Walking into Deus Ex Machina is like stumbling headfirst through a mirror and ending up in a Jean Cocteau film. Here the art surrounds and circles the admirer, close enough to pounce. With its disembodied hands hanging from the ceiling, and its collection of televisors (which look like TVs designed by 19th century mad scientists) playing their flickering dreamy loops of silent film, Deus Ex Machina looks and feels like a place that was born and lives only in dreams and nightmares.
So it's entirely appropriate that on Saturday, May 29th the folks behind Deus Ex and their mad hatter friends in Backwards Theatre will be putting on "Dream Scream", a night of experimental theater, video, and stories inspired by dreams.
We talked with Jeff Falk, one of the masterminds behind Deus Ex and Backwards Theatre, to see what the Deux Ex Machina will conjure up for us this weekend.
Is the dream-inspired material in the upcoming event written just for this show?
New stuff overall. Most of it has been written for this show. Dreams happen almost every night so the subconscious material is already there waiting to be accessed. We will be using a little technique called "brainstorming on the edge of your seat" to dredge for material. Instead of trying to plug the leaky hole at the bottom of the sea we want to open it up.
Saturday will be the return of The Hungry Eye, the trio that previously broke up but is coming back for one night. What's their history and why are they reforming for one night only?
The Hungry Eye was strictly experimental from the beginning ... A lot of what we did was spur of the moment -- put on a costume, grab a weird prop and start ranting or running around the room or just sitting on a chair, candles flickering, dressed as a priest handing out communion wafers in the middle of the maelstrom.
Later on we did some gigs at Scottsdale Community College at The Paper Heart, M.A.R.S. Artspace, Modified Arts and Planet Earth Theatre. Then we just pursued our own things. Jack Evans did his poetry. Leslie Barton began a serious run at rock stardom by being part of several bands here in the Valley.
It's just one night this time. We will probably always work together off and on.
Who else will be sharing their dreams at the show?
We have some video works by Greg Roberts as well as Annie Lopez, a special guest narrator, to tell some of the dream stories. Michele and Richard Bledsoe, both Deus Ex Machina artists, will come along for the ride as well.
What's next?
We tend to slack off a bit in the summer. The audiences thin out. It gets hot as hell and we take more road trips. But we'll resume our regular schedule in October.
Dream Scream will be happening on Saturday, May 29th at Deus Ex Machina (1023 NW. Grand Avenue). Show starts at 8pm, admission is $5.