You can uncover a treasure trove of stories!
A series of short theatrical and dance performances will reveal the stories of Fort Greene — but audiences will have to hunt for them! “Pop Up: An Artistic Treasure Hunt,” running Oct. 4–6, will send audience members on a creative treasure hunt through Fort Greene, following clues on a hand-drawn map to the next artistic interpretation of the neighborhood, said the show’s director.
“You walk around, following the clues to find the next performance, and visit these different performances that all happen in different parts of Fort Greene,” said Leese Walker. “It makes the neighborhood come alive.”
Each night, visitors must unlock the secret locations of five unique performances, each based on true stories that Walker gathered while interviewing Fort Greene residents last spring.
“We tried to interview a broad range of people,” said Walker. “We got some really interesting responses. We found out some rumors, secrets about the neighborhoods, people’s dreams, their impressions of the neighborhood. And then we use all that material.”
The free shows can be seen more than once, said Walker: the shows on Friday and Saturday will be largely the same, but the Sunday afternoon and evening performances will feature completely different stories, and every night contains a heavy dose of improvisation.
“There’s several places where any of the performers can pull from any of the interviews during their improv,” she said. “For example, one piece features a string trio playing while an actor performs a monologue. Several things we uncovered in the interviews may come up in the improvised monologue.”
Other scenes feature pre-set numbers directly inspired by details uncovered in the interview process, according to Walker.
“There’s going to be a percussion piece, because there were several people who told us that the ‘sound of Fort Greene’ was percussion and drums,” she said.
Walker, a Prospect Heights native who now lives in New Jersey, said the interviews unveiled a wide-spread desire for more greenery in Fort Greene.
“A lot of people that we interviewed wished there was more trees in the area — more greenery, and less skyscrapers. So that is definitely going to come up in a few places,” she said. “One of the ways that will manifest itself is with a clown — Agent Green — whose mission it is to ‘green-up’ Fort Greene with balloons and things like that.”
The show only lasts three days, but the impressions left behind can last a lifetime, said Walker.
“It leaves a kind-of trace behind,” she said. “Even though these performances pop up and then disappear quickly, they can leave behind a memory that changes your perception of the neighborhood.”
“Pop Up: An Artistic Treasure Hunt” [location in Fort Greene location provided the day prior, sign up at www.strik
