Heather Kravas

Performances will take place at The Chocolate Factory Theater, 38-33 24th Street, Long Island City.

Pouffy piles, wobbly stacks, loops, lists, gerunds, slaps, slips, crashes, splits, sobs, bad mother fuckers and shitty mommies.* Take that, and that, and that, and that, and that. “There is no such thing as repetition,” Gertrude Stein says. overly merry is a gift made for Mary Overlie from this shore to the other. It asks her, “did you mean this?” It is about all the things leading up to it and the dance itself. Because if you go deeper and farther and harder it is funny because schadenfreude rhymes with spectator.

Five episodes form a long performance, interrupted by a show. Since we really wish everything was shorter now, n’est ce pas? These episodes take their sweet ass time. These performers are in it for the long haul.** And then their fat stillnesses and quivering shapes are abandoned to fulfill an expectation—an experiment in brevity, this is a dance-within-a-dance where the rugs are ripped out from under one thing after another. Is it what we wanted? Did we do enough? The show dissolves or crumbles or cuts to the long shot, back into itself, the snake swallowing its own tail.

overly merry is a dance by Heather Kravas with Aretha Aoki and Cecilia Eliceche, illuminated by Madeline Best, hashed out with Jenn Joy, reflected by Rebecca Brooks.

*Tala Madani
**Kristen Kosmas

A Note On Ticket Prices

Starting in December 2023, The Chocolate Factory Theater will implement a new tiered ticketing price structure, with the goal of remaining accessible to every person who wishes to attend our events while acknowledging the very real value of the service - namely, artistic and administrative labor - that a ticket purchase represents; and adjusting for the realities of inflation and the ever-increasing cost of…everything.

We now offer a range of ticket prices; and ask that you select the option that best reflects your individual circumstances:

1. $35 (our new base price - the equivalent of one hour of labor for a lead artist, performer, design collaborator or technician)
2. $20 (the price we have historically charged, for more than ten years, without an increase)
3. $10 
4. $50
5. $100
6. $275 (the actual, unsubsidized value of a ticket, if box office was our sole source of income)

Our intention here is not to create walled gardens or tiers of access based on monetary status; we’re merely trying to make our practice - of paying artists, technicians and administrative staff a fair wage (more than 80% of our annual budget goes to labor, fyi) - more sustainable (or truthfully, less unsustainable), while remaining (we hope!) accessible and welcoming to all.

As a ticket buyer, you’ll receive the same experience regardless of the price you pay. It’s general admission for everyone. In other words: if you’re used to paying $20, and that feels right to you, nothing will change. If you can pay more, please pay more; if you need to pay less, pay less. We’ll operate on the honor system, no questions asked; and we’ll see how it goes.