Miami Theater Center (MTC) is proud to present Genus Genet, the first SandBox Series performance of the 2015-2016 season. A collaboration by Danilo de la Torre and David Rohn, Genus Genet will be presented at the SandBox, a black-box theater next to MTC’s MainStage.
Performances are open to the general public on Fridays and Saturdays, at 8 p.m., November 13th through November 28th, 2015.
Written, produced, and choreographed by the performing artists, Genus Genet is based on the true story and fascinating life of French playwright and cineaste Jean Genet. The performance explores Genet’s life through the lens of his own rebellious genius and philosophical imagination. The artist’s turbulent life – from orphanages to the French Foreign Legion and prostitution – is portrayed via gripping multi-media vignettes that mirror the anti-establishment icon’s vivid and visceral imagery.
Genus Genet is composed of 12 individual vignette “masques,” each filled with a flavor intended to encapsulate a period of Genet’s life, both idealized and real, as reflected in a combination of the events and the creative work Genet was producing at the time.
Through unique movement, music, costumes, dialogue and multi-media, Danilo de la Torre and David Rohn take audiences through the French playwright’s life events, including: Genet’s time in foster homes and orphanages; prison; his establishment of contacts with influential figures like Jean Cocteau, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Pablo Picasso (all of whom intervened when Genet was about to be sentenced to life imprisonment for a tenth successive criminal offense); war-time in Paris under Nazi-occupation; his politically-themed work; activism in the 1960’s and 1970’s; and ultimately his death in a hotel room in Paris in 1986.
Danilo de la Torre is a Cuban performer, choreographer, and drag star who has worked in musical theater and cabaret since he was 17 years old. In 1986, De La Torre came to Miami Beach and developed his drag persona – Adora, the undisputed “Queen of South Beach.”
David Rohn grew up in the New York suburbs and studied urbanism, art history, and art at Colgate and New York University. Rohn also studied architecture at the Pratt Institute and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He moved to Miami in 1992 where he experimented with performance art, incorporating interactive and situational elements with installation, self-portraiture and video in his performances.
In 2008, Rohn and De La Torre formed Homo-Sapiens – Art for Evolution. Together they’ve exhibited collaborative performance projects in Miami at Miami Beach Cinematheque, The Wolfsonian, Miami Light Project, Vizcaya Museum, and MTC.
Performances of Genus Genet will take place at the SandBox, next to MTC’s MainStage, located at 9806 NE 2nd Avenue in Miami Shores.
The SandBox Series is presented with support from a generous Knight Arts Challenge Grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and Board of County Commissioners.
Tickets to Genus Genet are $25 and may be purchased online at www.mtcmiami.org or by calling 305.751.9550. Group, student, and senior ticket prices are available.