I've been a fan of performance art for as long as I can remember. As a kid, my sister took me to see Disney on Ice and I was mesmerized. Years later, we went to a Cirque du Soleil show together and it was thrilling. During a trip to New York, I seized upon the opportunity to see Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark despite the less than stellar reviews and loved it. My best friend and I drove about three hours to see Wicked and our most recent performance art outing involved watching The Lion King.
Despite my strong appreciation for them, we all know that shows like Wicked and The Lion King can cost a tremendous amount of money. With my other responsibilities and obligations, what's a fan of plays to do?
Last month I was introduced to something called Micro Theater Miami after someone I know was performing one of their plays there. Despite being told about what it was, I was still slightly confused about it until I decided to go check it out for myself.
I was in for quite the pleasant surprise.
Tucked away behind a building, Micro Theater Miami takes place within a series of shipping containers each adorned with unique artwork. If it weren't because of the lights and the activity of people, one would never guess that each of those shipping containers is hosting a unique play.
Every month, Micro Theater Miami has a different theme and each play is somehow based around that theme. Now here's where I things get interesting. Each play is performed several times during the evening as they are all a maximum of fifteen minutes long. Think of it as bite-sized performance art if you will. The ticket counter shows which plays are coming up and attendees are free to choose which one they wish to see...for a mere $5 each.
As I still had time to kill before the play I primarily came to see would begin, I went on suggestions and paid to watch a musical called “No Es Por Culpa Del Amor” (It's Not Because of Love).
Being among the first people to walk into the shipping container and/or performance venue, I was initially shocked by just how compact and intimate it felt. Each play has seats for about twenty people or so, so it definitely feels “micro” if that particular showing ends up selling out.
Once the show began, I was just as surprised by how close I was to the actors. To give an idea of just how close I was, had I been standing up instead of sitting down, I literally would've been face to face with the actor. Yes, it's that intimate.
The musical was hilarious and quite entertaining and I was amazed at how the actors were able to tell a full story from beginning to end through song all in the span of fifteen minutes.
The other play I watched prior to the “main event” was an English language one called “Mr. Right Now”. Neither I nor the person I was with quite understood the message it may have been trying to convey, but it was funny and I found it incredible how the people behind it were able to set up a whole elaborate scene with so many props despite the limited amount of space.
Ultimately I found Micro Theater Miami to be a refreshingly unique way to enjoy some performance art, albeit on a much smaller scale. The mini plays are the perfect length and because they're short, it's possible to watch several of them. It makes for an exciting weekend outing and I'm already looking forward to returning to check out all of the new plays based around this month's new theme.
Micro Theater Miami takes place every weekend from 8 pm to 11 pm. You can find out more at http://www.microtheatermiami.com/en .
