The Shorebound Swim With A One Click Kick – It’s A Tough Swim, But Worth It (FRIGID New York 2011)

Stephen Tortora-Lee — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:47:29 +0000

The Shorebound Swim with a One Click Kick

Have you ever had one of those dreams? Where you’re having one crazy twist after another, and you can’t wait to see what will happen next… and then you wake up confused not sure what it meant and it even might fade away soon after waking, but it leaves these potentialities of ideas buzzing in your head the rest of the day? The Shorebound Swim With a One Click Kick: A Tragedy of Reason (Written by Markus Paminger & Directed by Alison Carroll) is an awful lot like that. Very enticing, but left intentionally vague, I think, so that you can believe whichever ending you’d hope for.

Or maybe it’s just to leave the audience dazed and confused. The work of director Alison Carroll, plawright Markus Paminger, and sound designer Renee Levine have worked well together to create an atmosphere that is full of many layers of context and texture that allow the actors to swim upstream all the more furiously.

The Shorebound Swim With a One Click Kick: A Tragedy of Reason has got a lot of things going for it, or against it, depending on your taste. There is ritual electroshock, a fair amount of nudity, craziness (or genius depending on how you see it), possible past life regression, esoteric concepts and inter-generational relationships aplenty, and a good heaping helping of Men Are From Mars /Women Are From Venus. Oh yeah, and everyone has their own doomed tragedy to fight against.

The fight against what seems like the inevitable is the most enjoyable part to watch. The characters are made up of the underage boytoy/assistant Victor (played by Nicko Libowitz) whose impulse to make his first love work - no matter the costs. He’s joined by the genius Nicholas (played by William Kozy, who gets naked for this by the way) starved for true significance who continues sliding down a slope of greater and greater lengths of eccentricity. Added into the mix is the former lover Natalie (played by Emma Worth) who was wronged years ago who now lives a daily life of acceptable desperation. Finally there is the central piece of the puzzle – the woman Edith (played by Robin Madel) who has cared for the professor for many years fueled by a desperate need to finally be loved by him. She is is probably the wisest one of the bunch – but also the most insane.

There are a lot of good ideas buried in the madness inherent in this play, but as Emily Dickinson said,

“Much Madness is divinest Sense
–To a discerning Eye.”

So, if you have time and the stamina to handle all the lunacy, catch Shorebound Swim’s last performance this Sunday (12:30) and let your eye discern the divine.

~~~

The Shorebound Swim With a One-Click Kick: A Tragedy of Reason

Written by Markus Paminger & Directed by Alison Carroll

Presented by The Lucky Artist Theater Company Brooklyn, NY

The Red Room (85 East 4th Street) $10

Wed 2/23 @ 6:30pm, Sat 2/26 @ 8pm, Mon 2/28 @ 9:30pm, Wed 3/2 @ 6:30pm, & Sun 3/6 @ 12:30pm

FRIGID New York Festival 2011 will run February 23-March 6 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1sr Ave and Ave A). Tickets ($10-$16) may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444. All shows will run 60 minutes long or less.

FRIGID New York Festival 2011 – Five Questions For: The Shorebound Swim With A One Click Kick: A Tragedy Of Reason

Karen Tortora-Lee — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:20:22 +0000

Welcome to our first FRIGID New York Festival 2011 Q&A! We’ll be running these throughout February until the Festival starts, so be sure to check back to read all about the great shows that will be taking part in the festival. Also – don’t miss the winner-take-all game of Rock Paper Scissors!

Our first Q&A is with Terra Vetter, the producer of The Shorebound Swim With A One Click Kick: A Tragedy Of Reason

A genius removes himself from society and attempts to unlock the science behind the secrets of the human experience; a boy gets his first taste of love, lust and betrayal; and a desperate caretaker struggles to control her destiny in this gripping drama that connects the cerebral with matters of the heart.

Nicko Libowitz in The Shorebound Swim with a One Click Kick

answers by Terra Vetter, Producer

Antonio Asks: What makes FRIGID such a warm and welcoming experience for your production?

I’ve been fortunate to see quite a few Frigid productions in the past few years so it’s been on my radar for sometime as a place to produce.

Our company has done a few different festivals, and generally speaking, we like the small intimate festivals like Frigid. They let you get to know other participants and take in a lot of other shows, really get a feel for the festival. Thus far the festival staff has been amazing also. Our coordinator is unbelievable!

Diánna Asks: What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?

I went to see a reading of The Shorebound Swim with our other producer a little over a year ago. I didn’t have any expectations going in but we were both blown away by it. One of our companies goals is to combine entertaining theater with thought provoking theater that matters to the world, a combination that is all too rare, and one that The Shorebound Swim balances perfectly. The characters in the show are so brilliantly constructed, and tragically flawed. Every time I read the script or sit in on a rehearsal I find myself torn between having my heart tug for these characters and being fascinated by the ideas that they present.

Karen Asks: That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?

The play was originally titled “Ripple” and our playwright, Markus Paminger, decided he wanted something more catchy. After much back and forth between our creative team, and about a zillion different variations, he came up with “The Shorebound Swim with a One Click Kick: A Tragedy of Reason“. It’s actually a perfect title for the show. The first part has a lot of flourish and metaphor, the second part is a straight to the point statement about the show. A little bit cerebral and a little bit romantic, which is exactly the balance of the show.

Stephen Asks: You must have a favorite part of your show. What makes it your favorite?

There are several moments in the show that the audience gets to observe these somewhat normal characters performing some truly odd rituals. The characters actions go so far to tell the story, and to make me, and hopefully that audience, think about how far we’ll go to find answers and chase happiness.

Lina Asks: How much of your show was inspired by true events?

It’s a work of fiction. As far as I know our playwright didn’t base too much of it on real life. In fact, I’d be a little worried about him if he did.

THM Bonus Question:

If you could play a virtual game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with another FRIGID Show which show would you take on? And what would you throw?

Tired Wave Stop. I’d throw rock, but everyone throws rock first, so it would be a tie and I’d have to throw again, and I’d throw scissors.

______

Thanks Shorebound Swim – for being our first participant in The Happiest Medium’s Frigid 2011 Q&A. And for playing our game! You’re officially SCISSORS. So you may win TWICE. Or, not at all. This is how it works in the crazy world of the VIRTUAL ROCK PAPER SCISSORS TOURNAMENT!

For the rest of you – don’t forget to check out The Shorebound Swim With A One Click Kick: A Tragedy Of Reason