Nightmare on Eighth Avenue
This season Pilobolus invited Steven Banks, head writer for “SpongeBob SquarePants,” to collaborate on a bizarre shadow play, “Dog–ID.” Fingers and feet bloom from a landscape of humanoid hills. An almost pre-Raphaelite little girl (Molly Gawler) falls asleep atop a stack of burly men. She mutates, through simple arm movements, into a dog.
Meanwhile, songs distract us from the shadowy, phallic details. Intimations of inappropriate sex and violence permeate the overlong work, performed by new recruits and former members. There may be an interesting, shorter work buried here, if the artists find the time to carve it out.
This troupe’s best days are behind it, but the theater is chilly, the bodies are buff, and some of the older works, included on each of three different bills playing in rotation, are clever.
“Walklyndon,” the only vintage piece on opening night’s gala program, sends six determined jocks in yellow unitards taking pratfalls. Extra people wander through, practically naked, at one startling moment. Blink and you’ll miss it.
Pilobolus
Through Aug. 8
Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave.
$19-$59, 212-242-0800
www.joyce.org