LAB cover photo on Facebook
Presented by Liars and Believers
Directed by Jason Slavick
A list of collaborators and other info is HERE
January 24, 2018 One Night Only
Sonia at the Middle East
10 Brookline St
Cambridge, MA
LAB on Facebook
Review by Kitty Drexel
(Cambridge, MA) Irresistible is Liars & Believers most recent, most experimental collabortive project to date. It is incredibly important, when considering the expected outcome of experiments, to remember that the majority of experiments fail. Failure does not negate the significance of the experiment. Rather, it gives the technician an opportunity to understand what didn’t work. Failure can be good.
LAB’s Irresistible as a performance piece had some strong hits and equally as strong misses. It’s sketches and musical numbers delivered strong messages. Their execution varied from artist to artist. For example, the visual art by Evan Lukash projected onto the far side wall was equal parts unsettling and eye catching. When one watched the kittens and puppies long enough to be lulled, the same viewer was then shocked by images of neo-nazis. It was arresting.
A mime troupe discussed politicas through vintage movement and satire a la Charlie Chaplin. We were entertained as we were forced to recall the significance of the women’s rights movement through history. A tap number on the NYC metro brought together tap and passengers’ whimsy to create music. Helga Knittel leapt from a building. A rapper poetically taught us why the police can’t be trusted. #blacklivesmatter
In contrast, several of the sketches weren’t successful. Regardless of success, artistic experimentation is necessary for artists to grow. Whether the audience appreciated their risks, whether their work is “art” is immaterial. It is more important for an artist to make mistakes in public than it is for the outside world to agree with the artist. I urge everyone to keep going, and for audiences to invest in their community.
The stream of consciousness programming for the evening had limited crediting information. Here are the artists involved in the production: Tess Degen, Jesse Garlick, Sarah Gazdowicz, M.I.C. King, Becca Lehrhoff, Nathan Leigh, Evan Lukash, Jay Mobley, Glen Moore, Jeff Pearlstein, Shaina Schwartz, Rachel Wiese, Molly Zenobia, Veronica Barron, Luke Paulino, Ethan Rubin, Mateo Gold, Hanno Lentz. It is reasonable to save the planet by putting program info on the web. When doing so, please also include the act names and associated performers.
Robert Palmer is a dehumanizing ass that gives Robin Thicke/Pharrell Williams a run for his money. This song and the production are unrelated.
