Phil Soltanoff and Steven Wendt (The Institute of Useless Activity)
THIS AND THAT

September 7-24, 2022
Previews September 7-9 / Official Opening September 10
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7pm

$20-$25

Performances will take place at The Chocolate Factory Theater, 38-33 24th Street, Long Island City.

This performance contains strobe-like effects.

View the show program.

The Chocolate Factory Theater is thrilled to partner with The Bushwick Starr to present The Institute of Useless Activity’s THIS AND THAT, co-created by international theater director Phil Soltanoff (2020 Herb Alpert Award recipient) and performer/puppeteer Steven Wendt (Blue Man Group). What is THIS? What is THAT? — THAT imagines the creation of the universe, THIS is about the people in it – their romantic sense of longing, loss, alienation and near miss… a cowboy sleeps under the stars, a family puts their child to sleep for the night, a crooner serenades his lover, a jazz pianist fantasizes while he plays. The vignettes morph from one scene to another— hand shadows inspired by the sculptures of Henry Moore dissolve into each scene.

“A Welcome Gust of Weird, and Adventures in Shadow Puppetry” – Laura Collins-Hughes, New York Times

“Everything Avant Garde is Old Again” – Helen Shaw, The New Yorker

“VIEWPOINTS: Beguiled by the avant-garde” – Interludes