S. 122 in the 80s – puts it: "Russell is a genius at finding the awkward new stuff, the gems and diamonds no one's noticed yet. If the 'artist is the antenna of the race,' then Mark is the antenna of the antenna." more ›

Starting tonight, the Under the Radar Festival of new theater will be cleared for take-off. The three-year-old festival is produced by indie theater impresario Mark Russell, who, as Executive Artistic Director of P.S. 122 for over two decades, nurtured the venue into the alt-performance epicenter it is today. more ›