There’s magic brewing in a tucked away spot in the West Village of Manhattan, conjured by some of the most exciting downtown artists creating immersive short-form pieces of theatre for kids and families.

For the second year in a row, the UP CLOSE Festival will offer families an alternative to the more traditional holiday fare uptown. Drawing inspiration from the writings of author and activist Jane Jacobs, as well as the rich and forgotten history of the neighborhood, the artists of UP CLOSE will create “hyperlocal” original pieces that bring the New Ohio’s basement theater to life in surprising ways. Part installation, part interactive performance, these experimental works provide an exciting format at the intersection of community engagement, locally-inspired art, immersive theater practice, and family entertainment.

With the festival prep in full swing, TYA Today spoke with the UP CLOSE Festival team to learn more about this intriguing new format in immersive performance for young people.

MORE ABOUT THE 2019 PROGRAM

Marisol Rosa-Shapiro, who delighted 2018 UP CLOSE audiences as Beat Poet-obsessed Pizza Rat, reprises her beloved character as our local expert host and will be joined by a team of Archive Apprentices – four NYC teenagers recruited from local public high schools and Trusty Sidekick Theatre Company’s Young Devisers initiative. This new team will perform as uniquely engaging stewards of the Archive building basement on Christopher Street, developing their characters under the guidance of Trusty Sidekick’s Brit Gossett and Esteban Rodriguez-Alverio. Together, they will invite the audience to discover the artifacts and lore of the festival’s three featured Greenwich Village stories:

The 2nd Annual UP CLOSE Festival will be presented Dec 27-Jan 4. For more information and tickets, visit upclosefestival.com.

Topic Immersive Theatre

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