Conceived & Directed by Nicolás Noreña
Featuring Text by Penny Arcade, Jess Barbagallo, Ethan Fishbane, Richard Foreman, Hillary Gao, Nazareth Hassan, John Jesurun, Marvin Just, Dhari Noel, Normandy Sherwood, Hayley Stahl & Fiona Templeton.
HERE Arts Center | 145 6th Ave, New York, NY 10013
October 21-November 7. 2026
Moments of wild despair meet an explosion of color, accompanied by triumphant movement sets in The Kick Inside at HERE Arts Center.
The Kick Inside is inspired by the music of Kate Bush. With curly red hair and a wide expressive face, Tatyana Kot sits in the movie theater, crying her eyes out. She is surrounded by a large ensemble. Her aim - to calmly tread through the streets with her neighbors and friends - is interrupted by upsetting moments, with people and animals careening towards her.
Director Nicolás Noreña challenges beauty and anguish, utilizing color, framing, and kinetic movement patterning to bring new life to performance texts and recorded tracks. Alenka eventually stands on her own two feet, after a trail of vignettes strive toward performance bliss.
Alenka's world illuminates in a surprising way at a bus stop, at a laundromat, and in a small room. What begins as deeply everyday interactions become otherworldly. As body parts become featured, the whole self is obscured - only a mouth intones one of the dramatic texts, arms and legs burst through a curtain to create a raised impression of flying while pedaling. Some of the darker, more frightening sequences include a Man as Dog series, with actors lifting their legs to spray trash bags. For this maneuver, performers are on their hands and knees, tussling on a black gym mat.
The choreographic impulse in the entire play is quite strong, prompting a typical HERE Arts Center attendee to ask, what about the stunning clash of color? Are there greater opportunities for sound or flashing lights? In a world of hot pink, red, and bright green, the characters reside, vying not for serenity but greater clarity of the moment. Kate Bush's haunting music carries an exasperated cry, and bottled emotion bursts out of Alenka only occasionally.
Emotional overload understood, we seek for greater meaning in the source texts of Richard Foreman, Penny Arcade, Ethan Fishbane, and John Jesurun, and others. Text from the thirteen writers mix with live foley by Marija Kovačević and dazzling lighting design from Daisy Long. Set design by Normandy Sherwood offers horizontal and vertical illusion with walls that fold into one another and disappear, and side entrances where one might perceive glimpses of a better way.
The drive to popularize performance art does not override the need to understand the human condition beyond all dire circumstances. With the introduction of this postulate, the creative team has won. Then, the continuous question is posed, is it inevitable that NYC will get better with the participation of friends? In a winding 90 minutes, it's likely that the answer would lie within.
Review by Marcina Zaccaria.
Click HERE for tickets.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on October 29, 2026. All rights reserved.