Attending a Festival in a city you only dip your foot in once and a while is a feat - your jet lagged and subway weary- and although you know you might just see everyone in your field in the lobby of the Public Theater - that might not be a good thing at this moment. Still as the day goes on and the calls and emails and text messages pour in from your colleagues around the world- and every one of them says "see you tonight"- you feel a bit restored and head out. Everything seems to become part of the show and as you get closer to the Public. From about ten blocks away you can start identifying your people the clear signifiers are the UTR tote bags, the head to toe black clad ensembles and then their are the haircuts. Have I mentioned that it is 60 degrees today. As you head to the lobby- more and more and more and more and more people start filtering in and the noise rises from chatter to clang. Wait- that is UTR's Artistic Director, Mark Russell standing on the coffee bar with a gong, he is ringing in the first night Everyone has filed into their shows, and now we are back in the lobby - champagne is poured and you start seeing the faces from the catalog come alive, there is Mike Daisey who will soon tell us how theater has failed us, there is Pavol Liska and his Nature Theater of Oklahoma entourage, Reggie Watts, Young Jean Lee- then there are the art world mavericks - I spied Rose Lee Goldberg, Chuck Helm, David Henry , Olga Garay and many more. We are here - together to have our minds bent, to make connections, to fall in love with a moment on stage (or off).
Kristan Kennedy, Visual Art Program Director, PICA
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