Angela  Kariotis/ Performing Arts: Theater
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Angela Kariotis/ Performing Arts: Theater

Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States | SELF

Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States | SELF
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The best kept secret in music

Press


"Wide Angle: Angela Kariotis"

“Angela Kariotis is easy conversation. She’s funny, frank, and proudly front-phobic. ‘I am against saying things [if] you do not know what they mean,' …she name checks philosophers, breaking them down into digestable compounds for share, not show. She’s already got two degrees…but they’re just another “language” to add to her fluencies in Greek-American culture and Hip-Hop. “I give up no one way for any other,' she pronounces, 'but I juggle it all.' …Kariotis shuffled multiple allegiances, including one to Hip-Hop culture which she insists, was ‘not something that I chose to be involved in or a decision that I enunciated for myself verbally. It was an aesthetic that premetated the neighborhood. It was there before I got there, and because it helped foster me, it naturally influenced my voice and prose at the same time.' Kariotis’ distinctive voice and droll prose take center stage in Reminiscence… The play showcases Kariotis’ ‘massive phraseology’ but also incorporates Hip-Hop’s predilection to sampling: ‘I sample throughout the play. I sample my family members. I sample my friends. I sample in the same way that we sample the first four bars of a song and loop it. It’s the same as being inspired. It’s taking something and creating something else from it.'"
-with Jalylah Burrell - Mugshot Magazine


"Spoken Word Artist Tackles Issues of New Parenthood in Stretch Marks"

Stretch Marks' is more far-reaching, tackling issues of birth, heredity, culture and identity. All of it punctuated with hip-hop's trademarks of an eclectic soundtrack and non-stop athleticism.'Stretch Marks' represents Kariotis' resolution of the challenge of stretching her identity to accommodate her daughter.-Kathleen O'Brien - The Star-Ledger


"'Round the Way Girl Angela Kariotis: Ghetto Fabulous"

Angela Kariotis has rhythm…a powerhouse writer, performer…In Kariotis’ world, language is loaded; words bite. Defining is confining. She re-examines, contorts and re-presents “ghetto” in her one-woman show, “Reminiscence of the Ghetto & Other Things That Raized Me,” an explosive performance piece…(Come to think of it, Kariotis says everything with conviction; she even speaks her name as a declarative statement.)… Don’t dismiss Kariotis as just another mouthy kid from the neighborhood. “Reminiscence… ” is dripping with attitude, punctuated with hip-hop moves and urban slang. Each life story spewed from her snarled lips, each jab that slices the air, seems as if it’s shooting forth from her gut, firing-line style… -Laurie Granieri - Home News Tribune


"Reminiscence of the Ghetto is Best of Fest"

…nothing was cooler than Angela Kariotis. A slight, spry woman with a switchblade tongue, Kariotis tells what it’s like to be a Greek-American growing up in the Jersey ghetto. It’s tough, it’s weird. It’s cool. It is a segment from Kariotis’ one-woman show Reminiscence of the Ghetto & Other Things That RaiZed Me. It is about being stuck in between, too white for black people, too black for white people, too poor for rich people, too rich for poor people. Kariotis kicks off our anxiety about class and race—What’s a wigger? What’s a nigga? (And why doesn’t Dr. Dre call this woman?)—in a dynamic performance that is both serious and seriously funny. -Sarah Hepola, - Austin Chronicle


"White girl, I mean Greek girl, got flavor: Angela Kariotis"

Kariotis uses her work to invite you over. You're camped out in her living room, but you're remembering, as she says, 'your own circumstance.' She's very clear. She's certain. She wants her own rememberings to help spark you to work through your own. -C. Denby Swanson - Brooklyn Rail


"Angela Kariotis' Say Logos Say Word"

“[SAY LOGOS SAY WORD] zigzags from the Greek philosophers to [Kariotis’] mother’s kitchen to the Greek Orthodox church to Kariotis’ own childhood memories. Provocative, often hilarious, and at times deeply moving…It’s understandable why this woman defies an easy description. By refusing to bend to stereotypes of what being a Greek American means, Kariotis blows the cobwebs off old-fashioned, stale ideas that often prevent people, especially young people, from participating in the Greek community in a meaningful way. In doing so, she not only makes room for all our stories to be heard, but validates the importance of diversity in all Americans. -Antonia Callas - MIA Magazine


"Performance artist brings show to Rude Mechanicals"

"It's smart. [Reminiscence of the Ghetto] makes you think about race and ethnicity. So, it's challenging; it's interesting; it's vibrant. Angela really brings her whole self to the stage." -Madge Darlington, Rude Mechanicals, producer - News 8 Austin


"Say Logos Say Word: Critics Pick"

Angela Kariotis could probably light up a small city with her raw energy, but it’s her sly and engaging use of language that makes her work memorable…Now Kariotis, the daughter of Greek immigrents, digs deeper into her roots with Say Logos/Say Word, in which she combines the Greeks of antiquity (Aristotle and Aristophanes) with those of pop culture (Zorba) and her own family. There aren’t too many white women working in hip-hop theater, but Kariotis should be counted as one of its foremost practitioners…-Kerry Reid - Chicago Reader


"Reminiscence of the Ghetto at FringeNYC"

Angela communicates a personal and very true story: inspiring, enlightening, funny, heart-breaking and boundary-breaking. She succeeds in defying stereotypes, transcending the definition of “Ghetto” and can move an entire audience—judging from the hearty applause and copious laughter—to rethink a major portion of life. She crystallizes the essence of what it means not to give up, and her performance, as well as her very life force, entertains and uplifts. With a powerful voice and body, robust and poetic writing, and fiercely precise multi-character portrayals, Reminiscence leaves you with the powerful insight of a new paradigm for underdogs everywhere. -Spencer Chandler - nytheatre.com


"Baby Steps: Stretch Marks looks at common human denominators"

B You don't have to have stretch marks to find meaning in Angela Kariotis' latest theatrical adventures. You just had to have been born. -Diana Nollen - Iowa Gazette


"Talking the Talk: In her one-woman show, Angela Kariotis tells her own story in her own way"

Angela Kariotis is a slam poet, using herself and her voice as her best prop. No, wait, she is an entertainer- a dancer, a rapper, a mimic, a mime. No, wait, she is a comedian- like Margaret Cho, say, or John Leguizamo- mixing social commentary with hilarious stories of home. No, wait, she is none of those things- or all them a-jumble. Something all her own. -Sarah Hepola, - Austin Chronicle


"Spoken word performance artist Angela Kariotis stars in Stretch Marks a one-woman show about an unplanned pregnancy"

Stretch Marks delivers laughs, catharsis, movement, and metaphor. “I hold on tight and keep my feet planted on the pelvic floor,” she says. On the ride of her life, Angela Kariotis has invited us all to join her on this rite of passage. Hop on: it’s a heck of a journey.-Amy Lee Pearsall - nytheatre.com


Discography

Excerpts of theatrical solo shows on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AngelaKariotis?feature=mhee

Stretch Marks
Say Logos Say Word
Reminiscence of the Ghetto & Other Things That Raized Me

Photos

Bio

angela kaRIOTis is a Greek-American, writer, performer and educator. As an extension of her activist work, Angela’s creative works provoke thought and entertain, while aimed at cultivating social change. Her high energy work encapsulates the legacy of social protest theater. With its deft balance of narrative, critique, and movement, as well as Angela’s visceral and fluid performance, her work has connected with audiences across the U.S. Called a "lithe and vital writer-performer" by The Star-Ledger, and further described by The Chicago Reader, "Kariotis possesses the raw energy to light up a small city," in what The Austin Chronicle heralds as "dynamic performances that are serious and seriously funny".

Angela pairs her unique background with modern performance art to produce a one-of-a-kind artistic experience. Using physical lyricism and illustrative gestural material, she creates characters from her past and employs her hybridization of textual traditions genre-bending literature, prose, dramatic poetry, song, and more, addressing ideas of ethnicity, gender, and economic status. She wields from page to stage with the focus of a laser-beam, the subtlety of a feather and the impact of a sledge-hammer.

While Angela pulls much of her material from life, she sharpened her skills at Seton Hall University (Winner, Paidea Award for Excellence in Performance) and The University of Texas at Austin, Masters in Performance Studies and Communication Studies (Winner, Most Artistic, Texas Revue). Her first solo show, REMINISCENCE OF THE GHETTO & OTHER THINGS THAT RAIZED ME, directed and developed by the acclaimed multi-disciplinary performance artist Paul Bonin-Rodriguez. The show is about ghetto-culture, redefining words, and growing up in Irvington, NJ. The show was described as “Inspiring, enlightening, funny, heart-breaking and boundry-breaking…” by NYTheatre.com. Angela has brought her unique performance style across America, playing in venues such as The University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA-Live), Contact Theater in Manchester, UK, to Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and New York City with the Hip Hop Theater Festival.

Her second show, SAY LOGOS SAY WORD, is about being a first-generation hyphenated-American. The show also tackles bridging the gap between Ancient and Modern Greece. It was commissioned by the People’s Light and Theater Company in Malvern, Pennsylvania and presented by Queens Theater in the Park in Queens, NY, Chicago's Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center.

With a National Performance Network Creation Fund Award she developed her latest show, STRETCH MARKS, about giving birth and being born. It is a promising play that takes up motherhood in very cogent and topical ways. It's directed by inter-disciplinary artist, MC, and mother, Florinda Bryant, artistic associate at Theater Action Project.

Angela is an alumna of The Austin Project, Macondo Writers Workshop, and Poetic People Power. Angela’s awards include a Playwriting Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a grant from the Puffin Foundation, a Tennessee Williams Theater Fellowship from the University of the South, a Lily Grant commission, and National Performance Network residencies.