Andrew Schneider
NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) Guided
Immersive Experience / Theatre / Visual Art
Every point in space occurs once at each moment of time. NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) is a new interactive theatrical installation that pushes this idea to its literal extreme.
An unseen narrator guides each participant through an individualized journey into a precisely programmed matrix of light—and the cosmos of themselves. the stars traces every decision that you have ever made as a contributing factor to being ‘here’ and being ‘now.’ With nearly 4,000 reactive LED lights and a 496-channel soundscape, Andrew Schneider’s powerful installation draws you into a contemplative and deeply personal encounter with time, memory and presence. Part-meditation, part-exploration, this dazzling fusion of tech and theatre is a rare chance to get lost in the stars.
Two distinct experiences are offered in The Dark – Open Universe and Guided – each unique and compelling in different ways.
This is a non-seated, interactive experience in which audience members are free to move around the space. The venue is wheelchair and walker accessible, and chairs can be provided on request.
The Dark: PS21’s fearless winter festival of live performance radiating across Columbia County
The Dark is a new annual festival from PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance that celebrates and elevates the depths of winter. Taking place February 16–22, 2026, the festival will unfold at PS21 and across Columbia County—in theatres, restaurants, libraries, saunas, and outdoor public spaces. Featuring more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, The Dark offers a packed week of world-class contemporary performance, installation, music, dance, and theatre—all exploring winter as a time of community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light. A major new attraction for the region, the festival positions Columbia County as a year-round cultural destination—not just a summer one.
It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.
Secure your Festival Pass to The Dark now which includes tickets to every performance along with a complimentary sauna and ice skating session!
THE STARS (Open Universe) was originally produced by Miranda Wright + Los Angeles Performance Practice. Development was made possible with support from The Brown Arts Institute, Carleton College Arts and Technology Initiative, The Simons Foundation and Science Sandbox, The Voxel, The Onassis Foundation, The Sundance Institute Interdisciplinary Program, and Eliko Industries.
Andrew Schneider is mostly interested in how humans telling stories about ourselves to each other can make us better at being humans. And how much the second law of thermodynamics and grief have in common.
He is an OBIE award-winning, Drama Desk-nominated director, performer, writer, and interactive-electronics artist creating original works for theater, dance, sound, video, installation and public art since 2003.
Schneider’s work uses new and old, high and low tech – from Wave Field Synthesis arrays and Volumetric Lighting displays – to literal smoke and mirrors. He is interested in the edges of human perception, using science as a blueprint for staging, and above all, the question of – how does it make you feel?
Original works include HERE (2025 – Jacob’s Pillow) NOWISWHENWEARE (2023 – Brooklyn Academy of Music and ongoing tour); »remains« (2020 – Radialsystem, Berlin) commissioned by the Sasha Waltz & Guests Dance company; NERVOUS/SYSTEM (2018 – BAM Next Wave); AFTER (2018 – Under the Radar, The Public Theater); YOUARENOWHERE (2015 OBIE award, 2016 Drama Desk nom); DANCE/FIELD (2014 – Roulette); TIDAL (2013 – River to River); and WOW+FLUTTER (2010 – The Chocolate Factory Theater), among others.
