Under The Radar: On The Road
The Things Around Us
In Association with The Under the Radar Festival
OKC Rep in partnership with Oklahoma Contemporary
THREE WAYS TO BUY:
1) Reserve in advance online.
2) In person at Oklahoma Contemporary.
3) Call Oklahoma Contemporary at 405.951.0000
Performances
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Friday, January 17th - 7pm*
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Saturday, January 18th - 2pm
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Saturday, January 18th - 8pm
*Ticket to this performance includes access to Opening Night party!
Accessibility Notes: This performance includes lighting effects, loud volumes, and haze.
Location
Te Ata Theater
Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
11 NW 11th St. | Oklahoma City, OK 73103
JANUARY 17-18, 2025
Composed, Written & Performed by Ahamefule J. Oluo
Produced by Roya Amirsoleymani
Presented in partnership with:
Oklahoma Contemporary &
Under the Radar; Mark Russell, Festival Director | ArKtype, Festival Producer
THE THINGS AROUND US is a collection of seemingly unrelated stories intertwined with an immersive, live musical score created through electronically looped trumpet, clarinet, and everyday objects. Known for epic stage shows, Ahamefule J. Oluo takes a more intimate approach in this performance, with stories and soundscapes that reflect the forced isolation of the pandemic. Darkly humorous, uplifting and bleak, deep and silly, THE THINGS AROUND US is about trying and failing to find order in chaos.
Praise for Ahamefule J. Oluo
"Exercises in stand-up autobiography are epidemic in experimental theater. But Mr. Oluo... manages to expand the format to dizzying proportions" - Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"A day later, it's as though I grabbed a live wire; I can still feel the electricity in my skin." - Helen Shaw, Time Out New York
"A true talent emerges" - Misha Berson, The Seattle Times
About The Artist
Ahamefule J. Oluo (they/them) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, comedian, and creator of live performance. They were a member of award-winning experimental jazz quartet Industrial Revelation and a Mellon Creative Research Fellow, Creative Capital awardee, MAP Fund awardee, and Artist Trust Arts Innovator awardee. Oluo premiered Now I’m Fine (2016) and Susan (2020) at The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, both of which were critically acclaimed by The New York Times. Oluo wrote, scored, and starred in the award-winning film Thin Skin (2020), which won Best Director at the Harlem Film Festival; appeared on This American
Life; and produced albums by comedians Hari Kondabolu and Dwayne Kennedy. Oluo has written for television, including HBO Max’s Santa Inc. with Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen. Oluo has received support from UTR, On the Boards, PICA, Meany Center, The Clarice, Seattle Theatre Group, Seattle Rep, Intiman, MacDowell, and Yaddo. Their newest stage show, The Things Around Us, premiered at PICA’s TBA Festival in Fall 2024
The Things Around Us is supported by a grant from The MAP Fund. Its creative development has been supported through residencies and engagements at Yaddo, MacDowell, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), Seattle Rep, Wa Na Wari, Langston, and a Mellon Creative Research Fellowship with UW’s Meany Center for the Performing Arts. It premiered on September 6, 2025 at PICA’s Time-Based Art Festival in Portland, Oregon.
About Under the Radar
UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL is a world-renowned international theater festival shining a spotlight on new theater work from around the world.
Under the Radar: On the Road increases the impact and scope of the Under the Radar Festival programming by collaborating with performing arts centers across America.
New York's the Under the Radar Festival and OKC Rep embark on our fourth year in partnership. Together, we will bring one of Under the Radar 2025’s innovative shows straight from New York City to Oklahoma City. In the past three years, OKC and RADAR have partnered to bring three acclaimed productions to Oklahoma City: Inua Ellams' An Evening with an Immigrant; Roger Guenveur Smith's Otto Frank; and Queens of Sheba by Jessica L. Hagan and Ryan Calais Cameron.
Production photo by Robert Franklin - Courtesy of PICA
Artist Headshot by Malique Pye