Now it's New

Artists Lab opens minds at Tri Cycle Farm

It's more than just theater. It's storytelling. Well, that and art installation and performance art. And it's part choose-your-own-adventure and immersion experience.

Exactly what "New Now" is may be kind of hard to define, but if you're Erika Wilhite, that is just as good.

"The New Now 2.0" opens today at Tri Cycle farm in Fayetteville, created in partnership with nonprofit Artist Laboratory Theater. The show is in its second incarnation.

The first installation, called "Connections," was a performance series which investigated the impact of social media on personal presence and interpersonal relationships, says Wilhite. Since the show debuted, the artists, including site-specific designers Nathan Morton and Heather Youngers, continued to develop the show, creating an ongoing discourse on the human condition in the modern world, she says.

"We are looking at how our lives are different because of social media, how personal space and even food are all a little different now that we have so much going on," Wilhite says.

The immersion experience allows audience members to become part of the show, although they will be guided by the actors and directors, she says. They can also expect to have a unique experience, different from any other participant, she says.

"We are creating a personal experience for you," she says. "We're customer service, if you will. You may be handed a paper that no one else will get, or, if you register your cell phone number, you might get a text or photo to your phone that no one else would see. It's encountering storytelling in a brand new way."

The audience will weave through different vignettes and scenes, some lasting several minutes and others only a few seconds, say Wilhite, which will put forth the idea of how modern romance, poverty, death and conflict are affected by social media. The two-hour show is really wide open, she says, but it promises to leave the audience talking.

"We've spent seven weeks conducting community dialogue sessions, exploring the themes of the 'New Now,'" she says. "We looked at a list of ideas developed from this and elaborated on it to create something that is unlike any theater experience you will have in Northwest Arkansas."

Patrons are asked to wear comfortable clothes and shoes for this performance, although chairs will be provided. Food will be sampled, but it will not be much, so people are asked to eat before they come.

NAN What's Up on 09/19/2014

Upcoming Events