Expiration Date

Comments (0) By Brad Richason Wednesday, Apr 4 2012

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Old Arizona Studio

2821 Nicollet Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Category: Performing Arts Venues

Region: Uptown/ Eat Street

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For such a pervasive presence, death tends to linger in the shadows of most narratives, emerging only for the sake of building dramatic tension, a fateful force to be narrowly averted or futilely resisted. Whether a character comes to a gracious or ghastly end, popular depictions of dying usually feel utterly superficial when compared to the complexity of real-life mortality. Even works lauded for their deathbed realism frequently succumb to mawkish sentimentality. Honestly rendering the distressing physical and psychological decline (not to mention the gallows humor) wrought by dying is an endeavor undertaken by only the most courageous artists. Displaying such intrepidness, acclaimed performance artist Candy Simmons dares to stare down the Grim Reaper with her latest solo work, Expiration Date. Renowned for her emotionally evocative performances, Simmons developed the piece as a means of exploring a subject that — for all its inevitability — is generally avoided. Infusing multiple roles with revealing monologues, stirring movements (choreographed by Zenon Dance Company's Tamara Ober), and poignant video projections, Simmons enacts the story of Lucille, a young woman diagnosed with a terminal illness. Given a mere six months to live, she attempts to reconcile her yearning for life with the imminence of her death. Drawn from real-world testimonials, Expiration Date looks beyond fear and despair to discover a serene comfort in the great unknown. (Photo by Aaron Fenster)
Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Starts: March 30. Continues through April 7, 2012