Cutting-edge theater and dance will characterize XFest 2014, a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Theater and Dance show, presented Sept. 10-13 in conjunction with the Arts & Issues series.
This year’s fifth season of XFest will have such offerings, in the order of appearance, as Split Knuckle Theatre of Storrs, Conn., Manual Cinema of Chicago, Matt Smith of Seattle and The Seldoms also of Chicago.
Endurance will be performed Sept. 10 by the Split Knuckle Theatre. Split Knuckle is a critically acclaimed company that creates dynamic, physical, visually striking theatre from simple materials. Through imagination, text and movement, they create vast landscapes, vivid characters and epic stories. Company members trained at the London International School of Performing Arts in the methods of Jacques Lecoq.
On Sept. 11, Manual Cinema will present Ada/Ava. Manual Cinema combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic motifs and live sound manipulation to create immersive theatrical stories. Using overhead projectors, paper puppets, actors in silhouette and a live band, Manual Cinema transforms the experience of attending the cinema and imbues it with liveliness, ingenuity and theatricality.
XFest 2014 continues on Friday, Sept. 12 with Master monologist Matt Smith. An accomplished actor and playwright with 35 years of experience in the Seattle arts community, he will perform My Last Year With the Nuns. His improvisational work has been performed with several artistic groups and venues. Smith has appeared in several films, including starring in Whiteface (2001) and playing prominent supporting roles in independent features The Naked Proof (2003), Outsourced (2006) and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009). He was also the mailman in Sleepless in Seattle (1993).
XFest 2014 concludes on Saturday, Sept. 13 with a world premiere production, Power Goes, presented by The Seldoms. Power Goes is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art in partnership with SIUE Xfest.
The Seldoms are a dance company that values making intelligent, visually rich dance theater that is driven by inquiry. Under the direction of choreographer Carrie Hanson, the center of The Seldoms’ work is dance. However, the vision extends to the whole of action and environment on stage. The Seldoms was named “best local dance company” for its “timeliness of subject and singularity of vision” by New City in 2012.
Shows and workshops will be presented in the Metcalf Theater and Dunham Hall Theater on the campus of SIUE.
For the Endurance presentation, tickets are: $25 general admission, $20 seniors (65 years and older), $15 students with a valid student ID and free admission to the first 50 SIUE students with a valid ID.
For all other XFest performances, ticket prices are $15 for adults (18 years and older) and $12 for all others such as seniors, non-SIUE students and children (17 years and younger). SIUE students are free with a valid I.D. to all three shows: ADA/AVA, My Last Year With the Nuns, and Power Goes.
For tickets or more information, call the Fine Arts box office at (618) 650-2774 or toll free at (888) 328-5168, extension 2774. The Fine Arts Box Office is located on the SIUE campus in Katherine Dunham Hall, room 1042B.
Also visit, XFest, Department of Theater and Dance and Arts & Issues.
Photos:
Shown is a scene from Endurance.
Pictured is the cast of Manual Cinema.
Matt Smith will perform My Last Year With the Nuns.
Strident dance movements are captured in Power Goes.