OUT OF ORDER
created and performed by Carl Holder
August 29 – September 8, 2024
For Press Release and Photos CLICK HERE.
Read Jeff Borak’s comments on the show in The Berkshire Eagle HERE or HERE
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“A joyful, generously compassionate parlor game of a play. It might be a hell of a lark but there’s more going on just below the party atmosphere that will have you pulling narrative strands out of the performance and creating your own play in your mind. Holder enters the lobby of Bridge Street from their offices dressed all in white-hoodie, sweatpants and sweat socks looking like some kind of experimental scientific model of humanity. “What makes this show distinctive and treasured is Holder’s loving, gentle relationship with the audience reminding them frequently that they have no obligation to participate but he patiently waited for us to cross that line. He was also an incredible performer, and when you think how mind-bogglingly different the performance is night to night – that standing ovation I was tempted to give in the opening moments? Thoroughly justified!!” Patrick White, Nippertown (Complete review HERE.) |
Audience comments from previous performances
“OUT OF ORDER is “Out of This World”!!! Carl has found a way to turn theater into an intimate evening evocative of a sophisticated sleepover-party-game. I’ve seen it 3 times and no show has ever been the same – except for the thrill of surprise, and the thrill of meeting new friends through the journey that is this wild, wild show!”
“A warm embrace, the eerie feeling of seeing yourself in a stranger, the adrenaline of vulnerability. And it made my father laugh. Wickedly hilarious, endlessly relatable. We watch the performer, but we imagine ourselves.”
“A one-of-a-kind experience that makes you think, laugh, feel, and become one with the actor and fellow audience members!”
“OUT OF ORDER took me on a wild ride of emotions. Carl’s toggle between characters is majestic, weird, and electric.”
“I loved it, and it very much felt like a celebration.”
“OUT OF ORDER, had me laughing and evoked creative inspiration inside me. Each performance brought different energies that left me wanting more!”
“What a FANTASTIC evening. I’ve told a LOT of people about it — just really loved it…the whole conceit of the play was so fun — I still laugh thinking about you prancing/dancing on all fours!”
“OUT OF ORDER is one of the most unique and compelling theater experiences I have ever had! It takes you along an unexpected journey filled with fun, introspection, humor and vulnerability that feels truly intimate and inviting.”
“OUT OF ORDER is a rare and wonderful combination of surprising, funny, touching, and strange.”
It’s a game! It’s a play! It’s an experiment in truly connecting with the audience, testing the limits of intimacy and the roots of performance. And Carl Holder’s remarkable new solo show “Out Of Order” is coming to Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances only August 29 – September 8.
Originally conceived to be performed in people’s living rooms, “Out Of Order” is an up-close and personal experience unlike any you’ve ever had in a theatre before – one that’ll leave you stunned, moved, and on the verge of tears when you aren’t laughing your ass off. 50 index cards with written instructions on them are placed in a bin. Some contain characters, stories, confessions; others prompt group activities involving the audience. At each performance, Carl selects one card at a time and performs the instructions written on it in whatever order the universe dictates. So no two performances are ever quite the same. And true to the play’s initial creative impulse, Bridge Street Theatre will be presenting “Out Of Order” in the cozy confines of its Speakeasy lobby space, with couches and chairs scattered about and Carl performing in and around the audience.
You’re smart. You go to the theater. But when was the last time you were just present? Can you even remember simpler days? Who did you think you could be once? Come over and play with your friend Carl. It won’t hurt! You’ve never experienced anything like this before. Come prepared to laugh, cry, and have the way you see the world changed forever.