Sad Boys in Harpy Land is a falling apart coming-of-age tale, a decaying bildungsroman, a semi-autobiographical tour-de-farce. Equal parts sad clown show, demented cabaret, and extended crisis of meaning, Tatarsky collages narratives of art making and despair into an unhinged solo performance that takes place in the hellscape of the mind. It is also a deranged adaptation of a very long German novel about a little boy who wants to change the world with his plays but doesn’t quite know how. Embracing the spiral, the unfinished, and the broken bits, the piece attempts to move through the inaction born of anxiety, shame, and overwhelm towards strange & ecstatic modes of re-making the world together.
Sad Boys in Harpy Land was commissioned by Abrons Arts Center through the Jerome Foundation AIRspace Residency Program.
Playwrights Horizons, Inc, in New York City produced the NYC Off Broadway Premiere of Sad Boys in Harpy Land in 2023.
Sad Boys in Harpy Land received development support through FringeArts, the Jilline Ringle Solo Performance Program at 1812 Productions, Poetry Electric at La Mama ETC, MAAS and Cannonball Festival.
PERFORMANCES
Friday, March 21 at 7 PM
Saturday, March 22 at 7 PM
Sunday, March 23 at 2 PM
FringeArts
140 N. Columbus Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
CREATIVE TEAM
Created & Performed by Alex Tatarsky
Live Music by Shane Riley
Scenic, Props, Costume Design by Andreea Mincic
Lighting Design by Masha Tsimring
Directed by Iris McCloughan
Developed with Eva Steinmetz
Dramaturgy by Basie Allen, Lisa Fagan
Alex Tatarsky
Called “a hilarious, finely tuned absurdist” (Theatre Jones), Alex Tatarsky makes performances in the uncomfortable in-between zone of comedy, dance-theater, performance art, and deluded rant–sometimes with songs. Tatarsky experienced fleeting fame as Andy Kaufman’s daughter and used to perform as a mound of dirt. Playing with perceptions of language and narrative structure, their live performances are highly responsive to venue and audience, often breaking the fourth wall and embracing humor to reveal vulnerability and humanity. Recent works include Americana Psychobabble (La Mama), Dirt Trip (MoMA PS1), Untitled Freakout (The Kitchen), Gnome Core (Glen Foerd), MATERIAL (The Whitney Museum of American Art) and Sad Boys in Harpy Land (Abrons Arts Center, Playwrights Horizons). They perform frequently at Vox Populi, Space 1026, and many bars and basements. As curatorial fellow at the Poetry Project, they organized a series on the poetics of rot. Research interests include bootlegs, hellscapes, and compost. @tartar.biz
March Comedy Weekend
Join us for a weekend full of laughter with some CLOWN-tastic Philly Fringe encores!
Make it a double feature Friday and Saturday with late-night solo shows featuring Sohrab Haghverdi’s Sohrab is Bumbling Foriegner and Sterling Duns’ blckgoorue.
