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Kim Katzberg in
Penetrating the Space
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In 2012, Kim Katzberg's parodied the one-woman-show genre in her own tragicomic one-woman-show,
Penetrating the Space,
at HERE Arts Center (her show received two 2012 IT Award nominations:
Kim for Outstanding Costume Design and Maia Cruz Palileo for Animation
and Sculpture design). In her show, she explored the misguided
attempts by a psychologically damaged actress to achieve mainstream and
commercial acceptance by exploring her her psyche in front of an
audience. It was a multi-media production with original songs (also by
Katzberg) as well as video and animation.
Kim, an NYU and
Colombia MFA Grad, is pursuing her career as an actor and a writer in
the City and is a teaching artist with Opening Act.
Kim's newest venture,
Darkling, directed by Raquel Cion, performs for only 2 performances, July 5th and 6th at the IRT Theatre on Christopher Street.
IRT
is a grassroots laboratory for independent theater and performance in
New York City, providing space and support to a new generation of
artists. Tucked away in the old Archive Building in Greenwich Village,
IRT's mission is to build a community of emerging and established
artists by creating a home for the development and presentation of new
work.
Set in 1989 (a period piece!), the play follows a
thirteen-year-old girl obsessed with goth figurines, losing her
virginity and keeping up with her troubled older sister. When her
sister commits a daring escape from a boarding school for wayward girls,
Trinity must decide whether to follow her into fantasy and madness, or
remain in the soulless suburban world she inhabits.
I asked Kim what she likes about developing her work on Off-Off-Broadway:
Kim:
"I enjoy the DIY aspect of indie theater. I thrive on the challenge of
hunting for awesome costumes and props in thrift stores and flea
markets. Doing it myself- producing, designing, acting and
writing...there is an intimacy and realness that is unique to indie
theater. My aesthetic is very homemade looking, and I have developed
that through being an indie theater maker."
She is in good
company, the list of other artists who have developed work at IRT are
Young Jean Lee, Reggie Watts, Mike Daisey, Tommy Smith, terraNOVA
Collective, Immediate Medium, The Nonsense Company/Rick Burkhardt, May
Adrales, Katt Lissard, Thomas Bradshaw, Group Theory, Crystal Skillman,
Collaboration Town, Rady&Bloom, and Erica Fay among others.
For more information about
Darkling, or for tickets, visit the
IRT website.
