Incubator Executive Producer
Shannon Sindelar

OHT Staff Curators
Peter Ksander
Travis Just
Brendan Regimbal
Shannon Sindelar

Incubator Guest Curators
Tiny Theater: Michael Gardner
Noise: Free103point9 (various artists)
Experimental Text: Sally Oswald & Jennifer Tsuei

In 2005, the OHT thoroughly revamped and updated its programs for emerging artists by starting the Ontological-Hysteric Incubator.  The INCUBATOR is programming which guides artists from workshop phases to fully realized productions. The INCUBATOR houses artists, who follow in the compositional theater footsteps of Foreman, but have their own unique visions and aesthetic strategies for tracing out the Ontological-Hysteric Theater's aim of unsettling perception and disorienting understanding.  The INCUBATOR programming provides these artists with aesthetic and practical mentorship and support on their way towards self-sustaining and more rigorous productions.

Ontological-Hysteric Incubator is long-term development and process oriented programming for emerging artists.  Ideally artists begin in one of its work-in-progress programs and grow towards fully realized and self-produced performances beyond the INCUBATOR.  They receive producing guidance and assistance according to their specific needs in marketing, fundraising, press relations, and technical and production management from OHT staff.  Those needs are determined by the OHT staff, the artists themselves, and the resources of the specific program in which they are participating.  During their time participating in the INCUBATOR and afterwards, Incubator artists should increase their exposure to audience, producers and peers thereby increasing their opportunities for audience growth, later production and artistic collaboration.

INCUBATOR PROGRAMS - OVERVIEW

FESTIVALS

TINY THEATER! is a performance festival started in 2006. At the Ontological, TINY THEATER = theater/dance/dance-theater/puppet-theater/object-theater/installation that takes place in 6' x 6' x 6' or smaller and in under 10 minutes. In 2007, this festival expanded to include The Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The 2008 festival will again be a partnership between The Brick and the Ontological.

EXPERIMENTAL TEXT is a four-night multi-arts event designed to promote interest in new forms of notation and unorthodox methods of making and presenting work. Started in 2007, the festival is curated by Incubator guests Sally Oswald and Jennifer Tsuei. The festival will feature short form works by established and emerging artists who will gather over a few months to discuss issues around working with experimental texts. THE WEEK-LONG FESTIVAL IS ON HIATUS FOR 2008 but will return in 2009.

NOISE! is a week-long sound performance festival started in 2005 and co-produced with Free103point9. It showcases the works of sound artists and performance-sound collaborations, with works ranging from the analog banging of pots and pans to hi-tech digital noise.

WORKSHOP PROGRAMS

SHORT FORM- theater for a new attention span is a 4-month interdisciplinary forum started in 2007 and curated by OHT staff members Brendan Regimbal and Peter Ksander for artists who are looking to explore new performance styles and clarify their aesthetic vision within the time constraint of the short form.  This program gives artists from a variety of backgrounds including theater, performance art, dance and installation, the opportunity to each create a small repertoire of four 10-minute performances that are thematically connected, but independent pieces of art.  In October 4--6 artists/groups are chosen to work in parallel for four months.  Each month starting in January the artists will present a new short work to the general public downstairs from the Ontological Theater, in the Parish Hall.  The artists will also meet once a month in private to discuss with each other and the program curators their aesthetic and technical plans as well as the challenges they are facing in the upcoming production. The program culminates in a weeklong presentation in May in the Ontological Theater.

EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC This series examines text, speech and gesture from the standpoint of music composition. Scores are sought for open and unconventional instrumentation in combination with text/speech/gesture and may be in any style and use any type of notation (improvisation, time-based, graphic, electronic, text-based/verbal, standard notation etc...).  New York-based ensemble Object Collection is in residence as the performing ensemble. Additionally, composers are invited to perform with the ensemble. The series is curated by Travis Just (co-artistic director of Object Collection and Ontological resident artist) and will consist of performances that occur approximately once a month beginning in January and running through April 2008. These events will occur downstairs from the Ontological Theater, in the Parish Hall at St. Mark's Church. In May, some artists will participate in the Experimental Music festival, in conjunction with the Noise festival, in the Ontological Theater.

PERFORMANCE PROGRAM

SUMMER RESIDENCIES are a co-production effort for more established artists who are ready for a 1 to 4 week run.  The OHT staff provide support for artists who are in the position to self-produce.  Each of the artists works closely with the Incubator staff to produce their work, receiving the theater and its equipment for the length of their residency (1--4 weeks), as well as press and marketing assistance over the year and technical advice and support for their load-in and strike. The participating companies receive feedback from OHT staff and advice on how to continue their professional development, including guidance with how to get their work shown in other NYC and international venues, fundraising and production management. However, the resident artists are expected to be artistically self-sufficient with their own technical artists and production staff. The deadline for summer 2008 residencies has passed; please watch the site if you're interested in applying for 2009.