The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival 2021 promises to usher in a “hopeful, necessary, bombastic and trailblazing” new year.
written by: Crystal-Angelee Burrell
Across its 17 year history, Under the Radar has become emblematic of The Public Theater’s mission to support artists from diverse backgrounds who innovate and reimagine what it means to be a thespian. Under the Radar has earned worldwide acclaim for catalyzing the success of artists and creators such as The Belarus Theatre Company, Guillermo Calderón, Toshi Reagon, Daniel Fish and beyond. The pandemic cast a shadow on in-person performances, forcing a moratorium on the Public and countless other theaters across the globe. This year, The Under the Radar Festival was made possible by the Public’s community of steadfast supporters whose generosity has been a light during the Public’s darkest hour.
Here’s what to expect from the Public’s Under the Radar Festival 2021:
Borders & Crossing is a project by Inua Ellams, an award-winning poet, playwright and designer born in Nigeria and raised in Ireland. In 2009, Ellams’ first play earned a Fringe First, the highest distinction at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival. In 2018, his original play The Barber Shop Chronicles sold out two separate runs at the National Theatre of England. The show subsequently dazzled audiences on a critically acclaimed world tour. Produced by the Fuel Theatre, a company based at London’s Somerset House, Borders & Crossing is Inua Ellams’ latest exploration of human migration and belonging. This production is a rare opportunity to experience Inua Ellams’ widely-respected talent, and is streaming for free now until January 17th on the Public Theater’s website.
Don’t miss The Motown Project by Alicia Hall Moran as Part of Joe's Pub New York Voices Commission. After graduating from the Manhattan School of Music, Alicia Hall Moran has spent her lavish decades-long career reclaiming a heritage that formal histories often erase. In a 2019 interview with Vogue magazine the mezzo-soprano said that Black artists “[have] been forced to imagine that we have to reinvent this wheel of Black success over and over; that is an absolute lie.” Across her robust tenure she’s worked with Carrie Mae Weems, played the leading role in the national tour of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess after serving as Audra McDonald’s understudy in the show’s 2012 Broadway revival, and produced works commissioned by Carnegie Hall. Bolstered by Amy Hall Garner’s choreography and Alicia Hall Moran’s prolific voice, The Motown Project’s “cinematic, movement-based aria” will transform Motown’s beloved songbook into a masterwork infused with Mozart and Purcell. Free on-demand streaming starts on January 8th 2021.
Stream performances of Espíritu by Teatro Anónimo (Chile) and the world premiere of Capsule by Whitney White and Peter Mark Kendall (U.S.) for free on the Public’s website from January 6th 2021. Disclaimer, written by playwright Tara Ahmadinejad and produced by Piehole (U.S.), will be streaming for free on the Public’s website from January 7-17th 2021. So will A Thousand Ways (Part One): A Phone Call by 600 Highwaymen and Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran written by Javaad Alipoor (U.K./Iran).
Now more than ever, the arts must adapt in order to thrive. Under the Radar 2021 is an encouraging testament to the theater’s resilience, and ours.