Review: Performance Art Night at the Common Ground Theatre

Friday night, Lauren and I went to the Common Ground Theatre in Durham for PAN VI. We had a blast. That pretty much sums it up. Oddly enough, I was a bit nervous attending this event. I'm not really the arty type, although I have always wished I was. I felt that by attending my first ever performance art night, I could start to get comfortable with the part of me that would love to reach out to the art world. I am so glad that Lauren and I went.

There were a few changes to the original schedule, but since we really had no idea what to expect anyway that was fine. We mainly wanted to see Jonathan, a new friend we met at the Duke Alumni event last week - and he was still on the schedule. With that being said, we were ready for whatever else was in store. We saw Jesus do stand-up and engage in some rather risque behavior, we saw a very mind blowing exploration of dark and glowsticks (impossible to explain - you just have to see it, and a very emotional performance from a young woman about body image issues and family influence - really amazing. And of course we saw Jonathan's multi format performance - panels, video, music, song and poetry. Really fantastic.

We were treated to a preview of "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll" which starts at the theatre September 5. The small scene we saw was fantastic, and I think I may actually get Mike out to go see the show when it starts. Each show a different local band is featured, and there are a few I would like to see. Marty's former band, the Pneurotics opens up the show, and evenHammer No More the Fingers and Veronique Diabolique plays, both whom I have heard good things about. This theatre thing may become a normal outing. yay!

With that all being said, I will keep you posted when I hear about the next Performance Art Night - it's free with donations accepted. It's a small and personal theatre. The pieces we saw performed were absolutely wonderful. I envy the performers and their ability to be so open with emotion in front of such a personal audience. Absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing, everyone, and keep it up!