The difference between reality and pretense always has fascinated Liesbeth Gritter.
Sometimes, she finds herself watching someone pretending to be comfortable in a difficult situation. Other times, she catches herself performing in a social situation -- smiling at something she doesn't really think is funny.
Her fascination with reality, pretense and the need to conform and perform both on- and offstage led Gritter, artistic director of the Amsterdam-based performance company Kassys and dramaturge of Mette van de Sys, to create "Liga."
"Liga," which will have its U.S. premiere tonight as a presentation of the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts, is predominantly physical. The minimal text is performed in English.
"It's about acting, pretending, faking and what is real behavior," Gritter says. "Sometimes, it's hard to tell when people are acting. The best place to show this is in a spot where everybody knows people are acting, (as when) actors pretend to do something for the first time."
The one-hour show combines video and live stage action. It begins with a video of the actors backstage after a performance, congratulating and complimenting each other. It then flashes back to live action, with the company enacting that just-completed performance.
"You see them just after the show and in their dressing rooms, excited because the show went so well. The actors are really excited and complimenting each other, (but) lying in a way, pretending the show went so well," Gritter says. "The audience then sees that show live with the expectation that it is going to work well."
Kassys always has employed a combination of video and live performance to tell its stories, Gritter says.
"Theater is always a black box. I like to lengthen the show with real life," she says. "I really love the feeling that you witness a live show and then are taken out of theater into real life."
Kassys often tours its work to other countries and recently performed in Australia and Finland, as well as in the United States in 2006 and 2007 with other works.
Gritter says audiences react similarly wherever the company performs.
"They are not so different as I thought they would be, because the things we do are about human behavior and people can recognize themselves. Sometimes, they are proud, happy, scared or sad," she says.
The only notable difference is that American audience reactions are a bit louder than those in her Netherlands homeland.
"The form of theater we use is less known in the States," she says. "The audience needs to get used to big silences, and that makes them uncomfortable."
Additional Information:'Liga'
Performed by: Kassys
Presented by: Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts and The Andy Warhol Museum's Off the Wall Performance Series
When: 8 p.m. today-Saturday
Admission: $20
Where: New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side
Details: 412-456-6666 or online
