Howlround Series on Puppetry

Our friends at HowlRound recently ran an in-depth series on several different aspects of Puppetry and Puppet Performance. With our upcoming 2015 La MaMa Puppet Series that includes World Premieres by Tom Lee and Koryu Nishikawa V, Ibex Puppetry (Heather Henson & Ty Defoe), Loco7 Dance Puppet Theatre Company and Maiko Kikuchi we wanted to share these great articles.


One Thirty-Second of an Inch to the Left: A Measured Look at Puppet Building 
by Matthew Laird
Puppet builder Matthew Laird discusses the joys and challenges of crafting puppets for live performance.

Puppetry: Theatre or Television 
by Pam Arciero
Pam Arciero, Oscar the Grouch's girlfriend Grundgetta Grouch, considers the differences between being a puppeteer on television and on stage.

Puppetry for the Modern Shaman 
by James Godwin
Puppeteer James Godwin explores the philosophical and spiritual implications of puppetry.

Why Puppetry? Musings of a Solo Puppet Artist 
by Marsian De Lellis
Solo puppet artist Marsian De Lellis discusses his inspiration and process for creating object/puppet 

Puppetry, the Insular Art That Takes a Village 
by Jean Marie Keevins
Puppeteer Jean Marie Keevins reports on 2015 National Puppetry Conference and the Puppeteers of America National Puppetry Festival.

The 2015 La MaMa Puppet Series runs November 5 - 29, 2015, all all of the La MaMa venues. Discount Packages available for people who want to see multiple shows.

Introducing...THE DOWNSTAIRS!

La MaMa is thrilled to announce the opening of our newest venue The Downstairs. Located in the lower level of 66 East 4th Street, the building that houses The Ellen Stewart Theatre and the La MaMa Archive, The Downstairs is new 6,500 square-foot multi-disciplinary venue that features a 150-seat theater, a large exhibition space, and a classroom. 

Artistic Director, Mia Yoo likens The Downstairs to La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company's new experiment: “The Downstairs is an evolving space for new media and multi-disciplinary artists and residencies, as well as a place to network with our local and global communities through art. We are embracing 21st century tools for collaboration and production, and are very excited about making new art for new audiences.” She adds, “Just as La MaMa founder Ellen Stewart created a new vision of theatre that allowed audiences and artists to interact in unprecedented artistic exchanges 54 years ago in the East Village, our vision for The Downstairs is a non-traditional theatre space that will redefine how audiences and artists of the next generation interact and engage with art.”

The first production in The Downstairs will be Tom Lee's Shank's Mare, opening on November 6th, which is part of the 2015  La MaMa Puppet Series.  John Jesurun's Shadowland, follows on November 27th.

La MaMa will host a "sneak peek" of The Downstairs on Monday, September 28th from 6:30pm to 8pm. For more info go to: www.lamama.org/thedownstairs

Read about The Downstairs in The New York Times.