CITY PAGES A-List - February 25th, 2004

Jennifer Ilse and Paul Herwig's ever-inventive Off-Leash Area, formerly the Theater Gallery, unleashes the most ambitious piece yet with Predator-Prey, a strange mix of dance, theater, Native American mythology, and elliptical social commentary. Created in collaboration with Anishinaabe playwright Marcie Rendon, the show is set in an icy Midwestern winter and follows the lives of two unnamed characters, a contemporary businesswoman, and a "Woman in the Natural World" from the distant Great Plains. The audience sits on pillows and is periodically directed to move to different spots in the theater, providing different perspectives on Herwig's gray and ghostly set/installation piece. This is not always edge-of-your-pillow drama--if your mind doesn't wander during some of its more recondite and meditative passages, you have a more disciplined mind than I. But Predator-Prey is also captivatingly mysterious, and Ilse's dancing is outstanding throughout, especially an anxious, choppy response to a stalled car and to the whole working-world treadmill. $12-$17. 8:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

--Dylan Hicks