Irondale is proud to present the New York premiere of Sea of Common Catastrophe, a surreal multimedia theater work that grapples with complicity in the face of rapid urban change. Designed and directed by Jeff Becker, who leads a team of fellow New Orleans-based artists, Sea of Common Catastrophe follows three long-time residents of a tiny seaside town whose lives are uprooted when a compelling stranger arrives. Inspired by a passage from Gabriel Garc?i?a Ma?rquez's novella Sea of Lost Time-where a town drowns on a Sunday afternoon but persists, submerged, in its daily life, as if the deluge had never occurred-Sea of Common Catastrophe uses spectacular lighting and video, live music, and an innovative two-story set to evoke a changing landscape of upscale living and chic restaurants that suddenly transforms into a magical sunken world.
Sea of Common Catastrophe is produced by ArtSpot Productions, a 23-year-old New Orleans-based company equally dedicated to social justice and original theater, and was developed, in part, through a deep consideration of the profound transformations that have swept through New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. The artists, many of whom have lived in New Orleans for decades, examined their own roles and responsibilities in the realities of gentrification and displacement. The resulting work, Sea of Common Catastrophe, challenges its audiences and its artists to consider the exploitations and the opportunities inherent in profound shifts of urban communities."New Orleans after Katrina was surreal in the truest sense of the word," says sculptor and director Jeff Becker. "The city became restless, there was a shift in demographics, its long-time residents became uneasy, and many did not return. New transplants saw opportunity in this restlessness and began to reinvent the city in the image they imagined New Orleans to be. As well-intentioned as some of these changes appeared to be, many people felt ignored, overlooked and unrepresented in the decisions made for their neighborhoods. It was also clear that many of these adverse effects were calculated and planned to force people to leave. This is the setting in whichSea of Common Catastrophe was conceived, in an ocean of change that forever transformed the city."Photos by Melisa Cardona/Lauren Hind
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