First Look: Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence

All photos by Theo Cote

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La MaMa presents

Distant Observer: 

Tokyo/New York Correspondence

Written and Conceived by Takeshi Kawamura and John Jesurun
Translation by Aya Ogawa

Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence is a collaboration between Japanese playwright/director Takeshi Kawamura and American playwright/director John Jesurun. The project is conceived as a play written and directed in collaborative partnership by both artists. Written in corresponding chapters by each playwright, it combines two established artists of the same generation, both with distinct voices and significant work, in a deep creative conversation across cultures.

CAST: 
Anastasia Olowin | Kotoba Dan | Claire Buckingham | Kyle Griffiths | Samuel Im

March 16, 2018 - April 1, 2018

The Ellen Stewart Theatre 
66 East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; La MaMa's 10 @ $10 tickets available for all performances, while supplies last

For Tickets & Info: CLICK HERE

6 Questions: Anastasia Olowin

We continue our 6 Questions series with the cast of John Jesurun & Takeshi Kawamura's Distant Observer:Tokyo/New York Correspondence. Actress Anastasia Olowin took time our from rehearsals to answer our 6 Questions.  You can read them below and get your tickets to Distant Observer which plays The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa from March 16 - April 1, 2018.

1. Who do you play in Distant Observer? 
 Let's just say I work at the embassy and appreciate a good sandwich.

 2. What made you want to be a part of this project? 
 I've admired John’s work for a long time as a theater maker here in New York. When I learned that he and Kawamura were collaborating it sounded like such a fascinating project from two great minds that I just couldn’t pass up.

 3. What is your favorite part of (or favorite line from) the show? 
 "Stop yelling, we are in Starbucks.”

 4. What is the last good book you read (or film or theater piece or museum exhibit you saw etc)? 
 I was lucky enough to snag an advance copy of Leah Franqui's excellent debut novel "America for Beginners". It's a heartfelt, moving, and amusing story of human connection - the kind of book you get swept up in and can't put down.

 5. Who inspires you? 
 My creative partner and co-producer Victoria Frings. She’s one of the hardest working and most supportive people I know, and is committed to investigating bold, poignant - and often hilarious - storytelling. Our company, To-By-For Productions, is dedicated to telling female-centric stories and exploring how form enhances understanding.

 6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you? 
 I studied at NYU’s Experimental Theatre Wing, so LaMaMa has been an important part of my theatrical upbringing. It’s a real pleasure to have the opportunity to perform here.

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La MaMa presents

Distant Observer: 

Tokyo/New York Correspondence

Written and Conceived by Takeshi Kawamura and John Jesurun
Translation by Aya Ogawa

Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence is a collaboration between Japanese playwright/director Takeshi Kawamura and American playwright/director John Jesurun. The project is conceived as a play written and directed in collaborative partnership by both artists. Written in corresponding chapters by each playwright, it combines two established artists of the same generation, both with distinct voices and significant work, in a deep creative conversation across cultures.

CAST: 
Anastasia Olowin | Kotoba Dan | Claire Buckingham | Kyle Griffiths | Samuel Im

March 16, 2018 - April 1, 2018

The Ellen Stewart Theatre 
66 East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; La MaMa's 10 @ $10 tickets available for all performances, while supplies last

For Tickets & Info: CLICK HERE

6 Questions: ELIZABETH HESS

Elizabeth Hess is the writer, director and one of the performers in LOVE TRADE, a new performance that tests the sex games Demeter passes on to her daughter Persephone, who wanders away from the Upper World and meets the exotic Shiva. Elizabeth took a break from preparing for the world premiere of LOVE TRADE to answer our 6 Questions. 

1. What was the original inspiration behind creating LOVE TRADE? 
I’m a preacher’s kid who subconsciously chose to ‘get rid’ of my virginity with a fellow undergraduate I barely knew who was from Pakistan. I’d been taught that my sexuality (and all women’s’ sexuality) was taboo, so I somehow thought that if I distanced myself from my own culture I could undertake this ‘dark and dirty deed’ and then just walk away. No consequences. No complications. No questions asked. It was an act of great violence against myself, and an equally heartless disregard for my partner, even if his own motives were just as murky. How could they not be? There was no intimacy, no understanding, and no loving parental role models to emulate. Just this acting out of wounded psyches. This barter of bruised souls. This so-called ‘love’ trade.

2. In what ways does LOVE TRADE deal with issues of gender roles and assumptions? 
All three characters in LOVE TRADE identify with god/goddess archetypes as a way to feel empowered in a world that writes them off – for being the wrong sex or the wrong race. Not surprisingly they also project fantasies of fulfillment onto each other without any sense of each others’ cultural context. A Western girl thinks an Eastern man is some kind of guru, without even knowing if he’s Hindu or Muslim or whatever. And he in turn thinks she’s hot-to-trot like Madonna, the queen of pop. So he’s shocked to discover (too late) that she’s a virgin, and she’s shocked that he now thinks he owns her after a one-night stand. But, they move passed their limited understanding to a place of greater self-awareness and empathy, whereas the girl’s mother remains as frozen as her botoxed face, trying to live up to the impossible ideal of womanhood in a patriarchal world.

3. Both Greek and Indian myths are inspirations for the piece. What do you think these classic works have to say to us today? 
In an increasing global world, we are now free to search for meaning that goes beyond the restrictions of our own cultural baggage. In LOVE TRADE, Persephone (Greek queen of the Underworld) adopts the persona of Kali (Hindu goddess of creation/destruction) because she is not ready to be associated with an icon in her own culture that expresses the uncensored rage she feels about being identified as a ‘vessel of purity’. Shiva (Hindu god of transformation), on the other hand, morphs into Hades (Greek king of the Underworld) as a way of exploring his sorrow, something he feels uncomfortable expressing in a world that celebrates macho posturing. As for Demeter (Greek goddess of fertility) her embodiment of Dhumavati (Hindu goddess of death) allows her to vomit up all the toxic contents of her shadow side.

4. What should audiences expect from LOVE TRADE? 
Ah! The audience is invited to go on a journey that leads to the resurrection of the self! It is a celebration of one’s aliveness after breaking through the painful secrets and loveless lies and cultural taboos that keep one from their own truth.

5. Your book, Acting & Being: Explorations in Embodied Performance embodies much of the work you are doing in LOVE TRADE. What have you learned from the creation of this piece? 
It’s thrilling to take the unique performance techniques developed in my book and explode them open in the creation of LOVE TRADE. To embody this hybrid approach - which is based on a fusion of Western & Eastern physical theater practices - and witness it take on stunning life in this cross-cultural piece is deeply gratifying. The ensemble is unlocking rich, resonant impulses and taking huge imaginative leaps as they explore their characters’ journeys while also illuminating the inner contents of their own stories. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
My very first acting gig was at La MaMa almost 40 years ago! I played a heroin addict in Love and Junk and researched my role by observing outpatients at Bellevue’s methadone clinic. That was a time when the Lower East Side was writhing with tormented souls and aspiring artists – all of us searching for some kind of transformation. And transformation is something that’s still very central to my work today. So I am thrilled to return to the very theater that gave me my start and now share my own voice and vision - which itself was sparked way back when I saw Tadeusz Kantor’s play Wielopole, Wielopole at La MaMa and staying up all night to write my first play!

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La MaMa presents

LOVE TRADE

By The Hess Collective
Written & Directed by Elizabeth Hess
A love tangle. A lonely girl. Lost god. One angry mother.

March 29 - April 8, 2018
Thursday - Saturday at 7pm; Sunday at 2pm

The Downstairs @ La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; the first ten tickets for every performance may be purchased for $10 each, advance sales only - first come, first served.

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

6 Questions: Anna Gothard & Kate Foster

On Friday March 23, Anna/Kate Band will perform a one-night only concert for the release of their new album, How To Hold.  Anna and Kate answered our 6 Questions about how they met, who influences them and what How To Hold means to them.  Tickets are selling quick, so advance purchase is strongly recommended!

1. How did you meet?
Kate: Anna and I me through a mutual friend who thought two artistically-inclined lesbians would get along :) 

2. Your new album is called ‘How To Hold’ - what does the title mean to you?
Kate: Before going into the studio for six months, our band-mates sat around our living room staring at a blank piece of paper on the wall. We were figuring out which songs we wanted to capture the essence of in the studio, or completely re-invent. One song which everyone agreed on was “Slow Down With Me.” This intimate love-song is about the scary process of staying in the present when you are falling in love. A lyric in that song became our album title; “Holding on is learning how to hold” became “How to Hold.” This title encapsulated the themes of duets about queer romance, and our anthemic songs about community, normalizing resistance and fighting for each other- instead of with each other. Making this album in 2017 was also a poignant reminder; sometimes the best way to hold on is to hold onto each other.

3. How do you describe your music?
Anna: Our music was always born out of poetry. The spoken word community graciously told us our music had a home and we grew from there. We borrow from the past while always looking forward, aiming to create music that is new, fresh and easy to hum to.

4. Who are some of your influences?
Anna: We idolize jazz masters like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and game changers like Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman. We pay homage to contemporaries like Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson and Regina Spektor. Anna grew up with every Beatles album playing as her life's soundtrack, while Kate would lose herself to the honesty and harmonies of the Indigo Girls.

5. What is the last good book you read (or film or theater piece or museum exhibit you saw etc)?
Kate: In terms of theater, we have been deeply moved by the work of the Bengsons @ New York Theatre Workshop/The Public, La MaMa’s own Amy Surratt and MOTUS, and various spoken-word and theatre artists from Poetic Theater Productions. Artists from PTP who have been very influential for us include Lauren Whitehead, presently touring with Bill T Jones’ opera We Shall Not Be Moved and Timothy Du White, who is an artist in residence at Dixon Place.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
Kate: La MaMa has been challenging and nurturing artists for over a half-century. We are both indebted to that history, and deeply informed by the present community-building La MaMa still brings to the table. We have felt so blessed to become a part of the La MaMa family, from opening for NickyLand to our work with the amazing Yoshiko Chuma. On the brink of a bit of an artistic debut, releasing our album, La MaMa was our dream venue: as an artistic home in NYC, as a thrilling cultural lineage to join in on, and as a stunning space for our audience. We are so thrilled to be headlining a night at La MaMa, and are forever grateful!

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La MaMa presents

Anna/Kate Band 

“How To Hold” 

Album Release Concert

The Anna/Kate Band:
Anna Gothard - ukelele, vocals
Kate Foster - vocals
Mark Harad-Oaks - bass, guitar
Kelly Wenof House - banjo, guitar, bass
Bryan Clark - drums
Temi Hason - cello

Special Opening Act: Dane Terry

Friday, March 23, 2018 - 7PM

The Downstairs @ La MaMa
66 East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors

For Info & Tickets:  CLICK HERE

6 Questions: Claire Buckingham

We continue our 6 Questions series with the cast of John Jesurun & Takeshi Kawamura's Distant Observer:Tokyo/New York Correspondence. Actress Claire Buckingham took time our from rehearsals to answer our 6 Questions.  You can read them below and get your tickets to Distant Observer which plays The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa from March 16 - April 1, 2018.


1. Who do you play in Distant Observer?
That's actually a more complicated question than you would think. I guess the simplest answer is I am the Sister of the Murdered Girlfriend.

2. What made you want to be a part of this project?
I will always jump at a chance to work with John. The musicality of his text is such an enticing challenge as an actor. You just step in and it runs away with you. It's a thrill. When I heard he and Kawamura were collaborating, I could not pass up this opportunity. I had the privilege of being in a reading of one of Kawamura's works a few years ago, and I remember being absolutely enamored with the world he created. I couldn't miss the chance to see what they had created together.

3. What is your favorite part of (or favorite line from) the show?
"You mean I'm just saying things and I don't know why?"

4. What is the last good book you read (or film or theater piece or museum exhibit you saw)?
The last show I saw was actually Mac Wellman's A Chronicle of the Madness of Small Worlds at Next Door at NYTW, starring our talented cast member Anastasia Olowin. Man, what a trip. You felt yourself losing the line between the language and the music. 

5. Who inspires you?
My husband. It's gross, but it's really true. He reminds me why we do this whole creative thing. He reminds me to be brave. And he reminds me that it's all supposed to be fun.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
It's amazing to feel so supported in a piece like this. La MaMa feels like being welcomed into an incredibly nurturing community. It's such a special place.

_____

La MaMa presents

Distant Observer: 

Tokyo/New York Correspondence

Written and Conceived by Takeshi Kawamura and John Jesurun
Translation by Aya Ogawa

Distant Observer: Tokyo/New York Correspondence is a collaboration between Japanese playwright/director Takeshi Kawamura and American playwright/director John Jesurun. The project is conceived as a play written and directed in collaborative partnership by both artists. Written in corresponding chapters by each playwright, it combines two established artists of the same generation, both with distinct voices and significant work, in a deep creative conversation across cultures.

CAST: 
Anastasia Olowin | Kotoba Dan | Claire Buckingham | Kyle Griffiths | Samuel Im

March 16, 2018 - April 1, 2018

The Ellen Stewart Theatre 
66 East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; La MaMa's 10 @ $10 tickets available for all performances, while supplies last

For Tickets & Info: CLICK HERE