Infringement New York City

Infringement Endangered

2006-05-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

Where have the organizers gone?! What is going on with the world? Why hasn't thy league of lying leaders been brought down to justice, impeached or just peached!

It may be because you are sitting nearly alone in that dark room with this screen and your fingers! IT IS TIME TO ACT.

Volunteer to coordinate and facilitate and instigate.

THE INFRINGEMENT FESTIVAL NYC WANTS YOU. AND YOUR FRIENDS. AND YOUR MINDS. AND YOUR BODIES. AND YOUR BLATANT POLITICAL PROPAGANDA. AND YOUR QUIET WHISPER.

Just respond to this post or email ifnewyork@gmail.com if you want to participate or help make the IFNYC even better this year than last.

visit www.infringementfestival.com if you have no idea what this blog is about.

ciao. chow. chau.

Only You Can Make the Infringement NYC Happen

2006-03-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

IF New York is looking for organizers and soon will need participating acts (one without the other is like a fish with a tricycle with one wheel and two fenders).

Are you game? Email IFNEWYORK@GMAIL-dot-COM

recommending a great event for infringers

2006-01-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

I thought anyone who may get the word in time would be interested in this (sorry for short notice):

THAW Talks! and Theater for The New City present:
A THAW Talk! Q & A with
JEAN-CLAUDE VAN ITALLIE
(author of "The Serpent" and "America Hurrah")
JUDITH MALINA & HANON REZNIKOV
Wednesday, January 4th
Following the 8 PM Performance of van Itallie's
new farcical send-up of current
Administrators....
"FEAR ITSELF: SECRETS OF THE WHITE HOUSE"
at Theater For The New City
155 First Ave. (betw. 9th & 10th St's)
Talk is free; show is $10 for activists,
THAW members & students
($15 regular price)
Moderated by THAW's Alexis Sottile
Show runs Wed-Sun (Wed-Sat at 8; Sun at 3)
until January 8th.
Subway to theater: L to First Ave., 6 to
Astor Pl., R to 8th St., F to 2nd Ave.
**********
THAW is an international network of theater artists
responding to the United States' ongoing
"War on Terror," aggressive and unilateral foreign
policies, and escalating attacks on civil liberties
in the US and throughout the world.
THAW seeks to encourage the growth of a
pro-peace culture.

New to Infringement, or want to start your own?

2005-09-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Does your community need an infringement Festival?
Odds are, yes. If your city or community suffers from any type of oppression, monoculture, apathy, or boredom, an infringement festival could provide inspiration and amusement -- and help raise awareness for positive social change and global justice.

What is an infringement Festival, anyways?
The infringement is a democratically run, non-hierarchical interdisciplinary arts festival open to all critical artists -- theatre, music, film, street performance, visual arts, you name it. The infringement will never discriminate, censor or charge a registration fee and only accepts ethical sponsors that pose no conflict of interest. It began in Montreal in 2004 and has since spread to Ottawa, Buffalo and New York City, with St-John's and Halifax set to start next year.

For more information on the festival, its history, mandate, sponsorship criteria and the festivals already going and looking for people, please log onto www.infringementfestival.com

How do I start an infringement Festival?
If you're interested in getting an infringement festival going in your community, or would like more information, please don't hesitate to contact infringementfestival@yahoo.ca or read our help guide for new festivals online here:
http://www.infringementfestival.com/iFguide.html

Bury the Dead

2005-09-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

There was an interesting Global Anti-War Theatrical Event called Bury The Dead (www.burythedead.ca) on Sept. 19 that we missed in NYC, but that may continue, a la the Lysistrata Project. Below is an email from Donovan King, that I found interesting to share with the likes of NY Infringers. . .

Also, if anyone has any photos, documents or thoughts you'd like to share about the Infringement Festival past or future, please let me know. There is also the opportunity to INFRINGE AGAIN at anytime of the year.

Donovan's email below:

Hey Bury The Deaders!
Congratulations and thanks to all who participated! It is a pleasure to see theatre spread virally, and this 2nd international readings project (after the Lysistrata Project) will hopefully spawn many more. I would like to address Subversive Theater's Kurt's message below regarding the possibilities of expanding the theatre activism movement.

I couldn't agree more with Kurt that the more we inter-connect theatre activism across the globe, the better. I also agree that the dramatic alliance should not only be anti-war, but anti-oppression in general. it could target racism, imperialism, patriarchy, environmental destruction, and any other forms of oppression that are seriously screwing up our planet and dividing the human race. Ideally we need an organization that could link up all sorts of political theatres, critical artists, and culture jammers, who could then collaborate on larger and more sustained global theatre actions. One attempt we are currently making is the infringement movement:
http://infringementfestival.com/

We hope that these festivals will increase awareness about critical theatre and performance, all the while democratizing the arts and reclaiming culture. They also serve as a springboard for meeting and connecting with other critical artsits, and potentially can act as organizations that collaborate with others on global theatre actions.

There is also THAW (thawaction.org), where I sit on the Steering Committee representing international companies. It is true that THAW is mostly active in NYC and other anti-war hot spots (eg: Washington demo), but the organization is hopeful that other THAW chapters will form in other places. Generally THAW in NYC facilitates street theatre, stages a monthy showcase (Freedom Follies) of anti-war performances, and links up various anti-war theatre organizations across the globe, while promoting their projects.

In any case, I cannot say what the best model would be for Kurt's proposition, but I do encourage as much discourse as possible on the topic. What would happen if we built a global theatre movement that could theatrically respond in various ways, large and small, to various oppressions that exist? How might it be structured? How could we ensure its growth? What types of projects might we aspire towards? What strategies would we use? There are a lot of new theatrical and activist developments, and as the world rapidly globalizes, the theatre appears to be re-inventing itself. This is the topic of a thesis I recently wrote (http://www.optative.net/ebook.html), if anyone is interested.

One thing we did in Montreal was deploy dead soldiers to the US Consulate as a culture-jamming element of the reading. They demanded to speak with the Consul General, asking for answers as to why over 30,000 people have by now been killed in this invasion for oil. See(http://www.optative.net/burythedead.html). Pics & Vids will be up soon. I imagine the idea potentially spreading. Imagine if hundreds of the "dead" appeared at US Army Recruiting Stations? Or the White House? What if they stayed and kept vigil? It is just an idea, inspired by the play, but if it catches on it could hopefully put a major dent in the attitude that war is a necessary thing. My main point is that the more ideas out there and the more people involved in a global network of the nature Kurt proposes, the more likely it is that we will see the results of our theatre activism grow exponentially.Anyways, get in touch if you'd like to discuss any of these ideas. Thanks again to the organizers & players! It is great to read so many reports and ideas!
Donovan King, Artistic Facilitator
Optative Theatrical Laboratories (http://www.optative.net/)

"Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it." - Bertolt Brecht

NY Infringement comes to a close

2005-09-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who made the festival a success. We'll post pictures and reports as soon as we can. Please email ifnewyork@gmail.com to add to this blog, or reply to this blog with your own comments.

Success Is Brewing

2005-09-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

We're halfway through the first ever NYC infringement fest and the shows have all been serving just what the doctor ordered, independent artistry and a voice for a new perspective on old problems.

Don't miss out. ALL EVENTS ARE FREE, but donations help rejuvenate the artists, many of whom have driven a long way at ridiculously high gas prices. Here is the remaining schedule.

3pm: Bushiva (www.bushiva.com) is revealed in Washington Square Park. Bring yourselves your friends and maybe some cans to bang on. Bushiva will make sporadic appearances all weekend.

4:30PM: Der Kosmonaut: the Fall of New York

6:15 W-Mart in Baghdad-The Blacklist Committee for Unsafe Theatre
An anti-war farce about the opening of a Wal-Martesque department store in the Green Zone in present day Baghdad.

6:45: LINDSAY by Monica Raymond, directed by Billy Christopher

7:15 Blue Box Productions 10-minute plays

8:00: KAWAISOO (THE PITY OF THINGS)

8:40: Bryan and Marcy: Songs of Love and Protest

9:15: Mother Dis-Courage

10:30: Massey http://www.loopholerecords.com

Sunday Sept 4th 2-5pm CAR STORIES

3pm Bushiva in the parks: come play. Bushiva may be making the Washington SQ. Park Union Square Circuit, check back for details

5:45: LINDSAY

6:00: Mother Dis-Courage

7:15: W-MART IN BAGHDAD

7:45: KAWAISOO (THE PITY OF THINGS)

8:30: Massey

9:30: Pretty Flowers Pretty Flowers will give a great inringement send off with such political hits as Laura's Bush, It's Not My Fault and Separate Church and State.

Call 212.501.2282 to reserve or just to speak your mind.

Speak Out Tonight

2005-09-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Come out to CBGB's Gallery tonight after 10pm and speak out in anyway you choose. The microphone will be open after the band KUMA plays. Looking for spoken word, poems, songs, anything around the theme of infringement.

Let's kick off this fest right!

2005-09-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

TONIGHT, Thursday Sept. 1:

All events are at the Player's Theater Loft (115 MacDougal Street, between W. 3rd and Minetta, 3rd floor), unless otherwise noted. All events are pay what you can, unless otherwise noted. All money goes to the artists involved.

7:00: HOMELAND invited rehearsal
At Theater For The New City, 155 First Ave. (between 9thand l0th Sts.) in Manhattan
All are invited to attend a run-through rehearsal of HOMELAND, by Gene Ruffini, a powerful drama about America in the near future under a repressive regime. The run-through rehearsal -- no interruptions -- will be held Thursday Sept. 1 at 7p. Best to get there by 6:30 pm. The play tells the story of a librarian, his teacher wife and their gay daughter who defy the Patriot Act, by trying to help a beautiful Indian girl who faces incarceration as an enemy alien, and are destroyed by the totalitarian government. The ending is stunning. The play runs Sept. 8-25, Thurs-Sat at 8 pm and Sun at 3p.

8:00: MOTHER DIS-COURAGE from the Subversive Theatre Company (Buffalo, NY)
At Player's Loft Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street

9:15: KAWAISOO (THE PITY OF THINGS) by Jason Grote, directed by Laramie Dennis, with Kate Benson
At Player's Loft Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street A meditation on consumerism and globalization in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Ellie, a bereaved (and somewhat loopy) woman, gives a tour of a suburban grocery store to her ex-husband, a worker for a poverty NGO who was killed in the WTC attacks.

10PM-??, IFNY Kickoff Party There is a $5 cover at this event to support CBGB's and the artists. At CBGB's 313 Gallery (313 Bowery at Bleecker)
The band KUMA will play at 10pm, and we would love volunteers to do short performances afterwards. A great cabaret evening. It's basically a performance open mic with advance sign up, and a great time to kick off the fest and get to know the community of folks around you.

See www.infringementfestival.com/newyork.html for the full schedule.

IF Schedule as of 8/28

2005-08-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

The schedule is set. We're looking for very short acts for the opening party at CBGB's 313 Gallery on Thursday night after Kuma rocks out at 10pm. Email ifnewyork@gmail.com if you're interested.

*Note: Although most of the Infringement Festival acts are Pay-What-You-Can, there is a $5 cover charge at CBGB's 313 Gallery.

Get on it

2005-08-03T02:29:00.000-07:00

It's time to get the program underway. INFRINGERS UNITE.