SFR Picks—Week of Dec. 1

Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

Everything changed when Just Say It brought nature to the stage.

Those ensconced in the Santa Fe community theater scene are surely familiar with Just Say It’s nonlinear, existentialist-themed shows. Here experimental theater fans will find a home, and it’s likely you’ll find yourself reacting like that Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme every time you identify another of the company’s interwoven themes. Helmed by co-artistic directors Dale Dunn and Lynn Goodwin, Just Say It is back with a double-billing titled Forces of Nature opening through the New Mexico Actor’s Lab (1213 Parkway Drive, (505) 395-6576), and if the troupe has anything to say about it, you can bet on these forces of nature resulting in major monologuing.

Avalanche!, written by Leslie Dillen and directed by consummate local theater champ Kent Kirkpatrick, follows a former ski champion trapped in post-avalanche air pocket with minutes to live. A mysterious presence joins her, asking her to re-examine the past. As the clock ticks down and the air runs out, our heroine perhaps discovers a spirituality previously untapped.

“Some plays take a lot longer to get where they’re going than you think they will,” Dillen says. “[A few years] ago, I...discovered that my life and spiritual experiences could bring new focus to the play—a theatricalization of a spiritual experience.”

Whereas Avalanche! focuses on a deeply personal (but, thankfully, fictional) experience, Sworn to Water, written by co-founder Dunn, and which she co-directed with Goodwin, leans more into biography. Dunn’s play steps into poet Lorine Niedecker’s world, who proved to have a major creative career despite the the rural Midwest’s isolation and probably a strong case of the winter blues (sorry Niedecker, no SAD lamps yet). The real Niedecker often wrote about waterscapes, hence the title.

“I was in a bit of a panic at first [when writing]. A play about a poet?” Dunn explains. “But as I did my research, I found Niedecker’s story heartbreaking. I was struck by how Niedecker turns to her surroundings to see her through rough times.”

Look, you could just sit at home this weekend or you can return to work on Monday with the superior reminder you’ve seen kick-ass one-act experimental plays. Take that, uncultured coworkers. (Riley Gardner)

Forces of Nature: An Evening of Two One-Act Plays: 7 pm Thursday, Dec. 2. $15-$25. New Mexico Actor’s Lab, 1213 Parkway Drive, justsayittheater.com

Half-Broke, All Rich

Fingers crossed your out-of-town buds are still hanging around post-Thanksgiving, because this is one of those magical Santa Fe weeks wherein going out (fully vaccinated and fully masked) means seeing friends, drinking heartily and trying to forget just how much you scarfed down the other day. For a certain set, this could—and should—mean a sojourn to Tiny’s, where the honky-tonk-meets-Americana stylings of Half-Broke Horses means a melange of acoustic guitars, danceable beats and Tecate cans served up on the cheap. Think about how lucky we are to still have neighborhood watering holes around here, then think about how your two-step could be the envy of all the other dancers should you nail it just right. (Alex De Vore)

Half-Broke Horses: 7 pm Thursday, Dec. 2. Free. Tiny’s Restaurant & Lounge, 1005 S St. Francis Drive, (505) 983-9817

Connection Troubles

Yes, we as a society have moved past “phone bad” analyses, but surely there’s still something to be said about how the distractions of modern life, including social media and alcohol, can interfere with genuine human connection. #UnderTheInfluence is a dark comedy opening at the Santa Fe Playhouse that follows two sisters—an influencer and an unemployed alcoholic who are the daughters of the first mommy blogger—who star in a reality TV show anchored to their tragic childhood. “It’s really about relationships and how individual people are wading through this new reality that’s only going to get more and more amplified,” playwright Kristin Goodman tells SFR. (Bella Davis)

#UnderTheInfluence: 7:30 pm Thursday, Dec. 2-Saturday, Dec. 4; 2 pm Sunday, Dec. 5. $15-$25. Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E De Vargas St., (505) 988-4262

Home is Where the You is

Feels like only a pick-of-the-week-ago we were talking about being home for the holidays, and now you can feel all the...whatever you feel when it comes to that with a special performance from the Santa Fe Symphony. Huzzah! Pop by the Club at Las Campanas for the aptly titled Home for the Holidays event, part of the org’s 38th season and a bit of the ol’ Christmas jamz (probably sans-Mariah Carey) replete with sparkling wine, a gourmet dinner, special gift certificate drawings and host David Felberg. We don’t know the guy, but we hear he’s magic. Thus, even if you’re one of those humbug types, you can surely pull it together for one night in the name of the warm feeling in your belly. Pricy? You bet, but Santa Fe deserves a symphony, dammit, and it’s up to the richies to keep it alive. (ADV)

Santa Fe Symphony: Home for the Holidays: 6 pm Monday, Dec. 6. $200. The Club at Las Campanas, 132 Clubhouse Drive, (505) 995-3500