THE SILVER, THE BLACK, THE WICKED DANCE (2016)
Visually spare, brutally comic, and deeply layered in sound and text, The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance is a dark, comedic play about predation in American life. The tar pits, the Great Plains, and an imagined outer space are cold and silent landscapes upon which the euphoric drive to create others as foreign and to become foreign to oneself circulates in abstract vaudevilles of organ regeneration, alien acceptance, and depersonalization. The text, written by Asher Hartman through the work of the company, draws on historical and philosophical material, popular culture, and an extended dialogue with the company about the origins of and interest in shame among privileged populations in the 21st century.
Out in the dark, The Raccoon and The Trapper wait.
RACOON
Curse food, curse life, said the thin man
Who he?
A malnourished man
From the swamps?
No, the trees
He come from hills afraid and craven
But in rivers of gold he found his haven.
TRAPPER
She had it all set up.
I walked in.
There were fish and rocks
Skulls
Hieroglyphs
She set me up, man.
Cattle, geese, deer
RACOON
Fauna.
Written and directed by Asher Hartman
Produced by Margot Moss
Featuring: Bryatt Bryant, Philip Littell, Zut Lors, Paul Outlaw, Chelsea Rector, Joe Seely, and Kensington Smith
Curator Special initiatives, José Luis Blondet, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Assistant Curator, Elizabeth Gerber, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Composer and performer, Chris Kallmyer
Movement choreography, Margot Moss and Ensemble
Dramaturgy, Philip Littell, Mark Allen
Lighting design, Chu-Hsuan Chang
Special properties, Andy Daley, Candice Lin, Zut Lors
Stage Manager, Winona Bechtle
Assistant Stage Manager, Grace Weilebinski
Documentation, Ian Byers-Gamber
Website design and photography, Haruko Tanaka
Production Assistants, Kailin He and Danni Wei
Production stills, Marianne Williams
Special thanks to Jane Burrell, Senior Vice President of Education and Public Programs at LACMA, Mark Allen, Emily Mast, Chris Candelaria, Candice Lin, the Hartman-Napoli family, and Edgar Frias
For Mark Rucker
Performances
The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance performed 3 shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on Friday, May 13, 2016 at 7:30PM and on Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 5PM and 7:30PM.
The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance in the Press
"Episode 41: Asher Hartman & Chelsea Rector"
Interview on The Peoples Radio, July 16, 2016
"Skin of the Actor, Teeth of the Artist"
By Asher Hartman for The Brooklyn Rail, July 11, 2016
"An interview with Asher Hartman in the afterglow of The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance"
By laub for notes on looking, July 6, 2016
"A Conversation with Asher Hartman on The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance"
By Jose Luis Blondet for LACMA Unframed, April 30, 2016