Performances feature artists stepping out of comfort zones
Variety performance series Soiree Experimentale returns to art gallery
Experimental art is back at the Penticton Art Gallery tonight for the first Soiree Experimentale of 2018.
The fourth edition in the often weird (in a good way) variety performance created by local artist Petra Holler and co-curated by local musician Travis Eek features five acts with artists stepping out of their comfort zones.
For the first time at Soiree is the two-piece audio-visual performance art group Senile Minds. The duo is made up of Dennis Echlin and Miles McPherson.
Using video creation and modular synthesizers, the pair, originally from Ontario and now living in Keremeos, explore sight and sound in unique ways — taking their influence from older electronic music like the works of German composer Klaus Schulze.
“It’s different every time, for sure. We often will create a set for a specific performance. So it will be brand new every time, more or less,” Echlin said.
Also performing at the Soiree is Isaac Gilbert with his Peach Gravy Theatre Co-operative.
Many of their previous shows have emulated the format of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” However, in the experimental spirit of the Soiree, they are looking to get even further out of their comfort zone.
One game, called Actor’s Worst Nightmare, will see one player given a script to stick to while everyone else in the scene improvises. Another new game called No Laughing features the actors in a serious improvised scene tagged out as soon as they laugh.
“They are two games we haven’t really done before, and it goes more into the long-form aspect of it, creating that story instead of quirky games that are quick and simple,” explained Gilbert.
Soiree Experimentale will also feature performances by Chris Mackenzie, Christopher Millin, Jenny Moon and Sleepwalker, Instigator and Man.
Tickets to the show, which starts at 7 p.m., cost $10 in advance at the gallery or $15 at the door.