RAISE THE ROOF
By Bill Roundy Brooklyn is getting in tents!
Two eateries in Kings
County have installed
rooftop tents for the winter, so that
customers can make use of spaces
that would otherwise remain chilly,
empty tundras.
The Turk’s Inn, an over-thetop
Midwestern supper club
transported to Bushwick, has
installed a giant, inflatable tent —
like a bounce house with a floor
— on its rooftop, dubbing it the
Holiday Village.
The owner of the Turk’s Inn said
that the rooftop bar proved to be so
popular over the summer that he
wanted to keep the party going all
winter. He designed the structure,
and had it built and shipped to the
Bushwick restaurant, where it took
Bigger and better
COURIER LIFE,36 DEC. 27, 2019-JAN. 2, 2020
six people to haul it to the roof.
When fully inflated, the heated
space can hold tables and chairs to
seat about 40 people, said owner
Varun Kataria. But on weekends,
the furniture can be swept away to
create a spacious dance floor for
about 60, and he also plans to bring
bands into the tent.
“We want it to grow organically,
and experiment, let the space find
out what it wants to be,” said
Kataria.
A clear plastic window allows
light from a neon “Turk’s Inn” sign
to illuminate the tent, and open
windows on the opposite wall lead
to the rooftop bar. Outside the tent,
the Inn also has a heated patio that
can be used as a smoking area —
smoking is definitely not allowed
inside the inflatable tent!
And in Dumbo, the Time Out
Market has created the Rooftop
Iglounge, three clear plastic domes
that resemble igloos, set up on its
fifth floor terrace. The tents are
not heated, but with eight chairs
Game of domes: The Time Out Market in Dumbo has put three igloo-style tents on its
fifth-floor patio. Photo by Ali Garber
covered in fake fur in each, they
quickly warm up, and the clear
plastic walls block the wind while
still allowing for stunning views
of the Brooklyn Bridge and the
Manhattan skyline.
The tents are first-come, first-
serve, so visitors should pick up
food and drinks inside the Market’s
fifth floor and settle in quickly.
The Market features outposts of
Juliana’s Pizza, the David Burke
Tavern, and tacos from Ivy Stark,
along with a bar serving special
winter-themed drinks, including
the Snow White Tini, made with
vanilla vodka and chocoloate liquer,
and the hot bourbon Tom Toddy.
Holiday Market at the Turk’s Inn
234 Starr St. between Wyckoff and
Irving avenues, (718) 215–0025,
turksnyc.com). Open Mon–Thu,
5:30–11:30 pm; Fri–Sat, 5:30 pm–
midnight; Sun 5:30–10 pm.
Rooftop Iglounge at Time Out
Market (55 Water St. between Main
and Old Dock streets in Dumbo,
fifth floor, timeoutmarket.com/
newyork). Open Sun–Thu, 11
am–10 pm; Sat–Sun, 11 am–11 pm.
By Kevin Duggan Expand your horizons!
A month-long
experimental theater
festival returns to Brooklyn next
week for a fifth year of avant-garde
performances. The Exponential
Festival, starting on Jan. 3, will
feature more than 40 shows at
nine Kings County venues. The
productions include a wide variety
of genres and formats, but they
are sure to stick with the audience
long after the curtain falls, said the
fest’s founder and lead curator.
“I want to have something
that I think about later, hours
later and years later. It should
raise questions,” said Theresa
Buchheister. “They’re going
for something that’s inherently
complicated and challenging.”
The organizer said that she
put the focus on Brooklyn venues
because the art in this borough is
more experimental but gets less
attention than productions on the
island across the river.
“The January festivals are
always in Manhattan,” she said.
“That’s not where I see art.”
Over the last four years, the
festival has — true to its name —
grown from nine productions to
more than 40.
Bucheister also prides herself
on selecting plays that show the
perspectives of people rarely
presented in mainstream theater.
“We’ve seen the story of two
straight white New Yorkers fall in
love a million times — I don’t need
to see that again,” she said.
One such play is the Englishlanguage
premiere of “Slow Sound
of Snow,” translated by Iranian-
American director Shadi Ghaheri.
The show is set in a Turkish
mountain village that spends its
winters in near-silence to avoid
triggering an avalanche. As the
play starts, the town’s survival
rests on the shoulders of a pregnant
villager whose impending due date
threatens all of their safety. The
play, presented by an all-Iranian
and Iranian-American cast, tells a
Middle Eastern story without the
misrepresentations of an American
point of view, said Buchheister.
Another eye-catching titles in
the festival is “Bernie Sanders
wants to take away my Fire
Island time share” by Xalvador
Tin-Bradbury. It shows a hypercapitalist,
dystopian future
in which a corporate gay man
explains why he spent nine years
in hiding after Bernie Sanders
announced his 2020 presidential
run.
Another highlight is
“Bloodshot,” a pulp-inspired
mystery by the Underlords
theater group, set in an insomniaplagued
city where the protagonist
investigates the murder of a sleep
medicine inventor.
And those in the mood for a
lighthearted laugh should check
out “Catches No Flies,” a comedic
dance performance by Lisa Fagan,
featuring bad ventriloquism, a
dolphin trainer living her dream,
inclement weather, and a sardine
escaped from the can.
“The Exponential Festival” at
various locations (917) 520–5912,
www.theexponentialfestival.org.
Jan. 3–Feb. 2. Prices vary.
Turkish delight: The Turk’s Inn has installed a heated, inflatable tent on its rooftop
for the winter.
Double trouble: A pair of twin astronauts
train for spaceflight in “Venus in Gemini,”
playing as part of the Eponential Festival.
“Slow Sound of Snow” tells the story of a Turkish village threatened by destruction
by an avalanche. The Exponential Festival
Outdoor tents sprout on Brooklyn rooftops
Experimental theater fest returns to Bklyn
/timeoutmarket.com
/turksnyc.com
/www.theexponentialfestival.org
/www.theexponentialfestival.org