Inside the Home of Asli Bulbul and Peter Nigrini
I met Asli Bulbul after seeing her flail around beautifully in full Shaker regalia as part of Martha Clarke’s Angel Reapers, at The Joyce last year. Aside from being an excellent performer, Asli is an excellent host and wouldn’t rest until I had eaten some Mast Brothers Chocolate, adding that her mother would be horrified if she’d let a guest leave without consuming something. When I invited myself over to her house in Williamsburg a few weeks ago, Asli, her husband, Peter Nigrini, and I made a profound discovery—men who work in theater who are named “Peter” seem to be about 85 percent more likely to be straight than men not named Peter.
What’s the best performance you’ve seen recently in New York?
I’ve been traveling non-stop since May so I haven’t seen much in NYC recently. The season is just starting again and I am exited about many things. My recent out-of-town favorite would be Jonathan Burrow’s Cheap Lecture, which I saw in Berlin as part of the Tanz im August festival.
What were you up to this summer?
I traveled quite a bit. I was Brazil in May for a 10-day tour. Next was a great two weeks spent in Nova Scotia with another project, and then I was lucky enough to enjoy the month of August in Berlin where Peter joined me for a week on his way to Hamburg, for work. It was already fall weather in Berlin and Berliners were complaining, but I appreciated it after a sticky July in New York.
The best thing about the arrival of Fall?
My good friend Lisa was telling me how Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holiday she really celebrates because she genuinely feels that fall is the beginning of a new year. It makes great sense to me. It is harvest time, Babylonian pagan holiday, starting of the new theater season everywhere etc.
So from now on, Fall is when I have my new year celebrations as well. And I was born in September so it is literal, but I never thought about it this way until my chat with Lisa.
