Experiments in Digital Storytelling

La MaMa and CultureHub’s Experiments in Digital Storytelling Program incubates story-driven art works that harness digital distribution platforms, expand online audience engagement, and push the boundaries of current artistic forms. Interact with the projects over the Internet or come to The Club for a behind the scenes look at how the work is being made.

Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 7PM ET
Free with Reservation

Inspect Elements: A Reading with The HTML Review

La MaMa and CultureHub present a live reading with contributors from the first two issues of the The HTML Review. An eclectic group of poets, writers, artists, technologists will showcase poetic instruments, interactive fictions, illustrated essays, movable lyrics, linguistic gardens, and pixelated memories.

Founded by Shelby Wilson and Maxwell Neely-Cohen in 2022, The HTML Review is an annual journal of literature made for the web. It publishes digitally native poetry, fiction, essays, memoirs, and experiments, all while trying to celebrate and reclaim a participatory internet.

Featuring readings and installations from: Eloisa Amezcua, Todd Anderson, Matthew Baker, Esther Bouquet, Spencer Chang, Katy Gero, Betsy Kenyon May-Li Khoe, Daniel Lichtman, Nathan Mifsud, Alex Miller, Nick Montfort, Larissa Pham, Everest Pipkin, Jayson Smith, Andy Wallace, Logan Williams, Katerine Yang, Lucy Zhang, Ivan Zhao

7pm ET: Installations Open
7:30pm ET: Readings

Saturday, May 27, 2023 | 2:30–4:30PM ET
Free‍

Medea | Open Rehearsal‍

La MaMa and CultureHub present an open rehearsal with The Great Jones Repertory Company as they workshop a new iteration of Medea originally created by Elizabeth Swados and Andrei Serban. Zishan Ugurlu directs, working with masks, cameras, and projections to explore ideas of border crossings, refugees, immigration, AI, deep fakes, and more.

June 1–3, 2023 | Thursday–Friday at 7:30PM ET, Saturday at 2:30PM ET
$10 In-Person Tickets
Sliding Scale Starting at $5 Livestream Tickets

Fractals of Prometheus: A Unity of Images

Fractals of Prometheus | A Unity of Images is an interactive livestream experiment that travels through La MaMa’s newly renovated 74A building and uses its extensive data network to break past the four walls of the theatre. A group of writers, performers, musicians, and technologists create fractals of the myth of Prometheus, exploring themes of regret, resistance, and ritual, to collectively form a unity of images.

Sliding scale tickets are available to experience the work-in-progress as a livestream with custom-built interactions that will influence the trajectory of the performance. A small number of in-person tickets are available at $10 for a behind the scenes experience.‍

June 8–10, 2023 | Thursday–Friday at 7:30PM ET, Saturday at 2:30PM ET
$10 In-Person Tickets‍

The Books of Jacob‍

La MaMa and CultureHub in association with the Polish Cultural Institute NY present The Books of Jacob by Dream Adoption Society, a digital laboratory led by Krzysztof Garbaczewski. The Books of Jacob is inspired by Olga Tokarczuk's Nobel prize-winning novel of the same name which explores the historical events surrounding Jacob Frank, a man who claimed to be the reincarnation of Sabbatai Zevi. In front of a live audience, Garbaczewski creates a hybrid theatre and virtual reality experience that delves into the ideas and relevance of Jacob's transformative religious movement in 18th Century Europe.

CREDITS

Performers: Danusia Trevino, Anna Podolak, Ola Rudnicka
Adaptation: Rébecca Pierrot
Costume Design: Monika Palikot, Sławomir Blaszewski
Music: Jan Duszyński
Avatars: Anastasiia Vorobiova
Set design: Bettina Katja Lange, Krzysztof Garbaczewski
Director, VR Design: Krzysztof Garbaczewski

Additional support for Krzysztof Garbaczewski’s fellowship in Experiments in Digital Storytelling is provided by TMU and Polish Cultural Institute New York.