Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with performance artist/theater maker Daniel Alexander Jones, and also with his alter-ego, the uber-glamorous “soulsonic superstar” - Jomama Jones. A conversation that touches on character, imagination, creativity, realness, possibility, and growth - in all its marvelous and weedy aspects - and the everyday work we do to tend that garden.

OK Radio

Daniel Alexander Jones - OK Radio Episode 85

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Natalia Koliada of the Belarus Free Theatre about the challenges of making art in a police state where people are regularly kidnapped, killed and tortured. We’ve blabbed a lot in this podcast about the difficulties of making theater even working in the best possible circumstances – so how does this ambitious company company manage to keep itself going in the face of real physical threat and displacement? (The leadership of the company, including Natalia, are currently in London living in exile, while the majority of their actors and collaborators remain in Belarus). How does it work when rehearsals are conducted over skype and performances are streamed live via internet from London for audiences in Belarus? Can we learn anything from their resourcefulness and perseverance? (Yes.)

Natalia Koliada (Belarus Free Theatre) - OK Radio Episode 84

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks again with the venerable comedian, musician, magpie - Reggie Watts.  A conversation about self-image, self-care, imitation and actualization.  How does an artist become an original, and what does that even mean?  How can we build into this idea of “image” the potential and even mandate to change and grow into the future? And how can we safeguard for ourselves the joy we have in making the work?  

Reggie Watts (No. 2) - OK Radio Episode 83

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Joeri Smet, Karolien De Bleser, and Angelo Tijssens of the Ghent-based company, Ontroerend Goed in our first ever podcast recorded in front of a live audience in Vooruit.  Join us as we consider whether or not the audience changes anything about the way we work.  When we work in front of an audience do we always somehow want it to go well?  Would it be better if we in fact created a little less community and a little more unrest? Or should we just shut up already and watch some football? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Ontroerend Goed - OK Radio Episode 82

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with writer, professor and researcher in cultural anthropology, Rik Pinxten of the University of Ghent, about such wide-ranging topics as creativity, animals, intuition, art, religion, science, culture, language, mathematics and finally our potential (and Rik feels there is a potential) to still change the world we live in. (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Rik Pinxten - OK Radio Episode 81

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Eva Verity and Hazel Venzon of the Canadian company Mammalian Diving Reflex – all about “art” as a category of human activity. Both of our companies make work which falls under this dubious moniker “art,” but the activity may be in each case very different in scope, location, participants, and intent.  So, what makes “art” – well – “art”? Or is this all-inclusive category even meaningful?  Is it something (much like Pavol’s moustache) that we should at last just stop touching and leave well enough alone? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Mammalian Diving Reflex (Eva Verity, Hazel Venzon) - OK Radio Episode 80

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with researcher and activist Barbara Van Dyck, who has been in the news recently in Belgium for her activity against a field of experimental genetically modified potatoes. From Barbara we learned a lot in just one short hour about the scientific concerns surrounding genetic modification of agriculture – and also enjoyed some hot discussion with her about art, activism, progress, the future and “the social good”. (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Barbara Van Dyck - OK Radio Episode 79

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with American dancer/choreographer/artist Andros Zins-Browne about his journey from the world of classical ballet through Chris Burden and Jackass, into modern dance and out again into his current work: Welcome to the Jungle. Join us for a conversation in which we reflect on more than a few personal experiences of reinvention, investigation, discovery, and evolution. (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Andros Zins-Browne - OK Radio Episode 78

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Belgian artist Sarah Vanhee about her recent project Lecture for Everyone for which she is invited by various groups to speak (always unannounced) in a location where an audience is already gathered for an entirely different situation or event. What does it mean to come into a public situation as an outsider or stranger? Who is the guest and who is the host in such a performance – in any performance? And just what do we invite when we intervene? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Sarah Vanhee - OK Radio Episode 77

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Barbara Raes, artistic director of Vooruit in Ghent.  Vooruit, originally the festival center of the Ghent labor movement, and a symbol of the socialist movement, is today a busy arts center and hub of cultural innovation.  The name “vooruit” translates in English to “forward, ” but are we capable curators of our own idealism?  Why does today’s passion for radical change always seem to become tomorrow’s collective burnout?  Should we strategize more and hope less? Is there such a thing as sustainable revolution? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Barbara Raes - OK Radio Episode 76

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with artists Halory Goerger and Antoine Defoort from the company L’Amicale de Production about finding a productive balance between collaboration and antagonism, both when we make work together as a duo or a team, and also in regard to our relationship with the audience, with whom we also work and work against in various ways.  Are there any rules to live by? Are we fundamentalists? What’s a Bible humper? And more importantly – when are these guys coming to perform in New York? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)

Halory Goerger & Antoine Defoort (L’Amicale de Production) - OK Radio Episode 75

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with playwright Jeffrey M. Jones (aka Jeff Jones) about death, politics and money. A podcast in which we dare to ask the question: who IS the President of the United States?  And what does the answer potentially imply about my mental competence? (Plus – added bonus! – we all imagine a future television series we would make based on life in the New York theater – something along the lines of Dallas, but with far less cash and fewer horses.)

Jeffrey M. Jones - OK Radio Episode 74

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to Philip Bither, Senior Curator of Performing Arts at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, about ego, humility, and identity.  Is it an arrogant act to program work (or make work) that you may personally feel is important -- for an audience who may not want that kind of challenge?  What is the grass roots work a good curator has to do to find and foster public interest (as populist as we can make it) in these so-called “difficult” works?

Philip Bither - OK Radio Episode 73

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with artist/choreographers Heine Avdal and Yukiko Shinozaki about performances in and out of the theater space.  Yukiko and Heine have made performances in their hotel room, in rented offices, shopping centers; Nature Theater has also worked inside and outside the traditional theater building - but why do we do it?  What uncomfortable questions does off-site work provoke about audience and our interaction and relationship with them?   

Avdal & Shinozaki - OK Radio Episode 72

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Lebanese visual and performing artist Rabih Mroué - about so many things! - but mainly about difference and similarity, self and community, solo and group, inside and outside, original and imitation.  Though we both make performance and theater, we come from very different backgrounds and environments, and even different working situations.  What are the influences that make us who and what we are and what we make?  And what has been his particular experience growing up and making art in Beirut?

Rabih Mroué - OK Radio Episode 71

Nature Theater of Oklahoma directors Kelly Copper and Pavol Liska talk to artists, curators and people around the world -- from New York to Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris, et. al. These are long form conversations in the spirit of the radio conversations of John Cage and Morton Feldman. Nothing is off limits. (Note: for photos of our guests and more information about the show, please be sure to visit the show website at www.okradio.org)

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