WILKOMEN
Silliness goes hand in hand with change.
We combine experimental play with classical rigor.
We create work that takes advantage of the medium of theatre.
“A strong group of artists doing something weird, wild and unique.”
— Molly Serenduke, Theatre Night Out
From Taylor Mac’s Gary A Sequel to Titus Andronicus:
The clown encourages the idiotic
By getting laughs and praise for being dumb.
But Fools, they tease out our stupidity
With brains, so spark our feelings and our smarts.
The clown’s a selfish bloke whose only goal’s
To satisfy his belly, heart, and groin.
But Fools are empathetic sorts who learn
The suffering of others ‘cause they’ve been
Thrown out of homes and had the poo of life
Thrown at them just for being different-from.
And so while clowns are in it for themselves,
A fool’s ambition is to save the world!
The noun Volk is a German word that translates to people. It can be used to describe crowds, a community, ethnicity or nationality. You might find it parallels the English word Folk in meaning and sound. The pronunciations are very similar as the "V" in German sounds like "F" in English.
OUR NAME
Our logo is a whimsical play on the Räuberrad.
From German Theatre History Scholar Christine Korte:
The Räuberrad, is a roughly drawn wheel with two stick legs copied from a medieval graffiti associated with actors, criminals, and traveling people…the symbol was related to those whose existence was relegated to the margins of history…[connected to] subcultures, anarchists, and to disenfranchised communities—to the “losers” of history. The Räuberrad permeated the Berlin streets as a refrain of resistance.
OUR LOGO
Audience Reactions
“I believed all of it, to the point where I wondered if some was improv. It was THAT good. Felt like a fever dream, but also felt like I was just hanging out with my friends. Very familiar.”
“I’ve never seen a show like this, and can still put it up against others as one of the best shows I’ve seen...incredible heart.”
“The writing was excellent! Several layers and depths of storyline playing out multidimensionally in real time.”
“Everything felt tender and urgent and present.”
“It...blew my expectations away with how emotional it made me.”
“I expected the moon and got the back of the Universe, in the best way.”
“I came with a friend from out of town just looking for something cool to do in NYC together and it was a super cool experience. We’re both really glad we saw [Take Me To Dollywood] and will remember it.”
HARRIS SINGER
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
CO-FOUNDER
SAMMY RIVAS
ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
CO-FOUNDER
THE FOOL VOLK