Are You Sick, or Just Acting?

Last Friday night, during dinner in the garden at A.O.C., I was unexpectedly offered free tickets to a work of "experimental dance theater" called Traumnovela. Although common sense warned me that anything free is being given away for a reason, especially in NY, I daringly decided to give it a try. After some moules frites, a Magnolia cupcake (the sublime red velvet, which is rarely available except for on holidays), and a completely unintentional detour involving hitherto unknown corners of the West Village, I arrived at the Barrow St. Theatre. It was nearly showtime, yet the house doors remained closed due to "technical issues." Once the show finally began, it became clear that "technical issues" should have been the least of the cast and crew's worries. I'm not sure I've ever experienced such a strong urge to walk out of a performance, but I was honestly worried about embarrassing myself by bursting into laughter at an inopportune moment. The uniquely horrific combination of risque costuming, bizarre plot, unimaginative lyrics, fog machines and a sparkly unitard was unfortunately hilarious. My fears of mortification were put to rest when, about 20 minutes in, the actors abruptly left the stage. The audience was told that a member of the cast was ill and the performance would resume shortly. My companion and I were dumbfounded - was the sick actor the redhead who had earlier collapsed onstage and been replanted into her chair by a castmate? We had assumed it was all part of the show, but we didn't stick around to find out.