En Garde Arts

Orestes 1993

"En Garde Arts" is a New York City-based theatre company, and a pioneer in the field of immersive theatre.


Founded in 1985 by Anne Hamburger, the company was New York’s first exclusively site-specific theatre, leading audiences to unexpected locations across the city for innovative, contemporary, highly visual new work. En Garde’s productions earned 6 OBIEs, 2 Drama Desk Awards and the Special Outer Critics Circle Award. The company ceased operations in 1999 when Hamburger relocated to the West Coast, first as Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse, and later to run a global division for the Walt Disney Company. She returned to the east coast, reformed the company, and re-launched En Garde in the fall of 2014.

En Garde Arts in the 80s and 90s

From 1985-1999, Hamburger commissioned playwrights, directors and composers to create theatrical pieces for architectural sites and neighborhoods. The roster of En Garde’s alumni artists includes playwrights Charles L. Mee, Mac Wellman, Maria Irene Fornes; composers David Van Tieghem, Jonathan Larson; directors Michael Engler, Tina Landau, Anne Bogart, Reza Abdoh, Jim Simpson and Bill Rauch; and actors Carl Hancock Rux, Fiona Shaw, Fisher Stevens, Tyne Daly and Jefferson Mays. Intrepid audiences followed their work to a variety of locations, including Central Park, the Meatpacking District, Penn Yards, East River Park, Pier 25, the Chelsea Hotel, the Victory Theater (New Victory Theatre, and the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets in Lower Manhattan.

In 1989, En Garde produced a series of three plays at the Dairy, Belvedere Castle and Bow Bridge(Central Park) in Central Park to great critical acclaim. OBIE Awards for Best New American Play and Best Director were given to BAD PENNY playwright Mac Wellman and director Jim Simpson . The New York Times wrote, “Moving environmentally through the streets and buildings of Manhattan, En Garde Arts is an invigorating urban presence.” The following year, Wellman’s play CROWBAR became the first legitimate theatrical production to be held in 42nd Street’s Victory Theatre for 60 years. Designed and built for Oscar Hammerstein in 1900, the theatre’s elaborately decorated interior remained intact despite decades of neglect, including 20 years as porn theatre. CROWBAR was produced before 42nd Street’s redevelopment, and En Garde Arts could not find a cleaning company willing to take on the job, so a group of volunteers cleaned the interior to make way for Mac Wellman’s new play. Directed by Richard Caliban with music by David Van Tieghem, CROWBAR won OBIEs for En Garde Arts and actor Elzbieta Czyzewska, and was granted a Special Award by the Outer Critics Circle.

Now firmly in league with New York’s most influential and innovative theatre companies, En Garde continued to produce iconoclastic, critically acclaimed, award-winning work throughout the 1990s. Reza Abdoh & Mira-Lani Oglesby’s spectacular, AIDS era cri de coeur, FATHER WAS A PECULIAR MAN took place over 9 distinct locations through the Meatpacking District, long before it’s gentrification.

J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation 1995

In an abandoned Victorian hospital on West 106th Street, Charles L. Mee’s ANOTHER PERSON IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY confronted the social marginalization of unconventional people; in fact, it was a celebration of difference, played like a beautiful human symphony under a blanket of stars. Director Anne Bogart’s cast included a blind choir with seeing eye dogs, a group of emotionally disturbed rock musicians, and a man and woman, both 3’ tall, all staged against the gothic, empty Towers Nursing Home(New York Cancer Hospital). The evening ended with a stunning waterfall cascading down the building’s stone facade.

En Garde would win further OBIE Awards for Tina Landau & Charles L. Mee’s ORESTES in the Penn Yards, and Trojan Women in East River Park Amphitheatre. Deborah Warner’s adaptation of The Wasteland with Fiona Shaw earned two Drama Desk Awards. Hamburger used the New York Stock Exchange as a backdrop for JP MORGAN SAVES THE NATION by composer Jonathan Larson. On opening night, he slipped her a cassette tape of the work he was just developing; it would become the musical phenomenon RENT. Hamburger was recognized with the Edwin Booth and Lee Reynolds Awards for the impressive body of her work. In 1999, she was offered and accepted the post of Artistic Director with the La Jolla Playhouse. Within six months of moving to California, she received an offer to establish a new creative division for the Walt Disney Company, where she remained until returning to New York.

Re-launch

Hamburger re-launched En Garde Arts in 2014 with BASETRACK Live, a gripping, multimedia fusion of music, film, photojournalism and performance, that explores the impact of war on veterans and their families. The show was developed in collaboration with the corpsmen and families of the 1st Battalion 8th Marines. BASETRACK Live, created by Edward Bilous, music direction by Michelle DiBucci, directed by Seth Bockley, co-adapted by Jason Grote with Seth Bockley and Anne Hamburger. Music Co-Composed by Edward Bilous, Michelle DiBucci and Greg Kalember. Anne Hamburger, Executive Producer, Portia Kamons, Producer (Inspired by the website One-Eight Basetrack, a citizen journalism project featuring the work of Teru Kuwayama, Balazs Gardi and Tivadar Domaniczky). The production premiered in Austin, TX in September 2014, and is touring to over 20 cities nationally with a New York premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Veterans Day 2014.

BOSSS

En Garde Arts continued to grow, creating the highly anticipated Emerging Arts Festival BOSSS (Big Outdoor Site Specific Stuff) in the fall of 2015. Beginning in early 2015, Hamburger gathered multiple artists together once a week to brainstorm ideas. Hamburger mentored the artists as pieces began to take shape, working with the Hudson River Park as a performance space. Completely free to the public, the festival featured 9 site specific shows, including a feminist march through the park, to a first date with Bina48, the most advanced artificial intelligence-enableed robot in the world. After complications due to tropical storm Joaquin, the festival was moved from its original dates in early October to the weekend of October 23rd. En Garde Arts plans to make BOSSS an annual event.

AMPPP

AMPP (Artists Mobilizing for Performance Passion Projects) is a program created by En Garde Arts designed specifically to create multi-disciplinary, documentary theatre works about critical social issues. Starting with BASETRACK, AMPPP brings together stories of everyday people with the creative ability of acclaimed artists to create new theatrical experiences with the intention to start new conversations about the most pressing issues in society today. While BASETRACK focused on the stories of war veterans, En Garde's newest project WILDERNESS focuses on the stories of teenagers and the way they communicate with their families. The project focuses on communication problems brought on by things like drug, alcohol, or computer addiction, as well as emotional withdrawal and depression. Working with the Pace University Theatre Program and the Schimmel Center, WILDNERNESS will undergo multiple workshops and readings in NYC over the next year.

Production history

1985: The Ritual Project (Central Park) En Engarde Arts supported project, funded by a Lower Manhattan production grant. This collaboration included writer, Nancy Beckett and composer, Kim Sherman and sculptor, Michael Berkowicz. Directed by Michael Engler, performed by Kate Fugeli as the Girl, and sung by three opera singers, including Susan..?

1986: Terminal Bar (abandoned car showroom, SoHo) written by Paul Selig, directed by Michael Engler, starring Fisher Stevens

1987: Naked Chambers (intersection of Greenwich & Chambers Streets, TriBeCa) written by Dick Beebe, starring Richard Gottlieb[1]

1988: 3 Pieces for a Warehouse (warehouse, Lower Westside) by Maria Irene Fornes, Anna Cassio and Quincy Long[2]

1989: At the Chelsea (Hotel Chelsea) including A Quiet Evening with Sid and Nancy starring Penny Arcade (performer) and Steven Wastell; The Room with David Van Tieghem and Tina Dudek; Embedded by Ann Carlson; Letters From Dead People by Frank Maya; and John Kelly performing as Joni Mitchell[3]

1989: Plays in the Park (Central Park), including Bad Penny written by Mac Wellman and directed by Jim Simpson[4]

1989: Krapp's Last Tape (1 Main Street, Brooklyn Waterfront) starring and directed by Paul Zimet of The Talking Band[5]

1990: Crowbar (Victory Theater, 42nd St) written by Mac Wellman, directed by Richard Caliban, with music by David Van Tieghem[6]

1990: Father Was a Peculiar Man (Meatpacking District) directed by Reza Abdoh, co-written by Reza Abdoh & Mira-Lani Oglesby[7]

1991: Another Person Is a Foreign Country (Towers Nursing Home, 455 Central Park West) written by Charles L. Mee, Jr., directed by Anne Bogart[8]

1991: Occasional Grace (Universalist Church at Central Park West & 76th St) directed by Bill Rauch

1992: Vanquished by Voodoo (façade of the Dwyer Warehouse, Harlem) written and directed by Laurie Carlos, featuring Carl Hancock Rux and Viola Sheely[9]

1993: Strange Feet (Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution) written by Mac Wellman, directed by Jim Simpson, music by David Van Tieghem[10]

1993: Orestes (Penn Yards) adapted by Charles L. Mee, Jr., directed by Tina Landau, starring Jefferson Mays and Theresa McCarthy[11]

1994: Marathon Dancing (Grand Ballroom, Masonic Grand Lodge at 71 West 23rd St.) written by Laura Harrington, directed by Anne Bogart, music by Christopher Drobny, choreography by Alison Shafer[12]

1994: Stonewall: Night Variations (Pier 25 on the Hudson River) directed by Tina Landau[13]

1995: J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation (outside Federal Hall National Memorial at the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets, Lower Manhattan) book and lyrics by Jeffrey M. Jones, music by Jonathan Larson, directed by Jean Randich, choreography by Doug Elkins[14]

1996: The Trojan Women: A Love Story (East River Park Amphitheater) written by Charles L. Mee, Jr., directed by Tina Landau, starring Sharon Scruggs[15]

1996: The Waste Land (Liberty Theatre (New York, New York), 42nd St.) directed by Deborah Warner, starring Fiona Shaw[16]

1997: Sweet Thereisenstradt (Archa Theater, Prague), based on the diary of Willi Mahler, directed by Damien Gray[17]

1998: Mystery School (Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, 172 Norfolk St., SoHo) written by Paul Selig, directed by Doug Hughes, music and sound design by David Van Tieghem, starring Tyne Daly[18]

1998: Secret History of the Lower East Side (roof of the Seward Park High School, 350 Grand St, Lower East Side) written by Carlos Murillo, Alice Tuan and Peter Ullian, directed by Matthew Wilder[19]

2014: BASETRACK Live, created by Edward Bilous, co-adapted by Jason Grote & Seth Bockley & Anne Hamburger, Directed by Seth Bockley, Music Composed by Michelle DiBucci, Edward Bilous and Greg Kalember. (Inspired by the website One-Eight Basetrack, a citizen journalism project featuring the work of Teru Kuwayama, Balazs Gardi and Tivadar Domaniczky)

Awards

Obie Awards (6): Bad Penny (Best New American Play: Mac Wellman) 1990; Bad Penny (Best Direction: Jim Simpson) 1990; Crowbar (Performance: Elzbieta Czyzewska) 1990; En Garde Arts (Obie Grant) 1991; Orestes (Performance: Jefferson Mays) 1994; The Trojan Women (Performance: Sharon Scruggs) 1997[20]

Drama Desk Awards (2): The Waste Land (Outstanding One Person Show, Unique Theatrical Experience) 1997[21]

Outer Critics Circle Awards (1): Crowbar (Special Award) 1989-90[22]

Edwin Booth Award 1995

References

Official Website

BASETRACK Live Website

Daily Texas Article on BASETRACK Live

CoCreate Article on BASETRACK Live

The Brigade Article on BASETRACK Live

  1. ↑ Gussow, M. (10/1/1987) “Critic’s Notebook; The World on Windows, in ‘Site-Specific’ Drama”, New York Times.
  2. ↑ Gussow, M. (5/20/1988) “Review/Theater; Peripatetic Double Bill By En Garde Arts”, New York Times.
  3. ↑ Artforum, May 1989
  4. ↑ Gussow, M. (6/20/1989) “Review/Theater; 3 Site-Specific Plays in Central Park”, New York Times.
  5. ↑ Gussow, M. (12/17/1989) “Review/Theater; Reflections of Despair In a Sardonic ‘Krapp’”, New York Times.
  6. ↑ Gussow, M. (2/20/1990) “Review/Theater; Lead Role for a Theater, With the Audience on Stage”, New York Times.
  7. ↑ Collins, G. (7/19/1990) “Street Theater Audience Must Make a Choice”, New York Times.
  8. ↑ Holden, S. (9/10/1991) “In Decayed, Empty Nursing Home, A Pageant of the Lame and Hurt”, New York Times.
  9. ↑ Gussow, M. (6/17/1992) “Theater in Review”, New York Times
  10. ↑ Sommers, P. (2/27/1993) “Performance; Small-Scale ‘Strange Feet’”, Washington Post.
  11. ↑ Bruckner, D. (6/30/1993) “Theater in Review”, New York Times
  12. ↑ Canby, V. (3/20/1994) “Theater in Review; They’re Dancing as Fast as They Can”, New York Times.
  13. ↑ Canby, V. (7/3/1994) “Celebrating a Birthday and a Battle”, New York Times.
  14. ↑ Brantley, B. (6/16/1995) “Theater Review; ‘J.P. Morgan’ and Some Heavy Site-Specificity”, New York Times.
  15. ↑ Brantley, B. (7/3/1996) “Theater Review; An Epic War Resolved With a Gershwin Ditty”, New York Times.
  16. ↑ Brantley, B. (11/18/1996) “Memory and Desire: Hearing Eliot’s Passion”, New York Times.
  17. ↑ Fuchs, E. (3/2/1997) “A Mordant Tale of the Holocaust”, New York Times
  18. ↑ Marks, P. (3/13/1998) “Theater Review; Tyne Daly Re-Emerges as a New Age Totem Pole”, New York Times.
  19. ↑ Gates, A. (9/21/1998) “Theater Review; On a Roof, Vignettes That Get Around”, New York Times.
  20. ↑ The Village Voice
  21. ↑ Drama Desk Awards’ History
  22. ↑ Outer Critics Circle Archive

Information from the New York Times online archives and the En Garde Arts archives.

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