Recent struggles create new opportunities for PUSH Physical Theatre
Post-Fringe: national DRACULA tour & Virginia loneliness project
Rochester, NY – Rochester’s internationally renowned PUSH Physical Theatre will make its eighth annual appearance at the eighth annual KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival (Tuesday, September 10 – Saturday, September 21) for three, all-ages performances at School of the Arts: Allen Main Stage Theatre (45 Prince St.) on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 8:30 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.; and Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 and available online at rochesterfringe.com, by phone at 585-957-9837 (phone fees apply), or in person starting Sunday, Sept. 10 at the Fringe Box Office (corner of Main & Gibbs Streets), and at the venue door one hour before show time (if tickets remain).
This year’s show will feature a PUSH “power trio,” made up of co-founders and directors Heather and Darren Stevenson along with Andreas Woerner, a native of Germany who has performed with the company since 2018. The program will include three stunning duos: “Suspicion,” from March’s Creative Collision, a full-length, world-premiere collaboration with the Ying Quartet (video here: https://youtu.be/bX9uy3ptfAI); “Journey,” from PUSH’s 2007 Geva Theatre Center debut; and a new take on the company’s “Strangers.”
“The three of us are excited to take Fringe audiences on a new journey this year,” Heather explains.
That’s not to say that PUSH Physical Theatre is now a trio – the six-member company is simply looking to be more flexible in performance size as a way of turning some recent struggles into opportunities.
Although overcoming obstacles has been business-as-usual for Heather and Darren since they started the not-for-profit organization in Rochester 19 years ago, two factors in particular are affecting current and upcoming bookings. One is the unexpected death of PUSH’s longtime lighting designer, Toni Elderkin, in June.
“Beyond a close personal bond that we shared with her, Toni painted with light as if we were the canvas – she’s irreplaceable,” says Darren. “In the kind of collaborative work we do, you can’t simply unplug someone and plug in someone else – the alchemy is the result of that collaboration.”
That alchemy is also affected by another impediment, less tragic but just as serious: PUSH has been waiting for almost a year to get a valuable company member back from England.
Well-regarded London performer Ashley Jones joined the company last summer after his application for an “O” visa – a Foreign national with extraordinary ability in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business or Athletics – was approved. He was obligated to return to England to “check in” and has been denied re-entry – without explanation – by the U.S. since then. It’s also worth noting that Physical Theatre itself is a relatively unknown artform in the U.S., as opposed to in Europe, where it was born and is very prevalent.
“We’ve had to become more adaptive than ever in order to maintain our high standards, and it’s actually providing us with more freedom to cast each project appropriately – a positive step,” adds Darren.
Almost immediately following Fringe, the award-winning physical theatre company will tour its full-length production of PUSH Physical Theatre’s DRACULA to arts centers all over the country. That will feature a cast of seven, including Rochester’s Rick Staropoli as Renfield. Also in October, PUSH will conduct workshops for the Roanoke Arts Commission in conjunction with a national study on loneliness. After working with participants, the company will create a new work about loneliness which it will debut during its Roanoke performance in February of 2020.
More about PUSH Physical Theatre: Intense athleticism, gravity-defying acrobatics, and soulful artistry are the trademarks of this award-winning, genre-defining company. Founded in Rochester, NY in 2000 by husband-and-wife team, Darren and Heather Stevenson, out of a desire to “push” the boundaries of conventional theatre, PUSH has since earned an international reputation as one of the U.S.’s leading physical theatre companies. Recently featured in acclaimed collaborations with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ying Quartet, and Pulitzer Prize-nominated composer Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s two multi-media operas (Comala and No Se Culpe with fellow composer Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez), PUSH has also produced its own full-length works including DRACULA, Jekyll & Hyde, and Arc of Ages. Additionally, its wide-ranging repertory includes many shorter works such as “Red Ball,” a hilarious take on the interplay between the real and virtual worlds using iPad technology. PUSH was a season finalist on TruTV’s national series, Fake Off, a competition/reality show featuring what producers dubbed “the captivating art of ‘faking’” – a mix of theatre, acrobatics, and illusion. Their performances caused judge and Glee star Harry Shum Jr. to exclaim: “You guys are superhuman!” These masters of physical storytelling have received the Community of Color/Anton Germano Dance Award, the Performing Artist of the Year Award from the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, and the University of Rochester’s Lillian Fairchild Award. In addition to a busy touring schedule, PUSH is passionate about arts-in-education programs and runs a summer intensive for adult students from all over the world.
More about Fringe: Since its debut in 2012, the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival has become one of the most successful fringe festivals in the U.S., attracting more than 78,000 attendees in 2018. Now a 12-day event, this multi-genre arts festival boasts over 570 performances and events – more than 150 of which are free – in 20+ venues in downtown Rochester, NY. Celebrating and inspiring creativity, the bifurcated, non-profit Fringe – which is partially curated by the non-profit festival and partially by festival venues – includes everything from theatre, music, comedy and dance, to children’s entertainment, spoken word, visual arts, film and much more. Please visit rochesterfringe.com for a complete schedule, tickets, and more information.
Media please note: Additional high-resolution photos are available at http://www.pushtheatre.org/assets/photos.zip, and interviews and photo/footage opportunities can be arranged.