Carolina Performing Arts begins unorthodox series

This fall Carolina Performing Arts offers a new experimental series that breaks down the formality between artist and audience.

The Loading Dock Series will have the audience enter through the back of Memorial Hall from the loading dock, sit on the stage with the artist and have a discussion after the performance.

“We’ll hang a red light over the loading dock door and you’ll feel like you’re coming into a club off an alley,” said Emil Kang, CPA director. “There will be a completely different vibe. You’ll see a shop. You’ll see a saw. You’ll see a piano hanging out in the corner. You’ll see chairs in stacks. That whole feel is there.”

The backstage area in Memorial Hall will be the lobby for these performances. Audience members will either sit facing the artist or in a circle surrounding the artist.

Yas, a popular Iranian hip-hop artist, who was scheduled to open the series with a performance Sept. 17., canceled last week due to family conflicts.

While the cancellation of an artist might be seen as an economic problem for some programs, Kang said it actually will save money.

He explained that even in a sold-out house, ticket prices never cover all the expenses for a show. Additional donations and funding from the University make up the difference.

The Loading Dock series will bring in foreign and thought-provoking artists, as the CPA full-stage schedule promises.

For the first show in the series, Rha Goddess, a hip-hop performer and playwright, will present her piece, Low. The act chronicles a woman’s journey through the mental health system.

A similar series, PlayMakers Repertory Company’s PRC2, also offers some well-known performances in an informal setting.

“The plays are meant to try our experimental acts, which can be controversial,” said Stephen Akin, box office manager for PlayMakers. “Every show has a post discussion with panelists from different areas of the University.”

The first performance of the fall series is The Last Cargo Cult by Mike Daisey, opening Sept. 16.

All the PRC2 artists have some national fame, but usually only in a certain niche, he said.

“For example, Mike Daisey is a famous national performer; he is big in New York City but not a lot of people know about him here,” Akin said.

These performances are presented in the Kenan Theatre, a smaller space than PlayMakers’ usual venue, and run for one week.

Both series offer audiences a chance to see high-quality performances with a different setting.

“We are looking at trying to do more and more performances outside the traditional setting. These are most likely artists you’ve never seen before,” Kang said.

“Many students come to Carolina and this becomes their window, their springboard to everything else. If something that you’ve experienced on this campus gets you to do that extra bit of research, homework, exploration, then we’ve done our job.”


Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.