Sad Boys in Harpy Land
Alex Tatarsky
WEST COAST PREMIERE
- Price
- $27*
- Genre
- Theater
- Season
- Winter/Spring 2026
- DATE
- Mar 19-21
- TIME
- THU-SAT, 8 PM
- RUNTIME
- Approx. 75 minutes, no intermission
- COUNTRY
- USA
- PROGRAM
- Not yet available
* Discounts available for REDCAT members, students & the CalArts faculty and staff
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About
In this unhinged solo performance, self-proclaimed “experimental clown artist” Alex Tatarsky ushers audiences through an absurdist hellscape of the mind. Equal parts sad clown, demented cabaret, and extended crisis of meaning, Sad Boys in Harpy Land confronts anguish through humor in a spiraling narrative of artmaking and despair. Through a series of existential vignettes, Tatarsky fuses autobiographical bones of their own story onto those of equally tormented protagonists from sources including Goethe, Dante, Amiri Baraka, Helen Adams, and Seinfeld. A whirlwind coming-of-age story, Tatarsky presents a highly calibrated mess in a tour-de-force performance that challenges the idea of individual malady, and instead embraces the turbulent maze of shared struggle.
On March 20, there will be a post-show Q&A with Alex Tatarsky, moderated by REDCAT Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Performing Arts, Katy Dammers.
Please note: This program contains flashing lights, nudity, loud sounds, and mature content.
A thrilling and frenetic mental breakdown of a show
—
Naveen Kumar, The New York Times
Sad Boys in Harpy Land was commissioned by Abrons Arts Center through the Jerome Foundation AIRspace Residency Program.
Playwrights Horizons, Inc, in New York City produced the NYC Off-Broadway premiere of Sad Boys in Harpy Land in 2023.
Sad Boys in Harpy Land received development support through FringeArts, the Jilline Ringle Solo Performance Program at 1812 Productions, Poetry Electric at La Mama, and MAAS.
about the artist
“A hilarious, finely tuned absurdist” (Theater Jones) and “one of the most exciting and hilarious performance artists around” (ArtSpace), Alex Tatarsky is a writer and performer. They make solo performances in between theater, performance art, comedy and deluded rant—sometimes with songs. Their original shows Americana Psychobabble, Untitled Freakout, Dirt Trip, Sad Boys in Harpy Land, MATERIAL, and Nothing Doing have been presented by venues including Abrons Arts Center, The Kitchen, La Mama, MoMA PS1, Playwrights Horizons, The Whitney Biennial, Under the Radar, and many bars and basements. Tatarsky is one half of roving bootleg research duo Shanzhai Lyric and their fictional office Canal Street Research Association. As curatorial fellow at the Poetry Project, they organized a series on the poetics of rot.
cast & creative team
Created & Performed by Alex Tatarsky
With Live Music by Shane Riley
Directed by: Iris McCloughan
Developed with: Eva Steinmetz
Dramaturgy: Basie Allen, Lisa Fagan
Scenic, Costumes, Props Design: Andreea Mincic
Lighting Design: Masha Tsimring
Stage Management: Payton Smith
