GET and Pre-Existing Conditions

Friday, January 31 and Saturday, February 1

Comments (0) By Troy Schulze Thursday, Jan 30 2003

Details

8 p.m. Friday; for reservations, call 713-335-3445. $20.

DiverseWorks, 1117 East Freeway

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Performer-director John Malpede knows something about the psychology of greed and the lives of its victims. He's the artistic director of LAPD (Los Angeles Poverty Department), a theater group founded and operated by homeless individuals on L.A.'s skid row. He laid the groundwork for his group while working as a welfare advocate. While LAPD's work focuses largely on issues facing the homeless, Malpede's solo performance GET examines the corporate elite, the mechanics of finance and why dream economies turn nightmarish. As a bonus, Malpede will also present Pre-Existing Conditions, a movement-based work exploring the insurance industry's impact on matters of alienation and death. Like Spalding Gray's, Malpede's satirical, multimedia solo pieces come off as critiques disguised as monologues, but expect more from Malpede. He is as much an activist as an artist, so his agenda is far more provocative.