Robert Moses Didn’t Know How to Drive – June 26

An ode and an elegy for Staten Island, Robert Moses Didn’t Know How To Drive excavates the sounds and scars of a borough reshaped by concrete and power in the 20th century into the present. Marisa Tornello, a fourth-generation Staten Islander, creates tableaus of extended vocal technique, archival footage, and field recordings of accents and stories under the backdrop of a shifting geography picked to pieces by Robert Moses. Developed in residency at La MaMa with support from the Jerome Foundation, the goals of this project also extend into investigating a more accurate history of the socioeconomic, cultural, and isolationist mentality of Staten Island through interviews and research. Future offerings of this project will make their way to site specific performances on Staten Island in late 2025 and 2026.