What is a Phantasmagoria?

Phantasmagoria was a popular form of horror theatre that used "magic lanterns" to project spooky images, such as ghosts, monsters, skeletons, demons and images of death to scare audiences.   These projections shows derived from séances but became a performamnce genre of their own through Europe in the 19th Century.

Ultimately the phantasmagoria elements were incorporated in theatre such as Theatre du Grand Guignol, early films projects such as those by Georges Méliès and more recently the Haunted Mansion at the Disney amusement parks.

La MaMa presents the world premiere of Phantasmagoria;or, Let Us Seek Death!, conceived and directed by Obie Award winner Randolph Curtis Rand, written by Chana Porter and puppetry by Benjamin Stuber. A rainy night in a Genevan castle. Debauched poetry and too much wine. A teenage girl writes a spooky story. On the 200^th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s creation, Frankenstein: or The ModernPrometheus, Phantasmagoria assembles a swirl of puppetry, biography and storytelling into a market of ghosts…the dead walk among us.

You can read more here:  Phantasmagoria: The Secret Life of the Magic Lantern by Mervyn Heard

Happy Halloween!

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La MaMa presents
Phantasmagoria; 
or, Let Us Seek Death!
Conceived and Directed By Randolph Curtis Rand
Written by Chana Porter
Puppetry by Benjamin Stuber
An Eric Borlaug Production

October 20 - November 06, 2016
Thursday to Saturday at 7PM; Sunday at 4PM

Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance as part of La MaMa 10@$10 ticketing initiative.

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Video Preview: Unexploded Ordnances (UXO)

  Split Britches - Unexploded Ordnances from Claire Nolan on Vimeo.

La MaMa presents a “Project in Progress” by the renowned Split Britches - Unexploded Ordnance UXO  - October 6 - 16, 2016, in The Downstairs at La MaMa.

Split Britches developed the work  in collaboration with audiences in London, New York and Los Angeles over a 2 year period including, most recently, an Elders in Residence program on New York’s Governor's Island in September. The company will return to La Mama in 2018 with a final performance. Unexploded Ordnance UXO is a combination of performance and an experimentation with formats for public conversation and references Weaver’s work with The Long Table. Unexploded Ordnance UXO is not yet open for review.

A metaphor for unexplored potential, particularly in elders, Unexploded Ordnance UXO recognizes the unmined resources in us all and seeks to tap that in order to solve problems. Studies have shown that people often experience a burst of creative development as they reach 60 years of age.

The project’s reference to Dr. Strangelove will be apparent in the following ways: the stage will be set with a large round table for public discussion called the 'Situation Room’ echoing the film’s iconic circle called the 'War Room’.  The company will encourage conversation on our current situations with election anxiety anticipated to be a popular topic.  All topics will be discussed with a sense of urgency in solving some of our big problems by referencing a ‘doomsday' scenario like the threat of nuclear disaster in the film.

Peggy Shaw will take on the character of the bombastic general (played by George C. Scott in the film) and Lois Weaver will assume the gentile and ineffectual President (played by Peter Sellars) as dramaturgical engines for the conversation and as sources of comedy performance.

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La MaMa presents

Unexploded

Ordnance (UXO)

Written and Performed by Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver

October 6 - 16, 2016

Thursday - Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 6pm

The Downstairs @ La MaMa

66 East 4th Street

(between Bowery and Second Avenue)

New York, NY 10001

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors; 2-Show Split Britches packages available to see both Unexploded Ordnance UXO and Retro(per)spective.

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

First Look: The God Projekt

All photos by Richard Termine

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La MaMa in association with 
Untitled Theater Company No. 61 presents

THE GOD PROJEKT

By Lone Wolf Tribe
Conceived by Kevin Augustine
Co-written and Co-directed by Kevin Augustine and Edward Einhorn

September 30 - October 16, 2016
Thursday - Saturday at 7pm; Sunday at 4pm 
- additional performance on Monday Oct. 3 at 7pm

Tickets: $30 Adults/$25 Students/Seniors

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

Watch: Vaudevisuals interview with Kevin Augustine

Vaudevisuals sat down with Kevin Augustine during rehearsal for THE GOD PROJEKT, now playing through October 16, 2016, at The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa.

Click here to watch the full video.

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La MaMa in association with 
Untitled Theater Company No. 61 presents

THE GOD PROJEKT

By Lone Wolf Tribe
Conceived by Kevin Augustine
Co-written and Co-directed by Kevin Augustine and Edward Einhorn

September 30 - October 16, 2016
Thursday - Saturday at 7pm; Sunday at 4pm 
- additional performance on Monday Oct. 3 at 7pm

Tickets: $30 Adults/$25 Students/Seniors

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

OUT Magazine on DENUDED!

Out Magazine calls Bruno Isaković's Denuded a "Must See"!

Premiering at the Queer New York International Arts Festival in association with La Mama, Denuded is a nine-person dance piece choreographed by the legendary Bruno Isaković. The movement is inspired by the connection between breath and physical tension of the body, and explores that relationship through precise, intricate moves and shapes.

Read the full article HERE.

La MaMa presents
Denuded
by Bruno Isaković

Part of Queer New York International Arts Festival

September 28 - October 2, 2016
Wednesday 9/28: Solo Version
Thursday 9/29 - Sunday 10/2: Group Version

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

Tickets: $25 Adults; $20 Students/Seniors

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE