Saturday, February 23, 2019

A Simple Space: Gravity and Other Myths. Feb. 22, 2019

The best thing about the performance of Gravity and Other Myths was the theatre.  The New Victory Theatre on 42nd was built in 1900 and has served multiple purposes; I watched movies there in the 1970's when it was a grungy grindhouse, charging $.85 for a double-bill at 8 A.M.  The theatre has been beautifully restored, keeping most of the original, as a 499-seat off-Broadway house specializing in children-related programming.

A Simple Space, with five "co-directors," was mostly people (two women and five men) standing on each other's heads and swinging each other around, i.e., circus acrobatics with minimal props (no trapeze or trampoline).  There was some phony theatrical competition:  holding one's breath the longest or doing a handstand the longest while the audience threw balls at the performers.  I think my seven-year-old daughter liked it because it was relatively simple and uncomplicated and at the same time something of a circus act that she would never do herself. I didn't care for it much because it was superficial and lacking in resonance; there was some live drumming included that didn't add much to the experience.

I will say that the tickets were relatively inexpensive ($22 for a excellent view) for a venture into something unknown, the theatre personnel were friendly and helpful, there was an elevator to the mezzanine and the gift shop was imaginatively stocked with reasonably-priced items. 

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