post

HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits)

Kenny Storms in HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits) (2010)

 

HOT + WAX: On Being Too Big To Fail (a piece in 8 bits)
conceived and directed by Julie Rada as devised with The LIDA Project*

A live performance blend of the Icarus story from Greek mythology, the 2009 economic crisis and 1980’s 8-bit video games. Princess Toadstool figures prominently, as does the boy whose wings melted in the sun. Joe Knossos, the head of the troubled financial products division, dodges the Minotaur as meat falls from the sky. The piece is highly-interactive with opportunities for witnesses to play old-school video games and manipulate the direction of the story.

HOT+WAX = flying too close to the sun.
HOT+WAX = getting all the coins.
HOT+WAX = finance porno.
HOT+WAX = 8 bits vs. naughty bits.

Production History
September 24 – October 23, 2010: BINDERY | space :: Denver, CO

Media Coverage
Icarus climbs corporate ladder in LIDA’s video game allegory – The Denver Post

The Company
Direction: Julie Rada
Scenic Design: Erin Ramsey
Lighting Design: Jacob M. Welch
Sound / Video Design: Ryan McRyhew
Music Composition: Ryan McRyhew / Neil Ewing
Costume Design: Annette Westerby
Properties Design: Annette Westerby
Choreography: Kelleen Shadow

Ensemble
Ploughman: Terry Burnsed
Mr. Joseph C. Knossos: Todd Webster
Daedalus: Leroy Leonard
Uncle Sam: Mike Marlow
Cellist: Eizabeth A. Nodich
Pasiphae / Your Mom: Elizabeth Parks
Icarus: Lorenzo Sariñana
Princess: Kelleen Shadow
Bull / Minotaur: Kenny Storms

Video

Images

* Development collaborators: Leroy Leonard, Elizabeth Parks, Julie Rada, Lorenzo Sariñana, Matthew Schultz, Kelleen Shadow, Kenny Storms, & Annette Westerby