Imaginative theatre, a simple art gallery, and a small bar stocked with wine and great cupcakes is a perfect evening in downtown Los Angeles for any art lover.

The RedCat’s annual NOWFest 2011

(Credit: RedCat's New Original Works Festival)

The first story of the Thursday night show used all of these elements without hesitation.

There were bright luscious red figures seemed to glide in twisted shapes across the stage. Soft rose petals fell from the ceiling illumining vibrant colors.

Live music echoed in the theatre.  

"Laya Means Night" effortlessly combined dance, music, and acting in this vibrant story about a bride who uses her wit in storytelling to avoid being killed by her own husband.

The irony of the bride telling stories as the audience watches on is not ignored, but celebrated in this piece. There are moments when the actors directly acknowledge, and politely explain the representations on the stage for those who are slow to picking up symbolism.

Under the watch of an overbearing husband with an appetite for killing women, the bride manages each evening to tell a breathtaking story leaving her husband wanting more and sparing her life, and the life of other innocent women.

In this instance, storytelling can save lives. The story moves fluidly with the rhythms of the dancers who use every part of their body, and the choreography that fills every crevice of the stage. The use of color and costume in this piece is visually stunning, and left me wanting the bride to tell another story.

The Story is at the heart of the next piece, “Cattywampus,” which is a spin on the play “Miss Julie” by August Strindberg. It deals with the classic tension of class and power.  Add sex in that equation and you have the quick-witted banter of this play. 

Country music and lovers dancing, add a visual layer to the story of a simple man caught between two women, and a dead end future.While in the first piece dance is poetic in nature, “Cattywampus” stays true to its characters and features a line dancing number.

This number and other sporadic slow dancing provides a break in the serious tone that the story sometimes touches upon. The simple poor worker who has yearned for the rich pretty girl, stays engaged in both a power and emotional struggle. 

 At times the dialogue becomes repetitive in drilling in on its point, but the strong actors and breaks with dance and music keeps the story moving. There were times I was stunned at venom the characters spoke to each other with. But the fact is, the characters were so rare and honest I accepted their truth and pain. There is no nice way to explain the frustration that comes with a bleak life.

That is the sign of a performance that doesn’t just stretch the surface. I cringed, I laughed, I frowned, I smiled, and it made me think.

The New Original Works Performances are overtly daring and edgy. People looking for the traditional play or sing-a-long musical should seek elsewhere.  (“The Lion King” is back in theatres for two weeks for those who just want a feel good classic.)  But for those searching for a liberating experience that stimulates all the senses, makes you think, and stretches the limits of creativity, then it is not to be missed.

Each week in the three week run different original shows are presented.

"Cattywampus" and "Layla Means Night" will still be showing September 16,17 at 8:30pm.

September 22,23,24 at 8:30pm three new performances will be playing: "Zooplici Follies", "Sack", and "Smallest Gesture/Grandest Frame."

Reach Tallie here.