photograph by Sonseree Gibson
Incidents at the 22 Hotel takes a post-apocalyptic landscape and imagines what it is to be part of that future. The main character, called ‘Unexplained Presence’ struggles to imagine her own existence. During the performance, she lives two lives, one as an African artifact, full of ancient power, yet motionless. In the other, she must choose to be human and imagine herself into the future. The Porter, a trickster-like character, who accompanies Unexplained Presence on her journey, wears a fantastical mask which also doubles as the hotel itself. The Runners keep track of time as they literally run for as long as this futuristic world exists.
The work is at once performance art and science fiction. Ogunji says, “It’s my hope that the work engages the bodies of the audience members so that when they are watching the two runners, for example, these characters who literally run for the entire length of the play in an effort to pull time along—they feel that exhilaration and power in their own bodies as if they have been up on stage the entire time. And through that experience they are able to imagine their own futuristic world where they push through and imagine the beauty of the impossible.”
Incidents at the 22 Hotel
Opens Friday, August 13, 2010, 8PM
The Off Center
2211-A Hidalgo Street (between East 6th and 7th Streets and Robert Martinez)
Austin, TX 78702
Performances: Friday, Aug 13 and Sat, Aug 14 at 8pm
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