(RUS)H
by James Scruggs
Directed by Kristin Marting
Video design by James Scruggs
A HERE Arts Center Production
Presented at 3LD Art & Technology Center
Premiered February 2008 3LD Art &Technology Center

“(Rus)h . . . highlights an exciting group of young performers and demonstrates that experiments in multidisciplinary theatre need be neither bloated and ostentatious, nor inaccessible and pretentious.”

“. . . the production as a whole held my interest and earned my admiration more than anything I’ve seen in recent months.”

“The virtuosity of the designers and the performers, all of whom are first-rate, is a testament to the value of Here Arts Center’s resident artist program, which allows ensembles to work together over a period of time to create new work. The actors bite into their roles with a commitment and enthusiasm that bring life to moments that might otherwise not have worked. When the characters challenge the audience to give them advice or to provide them with drugs, they do so with a longing and an intensity that makes us feel genuinely uncomfortable rather than annoyed by a device we’ve seen countless times. Both more challenging and more polished than many shows with higher profiles (and higher ticket prices), (Rus)h is a welcome sign that there is still plenty of life, innovation, and bite in New York's downtown theatre scene.”
                                                                              Frank Episale  offoffonline.com

“With its themes of sexual violence and clever use of high-tech multimedia elements, James Scruggs's and Kristin Marting's (RUS)H has all
the markings of a downtown avant-garde theatrical production, but there is also something quite simple about its presentation. Structured in the form of a Greek tragedy, (RUS)H offers a compelling look into addiction and the yearning to feel something beyond one's normal day-to-day experiences.”

“This latest collaboration of Scruggs and Marting marks them as an artistic partnership of thoughtful innovation and abundant talent, and (RUS)H stands as a creative cocktail of strong writing, effective staging, innovative stylistic choices, and fine performances.”

“The chorus of this tragedy consists of two "video puppets"—performers clad in black who do not speak but rather hold video monitors in each hand. These video puppets are used to great effect and they—combined with the video screen backdrop that replaces a more traditional set—are an ingenious stylistic device for a piece that is so much about what lurks unsaid under the surface. Providing foreshadowing and glimpses of the inner thoughts and feelings of these characters, they
add emotional and psychological layering to (RUS)H in a way that doesn't bog down playwright James Scruggs's lean prose.”
                                                                                    Fred Backus  nytheatre.com

Inspired by the myth of Icarus, RUS is an intimate psychosexual mystery of  a man lured into a dark, heightened, world, the physical and emotional boundaries he exceeds, and the devastating results that occur. RUS is a hybrid performance piece with multiple channels of video, text, music, and an experimental video puppet rig.  The sonic sound-scape of throbbing Latin beats fills the world, with dance used as an alternate means of communication.

COLLABORATORS/CREATIVES
Created/Written/Video Designed…James Scruggs
Director… Kristin Marting
Media Effects Design… Hal Eager
Environment/Special Props… Michael O’Reilly
Choreography… Anabella Lenzu
Lighting Design… Christopher Brown
Fight Choreography… Qui Nguyen
Sound Design… Matthew Tennie
Composer… Steve Adorno
Costume Design… Chris Rumery

PERFORMERS
Marc Bovino    Chandra Thomas    Dax Valdes    Luis Vega    Lathrop Walker