Presented by
NYU Skirball and Under the Radar Festival

Director/Performer
Narcissister

Additional Narcissister Performers
Effie Bowen, Dorchel Haqq

Music
Holland Andrews

Band
Justin Frye, Austin Sley Julian, Gregory Fox

Pyrotechnics Artist
Alex Podger

Pyrotechnics Design/Skirball iteration
Jeremy Chernick

Pyrotechnics Crew
Lillis Meeh, Megan Frazier

Finishing Director
Reginald Robeson

Choreographer/Movement Director
Wanda Gala

Lighting Design
Michael Zumbrun

Costume Design
Narcissister and Karen Boyer

Pyrotechnics Design Assistant/Skirball iteration
Katia Carmichael

Builders
Nathan Benett, Mike Berlant, Cade Duff, Tyler Giordano, Chris Lesnewski, Travis Spinks

Technical Directors
Will Rubenstein, Conor Williams

Rigging
Noah Price

Production Manager
Leslie Huynh

Consulting Production Managers
Brian Freeland

Production Interns
Maggie Sheridan, Rosa Acevedo

Special Thanks
Pioneer Works, Jeffrey Deitch/Deitch Projects, Bernard Lumpkin, and Carmine Boccuzzi

ABOUT THE SHOW

Rooted in a fascination with states of impending collapse, both literal and metaphoric, Voyage Into Infinity captivates viewers through an inventive collision of reclaimed, everyday items with the spectacle that has defined much of Narcissister’s two-decade practice. The performance pays homage to Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s canonical video The Way Things Go (1987), in which the duo created and documented an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine. In contrast to the inspirational work’s unseen male creators, Narcissister’s rendition foregrounds the artist and other female-appearing performers as both drivers of the action and subjects of the crowd’s fascination. Borrowing its title from a song by the hardcore band Bad Brains and featuring a live score performed by musician Holland Andrews, Voyage Into Infinity channels raw energy and a punk aesthetic. Through this work, which will exist as a video of its own right, the artist offers a contemporary, feminist revisioning of The Way Things Go. As in all of her projects, the emblematic Narcissister mask — originally repurposed from a 1960s-era wig display form — provides eerie commentary on entrenched beauty standards, the objectification of women, and the malleability of race. Narcissister: Voyage Into Infinity (2024) is commissioned by Pioneer Works, and curated by Gabriel Florenz.

ABOUT NARCISSISTER

Narcissister is a Brooklyn-based artist and performer. Masked and merkin-ed, she works at the intersection of dance, art, and activism in a range of media including live performance, film, video, collage, and sculpture. She presents work worldwide at festivals, nightclubs, museums, and galleries. She won “Best Use of a Sex Toy” at Good Vibrations Erotic Film Festival, a Bessie nomination for the theatrical performance Organ Player, and Creative Capital and United States Artists Awards. Her first feature film Narcissister Organ Player premiered at Sundance 2018. Her activist short film Narcissister Breast Work premiered at Sundance 2020 and won a Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short at Outfest 2021. Voyage Into Infinity had its world premiere in 2024. Narcissister is a 2025 recipient of a Sir Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation commission to develop a new theatrical piece at Playwrights Horizons and a 2025 recipient of an Anonymous Was A Woman Award.

ABOUT NYU SKIRBALL

NYU Skirball is where bold performances meet daring ideas and world-class artistry. From groundbreaking theater and boundary-pushing dance to visionary music and urgent conversations, our stage is New York City’s hub for adventurous audiences ready to encounter the unexpected, the provocative, and the unforgettable. Every season is a journey into art that surprises and resonates long after the curtain falls. At Skirball, risk, audacity, and the unexpected reign supreme.

ABOUT UNDER THE RADAR

For over two decades, the Under the Radar Festival has brought bold, risk-taking work to New York City, celebrating groundbreaking theater and performance from around the world and just down the street. Produced in collaboration with dozens of venues at a selection of historic and emerging theaters across New York City, the festival showcases innovative multidisciplinary artists whose work speaks powerfully to the present moment. Under the Radar’s influence sets a cultural standard that resonates through the artistic landscape far further and beyond our January schedule. In coordination with Festival founder and Co-Creative Director Mark Russell, producers Thomas O. Kriegsmann and Sami Pyne of ArKtype, and with the addition of this year’s highly-esteemed Co-Creative Directors Meropi Peponides and Kaneza Schaal, UTR is positioned to continue to capitalize on the Festival’s rich history and expand on a tradition of trailblazing new direction. For more information visit: utrfest.org

KEEP US UNRULY

We’re not powered by ticket sales. We’re powered by troublemakers. Members keep the lights on, the borders open, and the stage wild. Without you, it’s just an empty room. Here’s some of what you get:

• Cheaper tickets so you can see more.

• Early access to see our fabulous shows before the masses catch on.

• Insider invites to the kind of artist encounters you can brag about for weeks.

NYU Skirball members are our power supply. Please join us today.

FUNDING

NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from: the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; Culture Ireland; The Shubert Foundation; Collins Building Services; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Goethe Institut New York with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; Harkness Foundation for Dance; and Marta Heflin Foundation; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Allies for Arts Access Fund support.

NEXT UP @ NYU SKIRBALL

Daniel Fish: Kramer/Fauci
February 11-21
World Premiere

Internationally acclaimed director Daniel Fish (Oklahoma!) revisits a pivotal moment of the AIDS crisis: the 1993 televised clash between Dr. Anthony Fauci and playwright-activist Larry Kramer. Charged with rage, urgency, and unexpected intimacy, their encounter marked a turning point in the fight for care and recognition. In this world premiere, Fish stages the exchange as both history and provocation. With Tony Award-winner Will Brill and Thomas Jay Ryan.

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker: EXIT ABOVE
March 5-7
North American

Premiere Legendary choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker returns to NYU Skirball with EXIT ABOVE, a bold exploration of movement, rhythm, and musicality. Set to a driving score inspired by the blues, this hypnotic work transforms walking into dance. Precision meets raw energy as dancers move in a relentless rhythmic flow, fusing past and present in a thrilling encounter of dance and live music.