Under The Radar is turning five this year! What began as a one weekend symposium festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse back in 2005 is now a full blown two weekend Festival open to all New Yorkers as well as visitors from around the country and the world. UTR is a theater festival that acts like a film festival, we make it so that you can usually see more than one piece in an evening, for a price that is less than a movie with popcorn. The idea is to dive in and see as much work as you can at Under The Radar. We have assembled some of the most adventurous work happening downtown and around the world.

There are several themes running through this festival, one of them, very appropriate for a 5 year old festival, is growing up. Another is the East – as we are hosting special performances from Korea and Cambodia this year. We continue our focus on future aesthetics – performances influenced by hip hop. However I leave it to you the audience, to tease out the other threads of meaning this festival will bring forth. That is always part of the fun.

We find ourselves at a time in America with a new president about to take office. We all have great hopes and fears for the future, there is a lot to be done. Let’s take a brief moment just before the hard work begins to take stock of what our theater artists are saying to us. Slip under the radar to see what they see, hear the stories they have to tell. Directly or indirectly I count on our contemporary artists to illuminate our world, make us think in a different way.

I hope to see you in the lobby at Under The Radar.

Mark Russell
Producer and Artistic Director, Under The Radar