WHAT: Katie Pearl's "OK, OK" at Ko Festival of Performance
WHERE: Amherst College campus in Amherst, MA
WHEN: July 12-14, 2019
KATIE PEARL TAKES BACK HER HISTORY IN “OK, OK”
AT THE 28TH SEASON OF THE KO FESTIVAL OF PERFORMANCE: HABITAT
In light of the growing awareness of race, politics, and history, do we have an obligation to look back on the habitat in which we were raised and examine what we once took for granted? Katie Pearl’s “OK, OK” is a performance reckoning with the racism of today through the lens of what she learned—and didn’t learn—about Oklahoma history while growing up in Tulsa, OK. “OK, OK” will be performed as part of the 28th Ko Festival of Performance, July 12, 13, and 14 in the Holden Theater at Amherst College.
Performed with a local ensemble of four, with Katie Pearl backed by an inter-generational Greek chorus of women, “OK, OK” weaves together personal biography and civic narrative to crack open closed surfaces and get at what’s underneath. At Ko, the chorus includes Sheila Siragusa, one of the area’s favorite actor/directors and a founding member of Ko; Laurie McCants, who closed last summer’s Ko Festival with her performance “Industrious Angels;” Carrie J. Cole, Ko Festival dramaturg; and Lindsay Barr, the youngest cast member, who is a Carnegie Mellon theater student and Ko intern. Hilarious, heartbreaking and informative, Pearl’s play reveals the truths and untruths we as a country tell ourselves about who we are, where we came from, and where we’re going. “OK, OK” was developed, in part, during a 2018 Ko Festival Rehearsal Residency. Deb O is the set designer and Ko Festival Artistic Director Sabrina Hamilton will design the lights.
Writer/performer Katie Pearl is a director, playwright, and social practice artist whose work is fueled by the belief that personal encounter and creative exchange are necessary in a humane world. Her projects range from plays to interactive installation to community-wide collaborations, and invite audiences and participants into radically imaginative situations that playfully challenge traditional structures and norms. As co-Artistic Director of PearlDamour, the interdisciplinary company she shares with playwright Lisa D’Amour, Katie has co-created, directed, and sometimes performed in a body of work spanning 20 years and 13 cities. PearlDamour’s recognition includes an Obie (“Nita & Zita” - which was a KoFest performance in 2005), a Creative Capital Award (How to Build a Forest), four Multi-Arts Production Fund Awards (“LandMark,” “Terrible Things,” “How to Build a Forest”), two NEA Our Town grants (“Milton”), and a NYSCA individual artist commission. For more visit http://katiepearl.com/
Performances are Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13 and 8:00 PM, Sunday, July 14 at 4:00 PM. KoFest performances take place in Amherst College’s Holden Theater, located behind the Admissions Office off South Pleasant Street in Amherst, MA. Tickets are $22 Adults / $18 Students & Seniors and $10 for SNAP/EBT cardholders. Tickets and further information on the savings that come with the KoFest “Passes & Posses” program are also available at kofest.com or by calling the box office after July 1 at (413) 542-3750. Before July 1, information can be found online or at (413) 427-6147. Call about a limited number of $8 tickets.
More information about the artists can be found at kofest.com.
The Ko Festival, where the only certainty is surprise!
WEBSITE: kofest.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/KoFest
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ko_festival/
TWITTER: @kofest
Funded, in part, by The Massachusetts Cultural Council, a stage agency, The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and by Art Angels.
KATIE PEARL TAKES BACK HER HISTORY IN “OK, OK”
AT THE 28TH SEASON OF THE KO FESTIVAL OF PERFORMANCE: HABITAT
In light of the growing awareness of race, politics, and history, do we have an obligation to look back on the habitat in which we were raised and examine what we once took for granted? Katie Pearl’s “OK, OK” is a performance reckoning with the racism of today through the lens of what she learned—and didn’t learn—about Oklahoma history while growing up in Tulsa, OK. “OK, OK” will be performed as part of the 28th Ko Festival of Performance, July 12, 13, and 14 in the Holden Theater at Amherst College.
Performed with a local ensemble of four, with Katie Pearl backed by an inter-generational Greek chorus of women, “OK, OK” weaves together personal biography and civic narrative to crack open closed surfaces and get at what’s underneath. At Ko, the chorus includes Sheila Siragusa, one of the area’s favorite actor/directors and a founding member of Ko; Laurie McCants, who closed last summer’s Ko Festival with her performance “Industrious Angels;” Carrie J. Cole, Ko Festival dramaturg; and Lindsay Barr, the youngest cast member, who is a Carnegie Mellon theater student and Ko intern. Hilarious, heartbreaking and informative, Pearl’s play reveals the truths and untruths we as a country tell ourselves about who we are, where we came from, and where we’re going. “OK, OK” was developed, in part, during a 2018 Ko Festival Rehearsal Residency. Deb O is the set designer and Ko Festival Artistic Director Sabrina Hamilton will design the lights.
Writer/performer Katie Pearl is a director, playwright, and social practice artist whose work is fueled by the belief that personal encounter and creative exchange are necessary in a humane world. Her projects range from plays to interactive installation to community-wide collaborations, and invite audiences and participants into radically imaginative situations that playfully challenge traditional structures and norms. As co-Artistic Director of PearlDamour, the interdisciplinary company she shares with playwright Lisa D’Amour, Katie has co-created, directed, and sometimes performed in a body of work spanning 20 years and 13 cities. PearlDamour’s recognition includes an Obie (“Nita & Zita” - which was a KoFest performance in 2005), a Creative Capital Award (How to Build a Forest), four Multi-Arts Production Fund Awards (“LandMark,” “Terrible Things,” “How to Build a Forest”), two NEA Our Town grants (“Milton”), and a NYSCA individual artist commission. For more visit http://katiepearl.com/
Performances are Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13 and 8:00 PM, Sunday, July 14 at 4:00 PM. KoFest performances take place in Amherst College’s Holden Theater, located behind the Admissions Office off South Pleasant Street in Amherst, MA. Tickets are $22 Adults / $18 Students & Seniors and $10 for SNAP/EBT cardholders. Tickets and further information on the savings that come with the KoFest “Passes & Posses” program are also available at kofest.com or by calling the box office after July 1 at (413) 542-3750. Before July 1, information can be found online or at (413) 427-6147. Call about a limited number of $8 tickets.
More information about the artists can be found at kofest.com.
The Ko Festival, where the only certainty is surprise!
WEBSITE: kofest.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/KoFest
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ko_festival/
TWITTER: @kofest
Funded, in part, by The Massachusetts Cultural Council, a stage agency, The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and by Art Angels.
