Alex Tatarsky’s clown show, “Sad Boys in Harpy Land,” can get pretty dark for a comedy performance. The show, Tatarsky said, is “about wanting to die and being alive in this moment on the planet.”
The artist is bringing the solo performance to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, with shows Thursday through Saturday. The semi-autobiographical narrative is a darkly humorous exploration of self-doubt, creativity and the ways we navigate life’s chaos together.
“It’s like celebrating the spiral,” Tatarsky said. “How do you go into the woods of despair, stay there, learn from it and also spiral yourself through it?”
Born in New York and now based in Philadelphia, Tatarsky is a self-described “experimental clown artist.” Unlike traditional performance artists, Tatarsky said the core of their practice is acknowledging the presence of the audience in a direct, peculiar and exciting way.
Tatarsky often breaks the fourth wall, responding to the audience’s reactions and taking them on a journey through the artist’s characters.
“The clown doesn’t try to tell you what to do or what to think,” Tatarsky said. “The clown tries to welcome you into pleasure and play even amidst impossible circumstances.”
Tatarsky began developing “Sad Boys in Harpy Land” in 2014, during a period of uncertainty about their identity as an artist. It was then that they discovered Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship,” a novel about a young man wrestling with purpose and self-doubt. From this period emerged the show’s protagonist, the “demented little German boy,” who faces struggles similar to Tatarsky’s.
Tatarsky created the character to demonstrate the ideas of grappling with growing up and navigating life’s pressures with a mix of despair and humor. Harpy Land is a reference to “In Harpy Land,” Scottish poet Helen Adam’s feminist retelling of Dante’s “Inferno.”
Over the years, Tatarsky has expanded the performance into a series of existential vignettes, introducing additional tortured artists who each confront the anxieties and absurdities of life in ways that feel both deeply personal and universally relatable. The performance blends literary references, pop culture and Tatarsky’s own experiences to create a collage-like exploration of human vulnerability.
Tatarsky didn’t want to give away too many details about the extensive audience participation in the 75-minute show, which includes some nudity, explicit language and references to self-harm. And Tatarsky added that although there is no overriding message in “Sad Boys in Harpy Land,” they hope it allows the audiences to fully experience their emotions and feel seen in their despair amid the nation’s charged political atmosphere.
“I think that sharing space together in theaters and laughing and crying and screaming together is just one part of this shared struggle,” Tatarsky said. “I hope the theater can be a place that reenergizes us and gives us a moment where we can be together and feel our feelings.”
“Sad Boys in Harpy Land,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave. More information at visit.mcachicago.org.
