In Performance: Ivo Dimchev’s Fest at American Realness (New York)

© Ivo Dimchev

Fest unfolds with the smooth logic of a nightmare. Mr. Dimchev is being courted to perform at a festival in Copenhagen. In a trio of encounters with the curator, the technical director, and a critic, the mechanics of power are articulated through disturbingly hilarious scenes of sex and violence. The central metaphors are simple (and apt) enough; it is the hypnotic commitment of Mr. Dimchev and his co-performers that makes Fest simultaneously hysterical and sinister. Dimchev in particular inhabits the stage with a ferocious sophistication; his performance alone is worth the ticket price.Ivo Dimchev’s savagely entertaining Fest at American Realness.
By Ben Gansky

Fest continues at American Realness through Sunday, January 11th.

Idea, text, direction Ivo Dimchev
Performed by Dolores Hulan, Sandra Wieser, Mirko Feliziani, Ivo Dimchev
Light design Giacomo Gorini
Music Emilian Gatsov
Production of Humarts Foundation and Volksroom Brussels
Co-produced by Impulstanz Vienna, Kaaitheater Brussels, Frascati Amsterdam