New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are considered the epicenters for American actors. But what about all of the work happening underneath and in between? When the Regional Theater Movement took off in the 1960s, the intent was to keep American acting from being defined by a few flashy blocks in New York or some studios in L.A. Aligned with the anti-establishment tone of the times, regional theater strived for artists to be successfully rooted around the country.
Where does that mission stand now? Where are the innovative theaters that are not in the expected centers, but are thriving on the outside?
Let’s start with Mondo Bizarro of New Orleans. Nick Slie, Mondo’s co-founder and co-artistic director and a native of the city, has been working since 2002 to create work that intersects between the performative, environmental, and civically-engaged. Mondo uses physical practice to defy the cerebral tendencies of theater-making and explore, as Slie describes, “the landscape of the body, heart, and mind.”
The four core artists of Mondo Bizarro have created a devising and rehearsing structure that gestates work over a long period of time. Instead of burying stories after they’re performed, Mondo aims to
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