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Installation and immersive film ‘The Plastic Bag Store’ to take over Blue Genie Art Bazaar through April 17

Sun, 04/03/2022 - 5:00am

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Award-winning puppet artist, director, and filmmaker Robin Frohardt will install her acclaimed work The Plastic Bag Store at the Blue Genie Art Bazaar April 17. The art installation and immersive film experience is presented by Texas Performing Arts as part of its 40th Anniversary Season. One-hour performances will run multiple times per day Wednesdays through Sundays.

Tickets are $25 each at texasperformingarts.org. Five individual performances over the closing weekend (April 13 – 17) will be presented free of charge as part of Texas Performing Arts’ partnership with the 2022 Fusebox Festival. Reservations for these performances will be available at fuseboxfestival.com.

Conceived, fabricated, written, and directed by Brooklyn-based artist Robin Frohardt, The Plastic Bag Store brings humor, craft, and a critical lens to our culture of consumption and convenience—specifically, the enduring effects of single-use plastics. Inside The Plastic Bag Store installation, deli meats, fresh produce, multi-layered cakes, sushi rolls, frozen foods, boxed cereal, and more have been meticulously sculpted by hand, made from discarded plastics.

During each one-hour performance, performers transform the store into a micro-cinema where hidden worlds and inventive puppetry tell the narrative of The Plastic Bag Store in a 45-minute three-act film. The story explores the notion of artifact, misplaced nostalgia and how what we value least may become our most lasting cultural legacy.

“The Plastic Bag Store is an ambitious work that uses humor and whimsy to ask the serious question ‘what is going to happen to all of the plastic?’” said Texas Performing Arts’ Executive & Artistic Director Bob Bursey. “We’re thrilled to bring this special project to Austin after acclaimed runs in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. With our partners at the Fusebox Festival, we’re eager to present and produce this type of unusual, interactive work in alternative locations throughout Austin so that more of our community can share in creative experiences like The Plastic Bag Store.”

Co-produced by Frohardt and Pomegranate Arts, The Plastic Bag Store was created over several years by Frohardt in collaboration with her puppetry ensemble and features original music by long-time creative collaborator, the award-winning composer Freddi Price. While not expressly created for children, The Plastic Bag Store is appropriate for audiences of ages 8 and up.

Full Performance Schedule

Sun, Apr 3 — 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m.

Wed, Apr 6 — 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Thu, Apr 7 — 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Fri, Apr 8 — 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Sat, Apr 9 — 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Sun, Apr 10 — 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m.

Wed, Apr 13 — 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Thu, Apr 14 — 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Fri, Apr 15 — 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Sat, Apr 16 — 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

Sun, Apr 17 — 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m.