Found, a piece by Mikal Glass will be open until Halloween at NYC’s Cell theatre.
The Cell’s first immersive experience, done either solo or with a group, begins with audience members indulging in Ben and Jerry’s and rather interesting cocktails before being greeted by Caro. Caro is an off-putting little girl who wants to participate in beauty pageants like her big sisters. The child, an anxiety-filled people pleaser, is played by recent NYU Tisch graduate and Milan native, Carolina De’Castiglioni who does an excellent job of setting the tone for the next half hour or so.
Once led upstairs, the audience is directed into a room aka Heaven, where Glass stands painting the site before him on a glass canvas: a doll sitting on an armchair. While painting, live music plays from a harp behind him as he explains his subject and the small mountain of dolls that surround him. Whether he’s in character or not is unclear. The audience learns during his time on Earth, Glass uncovered a baby doll on the streets of NYC, believing it to be a real baby. This trigging experience put together with the experience of his own daughter losing a treasured toy led him to adopt misplaced dolls and create posters for them so they could be found by their owners. Not only does the title fit the theme of Glass’ story, but it also describes the matter in which most of the set was constructed. In other words, the show is a brilliant display of found art or art made using ordinary, everyday objects.
Brilliantly combined with audio and visual effects and work from Sister Sylvester, Ronan Day-Lewis and more, Found is the most creepy, yet satisfying experience most appropriate for Halloween. It’s like a hunted house except instead of zombies and vampires, show-goers are haunted by harsh realities from a doll’s point of view. Tickets to Found are available on the Cell’s website cell’s website. Hurry before they’re sold out!
