REDCAT Presents the 19th Annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival

Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts’ downtown center for contemporary arts, presents the 19th annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival, a celebration of Los Angeles’ vibrant community of artists creating new performance work, over three weekends this summer: Aug. 18-20, Aug. 25-27, and Sept. 1-3, 2022.

This year’s festival showcases nine new works by Los Angeles artists who are redefining the boundaries of contemporary performance, inventing hybrid artistic disciplines, reimagining traditions, and confronting urgent issues — all which can be enjoyed either in-person or online through REDCAT’s website.

NOW Festival 2022 was organized by Edgar Miramontes, REDCAT’s Deputy Executive Director & Curator, with artists Meena Murugesan, jumatatu m. poe, and Kendra Ware. 

“REDCAT has worked to prioritize diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in its program offerings, staff, and artists. This year’s NOW Festival continues this practice by presenting a diverse range of artists, specifically focusing on BIPOC and queer artists,” said Miramontes “NOW 2022 aims to highlight issues of identity and intersectionality, which supports REDCAT’s mission to push the evolution of contemporary art and culture, develop new ideas, and create vital dialogue in our complex and changing world.”

In the spirit of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), REDCAT’s parent institution, the NOW Festival serves as a catalyst for creativity and new ideas. Each year, NOW transforms REDCAT into a laboratory for premiering new contemporary dance, theater, music, and multimedia performances. All artistic teams are provided rehearsal space, technical support, and artist fees. Since the first edition in 2004, NOW Festival has presented the work of over 200 L.A.-based artists who continue to be seen on stages throughout the U.S. and abroad. 

Each of the three festival weekends features a triple bill of world premieres in a shared evening. Each program will premiere on Thursday evening and repeat Friday and Saturday at 8:30 pm. Performances will also be livestreamed each Saturday evening during the festival’s run.

Week One (Program One): Aug. 18-20, 2022 will feature the following world premieres: Achinta S. McDaniel: Restless autumn. restless spring; Lindsey Red-tail: You can vision with Them; and X’ene Sky: Vengeance.

Week Two (Program Two): Aug. 25-27, 2022 will premiere Jay Carlon with Micaela Tobin: Novena;
Joe Diebes: ENG; and Stephanie Zaletel | szalt: 5 basic movements (vagus excerpt)

The final program (Program Three) will take place Sept. 1-3, 2022 and will feature the following world premieres: Sarahjeen François: Sister, Braid My Hair; Sara Lyons: This Emancipation Thing; The Rock Collection: Fault | Lines.

Tickets are $20 for General admission ($15 virtual); $16 for REDCAT members and students ($12 virtual); and $14 for CalArts students, faculty and staff ($8 virtual). Festival passes are also available – cost of in-person is $40 and cost of virtual is $30. Click here for more information.