THE UPPER ROOM
What happens to the back-to-the-land movement when the sea threatens to claim the soil meant to sustain its participants? Set on an island off the north coast of Maine, the members of a one-thriving commune can all fit around a lone table. There, they gather to confront the changing environment — in the form of rising waters, and unexplained ailments sustained by certain members of their dwindling ranks. Employing dark humor, spiritual meditations, antique scuba suits, overhead projections and a musical score that’s mixed live, “The Upper Room” is spearheaded by the husband-and-husband team of Jeremy Bloom and Brian Rady. Their Rady&Bloom Collective Playmaking projects emphasize high energy, mythological storytelling, stripped down production values and raw material created not just in collaboration with the ensemble, but strongly influenced by their individual strengths and eccentricities.
Through June 12. Tues.–Sat. at 8 p.m. At the New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher St. btw. Greenwich & Washington Sts.). For tickets ($18, $15 for students/seniors), visit NewOhioTheatre.org or call 888-596-1027. For artist info: RadyAndBloom.com.
TYONDAI BRAXTON: HIVE
Experimental musician Tyondai Braxton’s upcoming three-night residency presents a new work marking his debut as a recording artist on the Nonesuch label. The eight pieces on Braxton’s “HIVE” album (his first release in six years) have been in development since 2013, with live performance stops at the Guggenheim, the Sydney Opera House and London’s Barbican Centre. This series, at The Kitchen, is accompanied by a site-specific work by mixed-media artist Grace Villamil, has Braxton and his fellow musicians sitting cross-legged atop their own space-age oval pods. Light emitting through the perforated pod walls changes according to the sonic mood created by the performers, whose singular purpose and deep connection embodies the hive mind and the “HIVE” music.
Thurs., June 4–Sat., June 6, at 8 p.m. At The Kitchen (512 W 19th St. btw. 10th & 11th Aves.). For tickets ($20), visit thekitchen.org or call 212-255-5793. Artist info at tyondaibraxton.com.
WELCOME HOME SONNY T
As members of Staten Island’s African-American and Mexican communities face mounting gun violence, an older generation must confront their own legacy. “Sonny T” spotlights the social impact of alienation and unemployment on young black males, as well as the declining influence of the church. Part of a seven-member cast, Richard Pryor Jr. (son of the comedian) plays a prominent black minister and former ’60s radical grappling with his own inability to restore order. The first in a five-part “Gunplay” series, this staged reading is followed by a talkback session with the cast and playwright/director William Electric Black. With part two in the series (“When Black Boys Die”) having recently closed a run at Theater for the New City, part three (“Body Bags or Why Calvin Wants A Superhero”) will premiere in 2016. Visit gunplays.org for more info.
“Welcome Home Sonny T” happens Mon., June 1, 7 p.m. at the Castillo Theatre (543 W. 42nd St., btw 10th & 11th Aves.). Tickets are $10. For reservations, call 212-941-1234 or visit castillo.org.
—By Scott Stiffler
