10 Alternative Performing Arts Events in NYC | Jumping Off Point

Then She Fell will break down your assumptions of how theater should be done. This immersive experience goes beyond audience participation and instead asks audience members to physically explore the created landscape individually. This theatrical experience is intricately designed so each audience member discovers the story unfolding in front of them in a highly individualized way. Like choose your own adventure but where the story combines ‘a hospital ward, the writings of Lewis Carroll, and just 15 audience members per show‘ as well as a superb cast of performers. Audience members must be 21+ except on some nights where the age restriction is dropped to 18. This is due to beverages that are dolled out throughout the show, almost all of which are alcoholic.

The Kingsland Ward at St. Johns, 195 Maujer Street, Brooklyn, New York, NY, USA, +1 718 374 5196

While spectacle is frankly part of the fun of opera, the social formality and stuffiness associated with the art form can deter some. Enter LoftOpera, the intimate opera experience in Brooklyn that does away with the opera house, seating assignments and dress codes while maintaining a high level of musical excellence and reverence to the iconic scores of Puccini and Mozart. LoftOpera typically performs in warehouse spaces with tickets that are more affordable than larger opera companies in New York like The Metropolitan Opera. For opera lovers who want to view their favorites through a new lens or for people who have always thought they hated opera, check out LoftOpera this summer at Industry City, dates TBD.

Location dependent on current production.

Ice Factory is an Obie award-winning summer festival made up of completely new theater works. Running from June 24 to August 8, this festival hosted by the New Ohio Theatre is an essential part of any theater-lover’s summer must-see list. While more conventionally structured than some of the other options on this list, Ice Factory is sure to intellectually challenge theater-goers and fellow artists while presenting radical ideas and pushing the accepted boundaries of theater. Ice Factory is wonderful as a stand-alone experience but also acts as an introduction to the New Ohio Theatre community.

New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street, New York, New York, USA, +1 212 675 6446

For site-specific movement pieces, re-appropriation of public space and a dance festival that will expose you to new ways of using movement as art check out River to River in Lower Manhattan until the end of June. Performance venues include Pier 15, the Fulton Center and Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park (where you can catch the Trisha Brown Dance Company). Though the festival itself is short, don’t be surprised if you discover an artist whose work you’ll follow for years to come.

Multiple performance locations.