INTERVIEW: UP CLOSE Festival explores Greenwich Village’s past
Photo: UP CLOSE Festival’s co-artistic producer Sara Morgulis and curator/founding artistic producer Peter Musante are ready to tell the story of Greenwich Village’s past. Photo courtesy of Biviana Sanchez / Provided by press rep with permission.
The UP CLOSE Festival is a celebration of New York City’s unique history and also the possibilities of immersive theater for younger audience members. The inaugural festival was last year at the New Ohio Theatre in the West Village, and this year’s edition returns to the same venue Dec. 27 through Jan. 4.
The festival, curated by Peter Musante and produced by Musante and Sara Morgulis, is founded on the belief of accessible theater about New York for New Yorkers. The pieces on display are intended for audience members 5 and up, and they should expect to learn a lot about the local neighborhood of Greenwich Village.
One world premiere, according to press notes, focuses on a business clash between two chess shops in the 1990s. The history lesson is represented by a life-size chess game. Another piece looks at an imagined experimental wing of Bell Labs, while another one looks at St. Luke’s in the Field’s community garden.
Each performance begins with a host meeting the audience members and ushering them through an interactive play area in the New Ohio’s basement venue, a press release states. Then, 10-minute theatrical presentations are offered, each centered on Greenwich Village’s past. This year’s themes are multiculturalism and decolonization.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Musante about this year’s edition of the UP CLOSE Festival. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How long does it take to put together this festival each year? How are pieces selected?
The UP CLOSE Festival line-up comes together over six to eight months, usually as a series of conversations between potential artists and producers. Artists pitch ideas for 10-minute theatrical experiences that are inspired by local history (a real-life West Village person or event), and as a lead curator, I encourage a wide range of eras and perspectives to be represented.
This year, we’re featuring three teams that each consist of artists who’ve known each other’s work but have never worked together before. UP CLOSE provides a unique opportunity for local artists to collaborate on something meaningful while also building new relationships. It really turns into one big family.
What are you excited about from this year’s offerings?
Everything about this year’s line-up is exciting, but I’m most looking forward to seeing audiences interact with Greenwich Village history through three unique, multi-sensory experiences! A nearby community garden will be explored in a tactile exploration of a bird’s nest. Sound scientists from nearby Bell Labs will let you listen to sounds stored away in jars, and a local shop turns into an interactive life-sized chess match!
I’m also thrilled that we’ve cast young New Yorkers in this year’s festival. As Archive Apprentices, they’ll be the centerpiece of the festival: inviting audience members into the space, and, ushering them from one piece to the next.
Why is it important to produce theatrical entertainment that can be enjoyed by children?
Kids often have no preconceptions about what theatre should be, so we allow that same sense of curiosity and agency to drive the pieces. And it really seems to impact everyone in the room. In my work with Trusty Sidekick Theater Company, I’ve found that using a young person’s POV to develop ideas that reinvent space actually brings adult audiences into fully satisfying new types of experiences.
The festival tells the unique stories of Greenwich Village and the neighborhood’s past. What inspires you about this rich and interesting history?
Once we discovered the rich history of the building — New Ohio is in the basement of a landmark building that once housed the National Archives Record Center — we ran with the idea of creating an interactive neighborhood archive where we’d stage short-form, immersive works honoring the area’s past.
A big discovery was the life and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs whose principles for a healthy community (short blocks, mixed-use space) became the festival’s guiding principles. Jane described city life as an intricate ‘sidewalk ballet,’ and I like to imagine she would be pleased to know that we’ve created something similar in a theater.
Do you envision the UP CLOSE Festival continuing for many years to come?
Yes! We plan to become a fixture at New Ohio for NYC-based family audiences every holiday season, while also growing to other communities. I love the idea of working with the artists of another U.S. city and finding inspiration from one of their community organizers (like Cesar Chavez in my hometown of San Francisco), in the way Jane Jacobs worked for NYC. We’d love to partner with communities all over and use the recipe we discovered to see what sorts of local history we can dig up!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The UP CLOSE Festival runs Dec. 27 to Jan. 4 at the New Ohio Theatre in the West Village of Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
