The Under the Radar Festival Is Back On

Under the Radar founder and artistic director Mark Russell has announced that the festival of experimental theater, once thought dead, will return next year (January 5-21) to venues around New York City.

“Under the Radar is a festival that each year celebrates the vibrancy of new theater, in New York and internationally,” said Russell in a press statement. “At this moment, even in very challenging times, there is still innovative work rising from communities around New York and in far-reaching parts of the globe.”

Fans of experimental theater in New York City were outraged in June when the Public Theater, which had hosted the festival for 17 of its 18 editions, announced that it would not be a part of its upcoming 2023-24 season. This seemed to spell the end of a festival that had struggled in recent years to maintain a foothold in January, during what is now widely understood to be a high season for Covid and the flu.

Under the Radar’s resurrection is a collaboration of Russell and independent producer ArKtype, with contribution from Abrons Arts Center with Ping Chong and Company, Fisher Center at Bard with the Invisible Dog Art Center, Chelsea Factory, Japan Society, La MaMa, Lincoln Center, Mabou Mines with Performance Space New York, New York Live Arts | Live Artery, NYU Skirball, St. Ann’s Warehouse with Irish Arts Center, and Theatre for a New Audience with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Soho Rep, and NAATCO National Partnership Project.

The 2024 festival will feature work by Cliff Cardinal, Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Dynasty Handbag, Tania El Khoury, Inua Ellams, Jessica L. Hagan, Nile Harris, John Jarboe, Albert Ibokwe Khoza, Motus, Yu Murai/Kaimaku Pennant Race, Pan Pan Theatre, and Peter Mills Weiss and Julia Mounsey. More titles and details will be announced soon.

You can learn more about the upcoming return of Under the Radar here.