The seven-week festival of works from emerging and established artists is presented by the Soho Think Tank under the artistic direction of Robert Lyons. Ice Factory 2008 continues through Aug. 23 at the Ohio Theatre in Soho.
Here's a look at the 2008 Ice Factory Festival offerings:
July 9-12
Written by Karinne Keithley and directed by Maria Goyanes
"In a landscape of lost love and modern loneliness a company of strangers map a tentative journey towards just letting go. A guided tour of the memory palace. A theatrical/music composition, from simple counterpoint voices to freestanding opera. Indoor environmental theatre in four movements."
July 16-19
Written and directed by Lenora Champagne
Music by Daniel Levi
Video by Lauren Petty and Shaun Irons
Production design by Liz Prince
"Lost traditions. Memory gaps. Lessons forgotten. Action and images shift in the mind of a woman with Alzheimer's, flickering from past to present, from her daughter's home to the nursing home. Who are we when we can't remember? An intergenerational meditation on the fluid nature of identity and our national inability to remember history."
July 23-26
Written by Neil Young Presented by Undermain Theatre
Adapted for the stage by Bruce DuBose and directed by Katherine Owens
"This song cycle, by legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young, has been compared to Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Sherwood Anderson's 'Winesberg Ohio' as a portrait of the changing face of small town America. Performed with a live band and sung by an ensemble cast, Neil Young's Greendale explores the lives of three generations of the Green family through themes ranging from corruption to mass media consolidation to environmentalism."
July 30–Aug. 2
Presented by El Gato Teatro
Written by Obie winner Matthew Maher and directed by Gabriella Barnstone
Featuring Steven Rattazzi
"Heistman is stuck inside the bank he is robbing with his henchmen, inside his own tortured head and inside the feeling he can never have success or love. The cops have the joint surrounded and have no answers. But the hostages do. 'Dog Day Afternoon' meets 'The Unabomber Manifesto.' Dance/theatre for visionaries, the weak at heart and the pleasure-seekers alike."
Aug. 6–9
Written by Robert Lyons and directed by Oliver Butler
"His daughter doesn't need him. His wife might leave him. His newspaper vender just might kill him. A gambler's darkly comic, spiraling descent into a paranoid mythology of power-point presentations and hostage videos. Can Thomas Jefferson save the day?"
Aug. 13–16
Presented by Sponsored by Nobody
Created by the ensemble and directed by Kevin Doyle
"A large-scale deconstruction of our culture's preoccupations. Incorporates elements of theatre, dance, film, music and installation art. Structured around the events of a single date (January 8, 2004), using found texts as a base to examine Americans' relationship with their media during wartime. A titanic attempt to rediscover the nation's soul."
Aug. 20–23
Presented by Riot Group
Written and directed by Adriano Shaplin
"Rival father/daughter news anchors compete for ratings in a head-to-head prime-time showdown. Their vicious battle for supremacy becomes a national drama as sex scandals, terrorism and dementia threaten their careers. A wicked satire about heredity and corruption among media royalty. Faithlessly adapted from King Lear this New York debut is fresh off of heralded stops in Edinburgh and London." The Ice Factory Festival performs Wednesday-Saturday at 7 PM. Tickets, priced $15, are available by phoning (212) 868-4444 or by visiting SmartTix.com. For further information visit SohoThinkTank.org.
The Ohio Theatre is located at 66 Wooster Street in Manhattan.
