Scary story hour

Subtle feminist fairy tales are focus of ‘Memory’

REVIEW. Making theater sometimes pays off, as in this month’s version of “Art of Memory.” As much an installation as a play, and with a cast including three dancers who also speak, the Company SoGoNo’s production casts a magic spell with a powerful message.

Lisa Ramirez, who wrote the poetic script, plays several parts, primarily that of a mad librarian who tells stories about young women. But she’s often the villain — the imperious queen who abandons a child in the forest or as a caregiver who locks her granddaughter out to keep her away from a pair of enchanted shoes.

Director Tanya Calamoneri has a sure hand with her cast. She joins two other women (Cassie Terman and Heather Harpham) who serve as a sort of Greek chorus to Ramirez’s narration, giving form to these subtly feminist fairy tales.

Composer Miguel Frasconi helps the production as well. While he sits at a table at one end of the long, narrow space, he is able to coax from his computer sounds both natural and otherworldly.

‘Art of Memory’
Through Aug. 2
3LD Art & Technology Center
80 Greenwich St.
$20, 212-352-3101
www.3LDNYC.org