2015 La MaMa Puppet Series

The La MaMa Puppet Series is a biennial festival showcasing new contemporary puppet theatre by American and international artists. Puppetry has been an integral part of La MaMa’s programming since 1962, when Ellen Stewart invited Pagoon Kang Wouk and his puppet artists from Korea to perform their production of Head Hunting. Since then, La MaMa has presented several notable puppet artists, including Theodora Skipitares, Roman Paska, Vit Horejs, Kevin Augustine, and Ralph Lee. La MaMa Puppet Series reflects La MaMa’s dedication to promoting and presenting innovative puppet theatre.  

photo | Undefined Fraction by Loco7

PERFORMANCES

CRANE: ON EARTH, IN SKY

Ibex Puppetry / Co-created By Heather Henson & Ty Defoe

November 5-8 | in The Ellen Stewart Theatre
(World Premiere)

Journey with whooping cranes and black neck cranes along the waterways they use for maps in this spectacle of environmental theatre. Reflecting our connectedness with all of creation, this immersive story is told through rituals and puppets, projections and kites, aerial antics and life-sized maps. Tracing the tragedies befalling cranes, of disappearing forests and lakes, this story celebrates the richness of indigenous cultures….Learn More

SHANK'S MARE

Created By Tom Lee & Koryu Nishikawa V

November 6-15 | in The Downstairs
(World Premiere)

Shank’s Mare is the story of two wandering travelers whose paths intersect in time and space. Using traditional kuruma ningyo puppetry, live feed video projection, miniature sets and a live score by Bill Ruyle (hammer dulcimer) and Chieko Hara (shamisen and flute), the piece explores life and death and how tradition is passed on…Learn More!

2015 PUPPET SLAM

Curated by Jane Catherine Shaw

November 11 | in The First Floor Theatre

Puppeteer and theatre artist Jane Catherine Shaw will curate a one-night only puppet slam featuring contemporary short-form puppet and object theatre from both emerging and veteran puppet artists. This evening of short form work created for puppet theatre will challenge artists to make their best short form….Learn More!

THE CHILD WHO

Théâtre d’un Jour

November 12-15 | in The Ellen Stewart Theatre
(US Premiere)

The Child Who is inspired by the early years of the life of sculptor Jephan de Villiers.  It is the vision, all sensibility and poetry, of a child who faces an earth, a humanity, endlessly scorned by man. Straddling the real world and the imagination in a game of constant appearance and disappearance, the narrative is discovered through the experience of a child, contrary to the expectations of the world. An arresting visceral poem, The Child Who articulates…..Learn More!

I LAID AN EGG

Double Image Theater Lab

November 14-15 | in The First Floor Theatre

Created by Spica Wobbe & Margot Fitzsimmons

I Laid an Egg is an original piece inspired by Margot’s childhood dream. Margot goes on an adventure with her imaginary friend, Egg, in an imaginary world made of shadows and household items from her everyday life. A show filled with many unexpected surprises and discoveries….Learn More!

ALL WE HAVE LEFT

Liz Hara & Spencer Lott

November 18 | in The Club
(Work-in-progress Presentation)

A new play created by Liz Hara & Spencer Lott
Puppet Design by Martin P. Robinson

After the suicides of their parents, 16-year-old Kyle and 14-year-old Carol are left alone in Frozen Village, their family’s run-down roadside attraction in Winnahotek, Minnesota. Their only hope of survival depends on a swarm of grasshoppers and a mysterious stranger living on the land…Learn More!

UNDEFINED FRACTION

Loco7 Dance Puppet Theatre Company

November 19-29 | in The Ellen Stewart Theatre
(World Premiere)

Inspired by Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s play, Life’s a Dream
Co-Created by Federico Restrepo & Denise Greber

Undefined Fraction is a puppet dance theatre piece inspired by Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s Spanish-language play, Life’s a Dream. Tracing patterns of inequality, the play reflects on justice, guilt, punishment, and the conflict between free will and fate.  The underlying philosophical question is of whether the so-called real world is actually an illusion, a dream from which we will wake…Learn more!

NO NEED FOR A NIGHT LIGHT ON A LIGHT NIGHT LIKE TONIGHT

Created by Maiko Kikuchi

November 19-22 | in The First Floor Theatre
(World Premiere)

Based on familiar tongue twisters, No Need For A Night Light is an experiment between text and design.  Aimless idioms are tucked in and repurposed, only to be reborn as strange dreams. Although the piece employs sophisticated shadow puppets, curious animation…Learn More!

PUNSCHI

Sandglass Theater

November 21-22 | in The First Floor Theatre

Fritzi’s Flea Circus, performed by Shoshana Bass, and Kasper and the Cow, performed by Jana Zeller, offer two family friendly shows by Sandglass Theater, an internationally known theater company specializing in combining puppets with music, actors and visual imagery. Since 1982, the company’s…Learn More!

Meet up in the Puppet Lounge before or after shows for refreshments, videos and puppet talk!

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8pm – 8:30pm; Sundays from 5pm – 6pm

Fridays November 13th & 20th from 8pm – 11pm

SUPPORTERS

The 2015 La MaMa Puppet Series has been made possible with support from The Coca-Cola Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Jim Henson Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Puppet Slam, The Sequoia Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. Public support has been provided by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, with special thanks to City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito,  New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and The New York State Presenter Network Presenter Artist Partnership Project.  Additional support from Wallonie-Bruxellex International & Wallonie-Bruxelles Theatre/ Danse, and Cheryl Henson is gratefully acknowledged.  

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