PERFORMANCE ART REVIEW : (Ta’yer) Opens Highways Festival

The multicultural performance collective, (Ta’yer), opened Highways’ 2-month-long Sex, God & Politics Performance Festival on Thursday evening with a program called “Love and Revenge.” Composed of artists whose levels of competence vary widely, the event seesaws between the naive and the sophisticated, with honors for charm and talent going to Betty Gonzales Nash and Luis Alfaro.

Nash, a fiery actress/dancer, co-wrote and performed with Alfaro a funny, touching exploration of how gender and role expectations interfere with genuine expressions of love. Both begin the piece in identical gorgeously pleated, black-and-red costumes, later shed to reveal a black lace dress on Alfaro and toreador drag on Nash. Titled “Relationships,” the writing of the piece lacks specificity, but the performances are remarkable in their complexity and range.

The yoke between sex and politics was firmly established decades ago in the revolutions of the ‘60s. Thus Mary Ann Tamaki’s preachy, treacle-sweet “What Time Is It?” proved an anachronistic embarrassment. She distributes sprays of flowers to audience members, urging them to become the “we generation,” as a home movie of downtown street life flickers on the wall behind her.

Salvadoran guitarist Luis Lopez plays and sings Latin American love songs for “a time of war” in his appealing fusion style. Colombian architect/writer Fernando D. Castro offers “Mark’s Poem,” a baffling exercise about sex, drugs and violence in a gay Latino community. Here, too, Alfaro’s sequinned presence is a treat, though his role is unclear.

The program, to be repeated tonight and Thursday, Friday and Saturday, closes with “Valentine Confessions,” aggressively amateur, by ensemble members.