The Public Theatre takes its art-for-all mission seriously, and, since 2005, its “Under the Radar” festival has been an essential showcase of the avant-garde. Programmed by Mark Russell and Meiyin Wang, it has welcomed artists from places as far-flung (and free-expression-averse) as Belarus; this year’s festival, Jan. 6-17, features companies from Chile, Japan, and Rwanda. But you don’t always need to look abroad to find perception-altering voices. The South Asian trans performance duo DarkMatter was formed by two New Yorkers, Alok Vaid-Menon and Janani Balasubramanian. In “#ItGetsBitter” (at Joe’s Pub, Jan. 12-14), they offer a cheeky radical-queer critique of the gay-rights movement, employing spoken word, fractured nursery rhymes, and fluorescent lipstick: an urgent, funny dispatch from the margins.