6 Questions for Justin Elizabeth Sayre of TO BUILD A SOUL

Photo by Matthew Dean Stewart 

Justin Elizabeth Sayre is a fixture of the Downtown Cabaret Scene in New York, first with their long-running monthly show, The Meeting of The International Order of Sodomites (Bistro Award-winning & 2 MAC nominations), and now with new shows at Joe’s Pub/The Public Theatre like Peaches, Eggplants, and Tears and The gAyBC’s, a five-part series. 

In their new solo work, To Build a Soul, Justin Elizabeth Sayre takes on the artist’s mind. Using memory from their own life and the lives of artists, Sayre explores the compulsion to create, and the inherent hope that keeps them and so many others showing up to create. There are 8 performances in the Downstairs Theatre from December 2–12. Tickets can be purchased here. 

1. Who or what has inspired you to create?

That is a very long list! I've been inspired by so many great artists. I've taken inspiration from James Baldwin, Tennessee Williams, Charles Ludlam, Jackie Curtis, and Ethyl Eichelberger for sure. In the show, we actually talk about my greatest influence, Eva Le Gallienne. But the list goes on and on. I take so much inspiration from fellow artists, but I also draw on my own life, my own experience of the world, with this show especially. 

2. How did you come to collaborate with director Dusty Childers?

Dusty is one of my dearest friends in the entire world. His eye for aesthetics and his natural storytelling abilities made him the obvious choice for this very personal show. It's been a dream of a process, with so much support and love flowing between us, we both see the performances as merely widening the circle of the joy we've already created. 

3. What have you learned from writing new work during a pandemic?

Now is the time for innovation and patience. We have to continue to understand what the theatre is and can be in this new era and realize that perhaps not all the old forms will manifest in this new paradigm. And that's coming from a raging traditionalist! But I see this shift as a time for new dreams. The theatre is a place for collective belief and imagination, those are its strengths. By making work that plays upon those natural attributes, and for goodness, to invest in the power of delight, I think new work can spring forth from this rather dire period. 

4. Can you elaborate on the process of creating semi-autobiographical work?

Well this show, To Build a Soul is a collection of autobiographical stories that talk about my relationship to the Theatre. So in that way, you're weeding out the things that don't serve that narrative. My life, everyone's life, in fact, is layered with a multitude of influences and events, but when we're establishing one view, we must stick to it, and hue out anything that doesn't serve the story you're telling. 

5. You’re publishing a new book next year! What are your upcoming plans for 2022?

Oh so much! In January alone, I debut another solo work, My Beatnik Youth, for the Under The Radar Festival at The Public. I return to Joe's Pub for a new monthly variety show, Assorted Fruit, that will run for all of 2022. I have a play, Lottie Platchett Took A Hatchet, debuting at SF Sketchfest and then going to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. And at least three readings of new plays this year, and the final reworking of an older play of mine, The Click of the Lock. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Well, this is my second show here at La MaMa, so in a way, it feels like a homecoming. I'm so honored to be here as an artist creating work in this illustrious place with such a rich and formidable history. But it's also a place of new work, of new voices, creating new work that will continue the brave spirit of Ellen Stewart. You still feel her presence in the building. And yet it's not a place of intimidation, everyone here makes you feel so welcome and free. It is a spirit of YES! Telling each artist who comes through these doors, to go farther, do better, and make something new. It's invigorating and thrilling, and as the naturally greedy person I am, I only wish for more. 

La MaMa presents

To Build a Soul

Written and performed by Justin Elizabeth Sayre
Directed by Dusty Childers

December 2–12, 2021

The Downstairs

66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 4pm

Ticket Prices
Adults: $25 in advance; $30 day of show
Students/Seniors: $20 in advance; $25 day of show

6 Questions for Stephen Petronio

Stephen Petronio is a choreographer, dancer, and the Artistic Director of the Stephen Petronio Company. For over 35 years, Stephen Petronio has honed a unique language of movement that speaks to the intuitive and complex possibilities of the body informed by its shifting cultural context. He has collaborated with a wide range of artists in many disciplines over his career and holds the integration of multiple forms as fundamental to his creative drive and vision. He continues to create a haven for dancers with a keen interest in the history of contemporary movement and an appetite for the unknown.

In Petronio Punk Picks and Other Delights, Stephen Petronio Company revives a series of iconic solos and duets from Petronio's formative days coming up in the East Village, featuring collaborations from the ’90s and early 2000s. There are 4 performances in the Ellen Stewart Theatre from November 18–21. Tickets can be purchased here. Follow @stephenpetroniocompany on Facebook and Instagram!

1. What inspired you to select these specific pieces for these performances?

These are quite simply songs that I have adored throughout my life. Most of these were preludes to longer, more abstract works, employed as vectors or lenses through which to look at the works that they were attached to.

2. How does it feel to bring these revivals, reconstructions, and reimaginings to La MaMa?

These songs were the soundtrack to my life in the East Village, where I lived for many years. It seemed like a perfect way to come into La MaMa for the first time!

3. What can audiences expect from these performances, specifically the world premiere of Johnnie Cruise Mercer's and then we hit the boundary where the sun’s wind ceased...?

Johnnie is one of my favorite young artists. I met him several years back and when I saw his work it was love at first sight. He’s passionate about many things, but particularly MOVEMENT! He’s Vibratory— makes movement and dances with depth and passion that makes me happy to be a choreographer! Only Johnnie can speak to what he’s making, but whatever he makes, I eagerly watch.

4. 2022 will be the Company’s 38th Anniversary Season! What are some of the important lessons you've learned from working with your dancers and the Company as a whole?

The only reason to do it is because you LOVE it. If it’s just a job, step off. The other lesson is that in a company where you’ve worked together over years, there can be a delicious depth of discovery that continues to offer the unknown surprise.

5. What are your hopes and future plans for the Company?

Make Art, Make Art, MAKE ART! We have some big plates in the air: my next dances, our Bloodlines reconstructions from postmodern heroes and commissions from the next generation innovators, trying to reckon with inequity in the field and growing the Petronio Residency Center, a research and development facility to support future creation. The canvas of SPC is in place with plenty of room to develop these ideas. Our future is here.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

The fear of loss of our practice in this last period was REAL. La MaMa offers us a precious door back into what we do, in the neighborhood that I grew up in as an artist. It has made me look at some of the things I love best. The drive of these songs and the brilliance of the bodies that have made them with me means everything.

Tess Montoya in Full Half Wrong (1993) by Stephen Petronio. Photo by Sarah Silver.

La MaMa presents

Petronio Punk Picks and Other Delights

Stephen Petronio Company

Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10003

November 18 – 21, 2021

Nov 18, Thursday at 7pm
Nov 19, Friday at 7pm
Nov 20, Saturday at 7pm
Nov 21, Sunday at 2pm

Ticket Prices
Adults: $25 in advance; $30 day of show
Students/Seniors: $20 in advance; $25 day of show

6 Questions for Crystal Cortez of THE INDIGO ROOM

Crystal Cortez is a sound, installation artist & programmer based out of Portland, Oregon. She is also a professor of Creative Coding & Sonic Arts at Portland Community College. Her work focuses on the empowerment of underserved populations gaining access and knowledge around technology. Under her performance moniker Crystal Quartez she transforms field recordings, uses synthesis, audio programming, data sonification, and 3D sound spatialization to produce complex sonic realms. She will be joining Timothy White Eagle and his team of collaborators for The Indigo Room, which will be performed in the Downstairs Theatre from November 11 – 21. Pay What You Can tickets can be purchased here. Follow @crystalquartez on Instagram and Twitter.

1. What role does sound play in The Indigo Room?

I’m the sound designer for The Indigo Room. I’ll be contributing to the atmosphere Timothy creates by punctuating his storytelling with sound, and helping to immerse participants in the multiple worlds he guides them through.

2. How would you describe your work as an artist?

My work is focused on using the medium of sound as a transportation device, whether that be in a large-scale interactive installation, through technology I build, or via music alone. I aim to create spaces that give permission for people (and myself) to explore something their daily life might not leave space for. In my sound creation, I build all of my own instruments with field recordings from my immediate world. I use this as a jumping off point, and morph the sounds to facilitate reflection inward or on external topics. Lately, I have been focused on the additions of multichannel sound spatialization and building wearable instruments, to create more immersive sonic environments and integrate the body in the exploration of them.

3. What made you begin your practice of producing sonic realms for reflection and release, and how has it evolved?

I’ve always had a deep interest in what the sounds around me mean; their context in the world, what emotions they elicit, what memories they trigger, how they feel in my body. It’s the sense that has been easiest for me to attach to since I was young. Creating these sonic realms began through performance art pieces where the sound I created allowed me to engage audience members in performance with me. It has evolved to creating spaces and technologies that allow people to engage with sound without my direction, through the interactive tech I build. My personal understanding of my physical and mental relationship to sound has also grown over the years through my practice, allowing me to get closer to my intentions with each soundscape I create.

4. Who or what has inspired you?

My biggest source of inspiration has been my DIY community of artists in Portland. I have been so lucky to begin my art career in a community so accepting of raw expression and experimentation. Larger artists who have influenced my work are Pauline Oliveros and her deep listening practice, and Nam June Paik’s ethos around technology and nature, among many others.

5. How did you come to collaborate with Timothy White Eagle?

Timothy and I were both chosen to be Creative Exchange Lab resident artists for the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art this year. The exchange lab was a multiple week experience, one of which was taking residents to live in the woods to rest and create together. Timothy and I ended up using the site’s chapel for spontaneous sound creation and bonded over exploring the resonance of that space. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Working at La MaMa is the perfect introduction to the theater world for me. I’m honored to be contributing to Timothy’s piece, which I so believe in. Beyond that I’m excited to be working in a space that has a rich history of prioritizing and supporting artists in exploration and experimentation. I also appreciate La MaMa’s focus on audience participation, which has always been a huge part of my work. I can’t wait to start!

La MaMa presents

The Indigo Room

By Timothy White Eagle & The Violet Triangle

November 11 – 21, 2021

The Downstairs

66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 1pm

Tickets:
Pay What You Can: $10 – $60

6 Questions for Timothy White Eagle of THE INDIGO ROOM

Timothy White Eagle is a mixed race artist. His art practice rises from a decades long exploration of traditional ritual and embodiment practice. He crafts experiences and objects designed to heal both creator and audience. His preferred mediums include objects, photography, performance, and installed space. He is the lead artist of The Indigo Room, which will be performed in the Downstairs Theatre from November 11 – 21. Pay What You Can tickets can be purchased here. Follow @timothy.whiteeagle on Instagram.

1. What inspired you to write The Indigo Room? 

The feelings of being trapped and part of political, colonial, racist, toxic environments and military systems of which I did not approve and had no control over. The feeling of no escaping from current established norms. I started thinking about the old mythologies of being swallowed by a monster. I felt like I had been swallowed by a Monster.

2. What does the title mean?

The story of Indigo in America relates as metaphor. The slave labor forced to process Indigo, how the very early industrial growing and production of Indigo depleted the earth and made plantation owners rich. And how Slaves, trapped in the system used the dregs (i.e. garbage) of the Indigo process to make “haint blue” a protection paint. They made a kind of medicine while trapped from the unwanted remains of an industrial process, that story resonated with me.

3. What should audiences expect from the performance?

Every performance will be a bit different. We work generatively and enjoy performances being alive. As a story teller, I allow my stories to change and grow. We have a wide slate of material to draw from. I do have a solid template to draw within, but I do sometimes vary from what even I expect. The music created between myself and sound artist/composure Crystal Quartez will be unique each night, informed by each audience. There will be a carnival. There will be ritual space. There will be a monster and a whale. There will be things sacred and profane.

4. How would you describe your work as an artist?

All of my work is based in ritual which is reaching toward growth, evolution, and healing.

5. Who or what are your key influences?

In this project, specific intellectual influences include Joseph Campbell, Karl Jung, and Mircea Eliade. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

I have been holding a touch for La MaMa for many years. Back in the olden days in the early '90s, On the Boards, an arts organization based in Seattle, was bring folks like Spaulding Gray and John Kelly, among others, out to Seattle from La Mama. And seeing their expanded what I thought performance could be.

La MaMa presents

The Indigo Room

By Timothy White Eagle & The Violet Triangle

November 11 – 21, 2021

The Downstairs
66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 1pm

Tickets:
Pay What You Can: $10 – $60

6 Questions for Charlotte Lily Gaspard of JUMP START

Charlotte Lily Gaspard is the founder and artistic director of Midnight Radio Show, a shadow puppet sci-fi fairytale theater company based in Brooklyn, NY. She designs puppets for theater and film. Her project MIA M.I.A. is an urban fairytale for adults that will be part of Jump Start: A presentation of Works in Progress. There are only 4 performances at La MaMa, so get your tickets now!

1. Do you have a favorite puppet in your performance?

My favorite puppet in my performance is a large scale shadow puppet of a fairy. She has articulated appendages, and I love the way she moves -- even though she is as big as I am. I hand cut all of my silhouette puppets, a long time passion, but it is only recently that I have dedicated more time in my artistic practices to make such large shadow puppets. 

2. What draws you to work with puppets?

I am drawn to use puppets in my work for many reasons. I fell in love with the art of shadow puppetry over ten years ago, from the moment I made my first paper cuts and shone a light on them. “Analogue magic” is a phrase and a goal I am drawn to. For me, puppetry is an intersection of craft and magic. When a puppeteer breathes life into an inanimate object, something incredible happens. The imagination of the audience is activated in a new way; this is the whole reason I became a theatre artist and storyteller in the first place. 

3. What have you learned from creating and performing new work during a pandemic?

Creating and performing during the pandemic has been challenging, and yet very rewarding. Innovation is not always a comfortable or easy journey, but I knew from the start of lockdown that I would need to keep making work. Directing a zoom show is very different from a live stage production, but I am blessed to work with adaptable, deeply talented people in my company, Midnight Radio Show. Although many were in different time zones, calling in for rehearsals and shows from Montana, California, Massachusetts and India, we still put our enchantments out into the world. 

4. What should audiences expect from the performance?

Our offering for the La MaMa Puppet Festival is the first 25 minutes of a new shadow puppet musical for adults, titled Mia M.I.A written and directed by myself. The show has original songs and music by our long-time collaborators Jessie Davis, Malik Work and Doc Frost. A combination of shadow puppets and live action/movement theater, the story is a modern science fiction fairytale that will whisk audiences away into our enchanted galaxy. 

5. Who and what has inspired you?

I am inspired by magical realism on stage (and everywhere), unexpected interactions, and the transformative power of new perspectives. This is partly why I love shadow puppets, and puppets in general. I have a background in costumes, and have always been drawn to visual storytelling. When a papercut is illuminated and projected onto a screen it becomes something new, a character or place, evoking ideas or feeling. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Working at La MaMa is a dream come true! To have the support and feedback of Denise Greber and the whole La Mama team could not have come with better timing. During the pandemic, I was determined to continue making and sharing work, even though I am a theater artist who suddenly found herself  doing zoom shows and making videos. What a learning curve! It was such an isolating time for all of us citizens of Earth, but being in residence at La MaMa gave me a new artistic community. I am very grateful, and constantly inspired. 

La MaMa Presents

Jump Start: A Presentation of Works in Progress

Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra, Charlotte Lily Gaspard, Tom Lee, Leah Ogawa, Tarish "Jeghetto" Pipkins

October 21 – 24, 2021

The Downstairs
66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Oct 21, Thursday at 7pm
Oct 22, Friday at 7pm
Oct 23, Saturday at 7pm
Oct 24, Sunday at 2pm

Ticket Prices
Adults: $25
Students/Seniors: $20

6 Questions for Leah Ogawa of JUMP START

Leah Ogawa is a mixed-race artist, puppeteer, dramatist, self-detective, and model based in New York City. Raised in Yamanashi, Japan, Leah has worked with puppeteers, artists, and companies including The Metropolitan Opera, Phantom Limb, Dan Hurlin, Tom Lee, Nami Yamamoto, Loco 7, and others. Leah is a recipient of the Jim Henson Foundation’s workshop grant for her original piece, Growing Not Dying, which will be as part of Jump Start: A Presentation of Works in Progress. There are only 4 performances at La MaMa, so get your tickets now!

1. Do you have a favorite puppet in your performance?

I love the feet/legs that I've created for this piece! Some might say they are not exactly a "puppet," but the way I can animate and move them is special to me. I love seeing them move gracefully. Please come see the performance live!

2. What draws you to work with puppets?

Puppets and objects can tell stories that no human actor can do. The puppet can convey a different feeling or meaning depending on how a puppeteer animates them. I see so many possibilities, qualities, and surprises in working with puppets; therefore, my work naturally draws puppetry elements to it.    

3. What have you learned from creating and performing new work during a pandemic?

It made me stronger by helping me to realize that I can create my own work. Before the pandemic, I was part of other people's shows as a collaborator and puppeteer.  The pandemic naturally forced me to become more introspective and inspired me to want to share my own story even more. It gave me the space to go for it and really own my craft. 

4. What should audiences expect from the performance?

(No expectations!) I would like the audience to come in with their own story and interpret the visuals as they so desire. I hope the audiences will be surprised by my performance. 

5. Who and what has inspired you?

Everything and everyone is a source of inspiration--nature, people, objects, emotions, etc.. For this piece, and all the shows I create, I am always searching where the vulnerability lies in the story. That emotion, both personal and intimate, inspires me to go deeper into what I truly want to create. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
 
La MaMa is the first place I performed as a professional puppeteer. It was for Tom Lee's show, Shank's Mare (It was also for the puppet festival!). La MaMa has always supported me in my career, especially during the pandemic, providing me the space to continue developing my work. I am forever grateful for the love I receive from this community of artists. It's a special place where I can take risks, challenge myself, and keep growing as an artist. It is truly a magical place, and I am appreciative of this opportunity. Thank you Denise and Federico! 

La MaMa Presents

Jump Start: A Presentation of Works in Progress

Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra, Charlotte Lily Gaspard, Tom Lee, Leah Ogawa, Tarish "Jeghetto" Pipkins

October 21 – 24, 2021

The Downstairs
66 East 4th Street, basement level
New York, NY 10003

Oct 21, Thursday at 7pm
Oct 22, Friday at 7pm
Oct 23, Saturday at 7pm
Oct 24, Sunday at 2pm

Ticket Prices
Adults: $25
Students/Seniors: $20
Multi-Show Puppet Packages Available

6 Questions for Torry Bend of DREAMING

Torry Bend is a set designer, puppet artist, and Associate Professor at Duke University. Dreaming, Torry Bend's most recent collaboration with playwright Howard Craft and director JaMeeka Holloway, will premiere in the Ellen Stewart Theatre on October 14 as part of La MaMa Puppet Series 2021. There are only 4 performances at La MaMa, so get your tickets now!

1. Do you have a favorite puppet in your performance?

I love JOE LEE, he is a table top puppet that has just been transformed from a 2D racist cartoon into his original body. A body that has been unseen for the many years he has been trapped as a cartoon. There is a joy in seeing a body in all of it's human-ness (a round belly, a glint in an eye, a subtle smile) arrive on stage after we have only ever seen the character as a 2D image. 

2. How did you come to collaborate with Howard Craft and JaMeeka Holloway on Dreaming?

I had wanted to do a piece on Little Nemo in Slumberland for many years. When I sat down to do it, I quickly realized that I had to make a choice—confront the racism present in McCay's drawings, or ignore it. To ignore and continue with the project felt like a perpetuation of systemic racism, to walk away from the project all together felt like a missed opportunity, so I leaned into the challenge and made sure I had a team that could tell a story that hadn't been told and was desperately needed. Howard Craft's previous collaborations with graphic novelists and his experience with superheroes made him the perfect writer. I passed the comics on to him and was thrilled with what he brought back. JaMeeka joined the team a little later, offering a directorial ear to the dialogue that could balance my visual storytelling experience. 

3. What inspired you to create a world where comic book characters live side-by-side with real people?

This is Howard's genius! The brilliance of this concept is that it allows us to illustrate the extreme stereotyping and racism that is present in comics (both historical and contemporary) while also reveling in what puppetry does best—play with form, scale, and graphic quality. This is one of my favorite parts about this show. McCay's brilliance as a comic and cartoon artist was his graphic skill and what better way to bring that to a live stage than with puppetry, toy theater and overhead specifically. They are graphic forms that allow us to both celebrate and challenge McCay's work.

4. What do you hope audiences will learn from this performance?

I'm less interested in this being a learning opportunity, and more interested in the audience reflecting on the visual world they have been consuming. Where does it come from? Who's ideas are being upheld as "visionary" and who's are being ignored?

5. What do you hope for the future of puppetry, as well as the future of comics and animation?

I want to see a broadening of "popular" American puppetry to diverse voices and perspectives. It's such a flexible form, imagine how deep the well of inspiration could be if the perspectives on puppetry were as wide as the diversity of this country. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

To have my work presented in a space where I have been inspired, challenged, and influenced again and again and again is overwhelmingly humbling. 

La MaMa presents

Dreaming

Story by Howard Craft

Script by JaMeeka Holloway and Torry Bend
Directed and Designed by Torry Bend 
Associate Director: JaMeeka Holloway

October 14 – 17, 2021

Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10003

Oct 14, Thursday at 7pm
Oct 15, Friday at 7pm
Oct 16, Saturday at 7pm
Oct 17, Sunday at 2pm

Ticket Prices
Adults: $25
Students/Seniors: $20
Multi-Show Puppet Packages Available

6 Questions for Kevin Augustine of BODY CONCERT

Kevin Augustine is the founding artistic director of Lone Wolf Tribe, a multi-disciplinary performance company based in Brooklyn, NY. He begins performances of Body Concert in the Ellen Stewart Theatre on October 7 as part of La MaMa Puppet Series 2021. Tickets are selling fast, so get yours now!

1. Do you have a favorite puppet in your performance?

Not really. When I'm puppeteering with each character, they are my sole focus. There are some who were easier to bond with-- the Eyeball took the longest. Initially, I was concerned audiences might not connect emotionally with these puppets because most of them don't have faces. So I worked a lot on the quality of movement and intention of each character to find their heart and personality.

This cast of puppets took the longest to make than any of my previous shows; there was a steep learning curve in working with new materials-- especially in creating the baby's translucent limbs. There are also quite a few mechanical magic trick elements that took me many months to figure out, particularly inside the Baby, the Eyeball and the Arm.

2. What inspired you to write Body Concert?

Disappointment. After making my last two shows on social issues and realizing no one is ever going to fully agree with my point of view, I wanted to make something that was indisputable. Something that didn't elicit a response on how we differ but where we're the same; what we all share. The ideas and performance approach to Body Concert—not having a text (and so no language barriers), focusing on universal aspects—our physical selves, our need for connection, our relationship with death and nature—these didn't come to me fully formed but took slow shape  as I developed the piece over six years.  But the underlying inspiration that carried me through, particularly during the times when it felt like this show would never quite manifest, was wanting to share a life experience on stage, not an ideology. 

3. How do you expand the boundaries of puppetry?

I think this happens through the performance intention I gave to myself: make a solo show that pushes me further physically while puppeteering that I had thought possible before. The early years of attempting this were excruciating; I just didn't have the muscle capacity to use my limbs in the ways that were needed to animate the puppets. And when the puppets felt too heavy to hold—instead of trying to re-engineer them to be lighter, I decided to train harder and get stronger. My process was 2D first—sketch the puppets in relationship with each other and then figure out physically how to bring those pictures to life on stage. I like personal challenges but this was much harder than I had imagined. It was a long lesson in patience and determination. A welcome consequence has been an uptick in my willingness to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. 

4. How did you get started in puppetry? 

I still have the sock puppet my grandmother hand-stitched for me when I was a kid. Receiving that gift was the acorn that grew into discovering I too could make my own toys. Many years after that, here I am at the 25th anniversary of having my own theatre company, imagining up stories to tell while performing alongside the puppets I make.  

5. What role does the music play in this performance?

Mark's music is essential. It pretty much covers every second of stage time. It informs my performance and helps lead the audience. There was a lot of collaboration between us to find the right quality of feeling. We had two residencies in Quebec in 2018/19 where we really dug down and honed in on discovering that path together. 

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Working at La MaMa was always a New York dream of mine. It's the pinnacle of working as a downtown, independent theatre artist. Being back in the Ellen Stewart Theatre after 2016's The God Projekt means a lot. As a lone-wolf-type-artist, my work gives me purpose and is my main focus, so I don't have a big social circle or go out much. Introverted personalities can be challenging to people, so I'm grateful to Denise Greber for invited me back for this festival.  I can't help think of that Van Gogh exhibit that's so popular now. During his lifetime the artist never sold a painting, yet today that digital exhibition is sold out & people can't wait to get tickets. Rich folks pay millions to hang his work on their walls. But when Vincent was alive, how many of those people would have felt comfortable inviting him into their homes or out to dinner? 

La MaMa Presents

Body Concert

By Lone Wolf Tribe

Performed and Created by Kevin Augustine (USA)
Co-production: Les Sages Fous (QC)

October 7 – 10, 2021

Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10003

Oct 7, Thursday at 8:30pm
Oct 8, Friday at 7pm
Oct 9, Saturday at 8:30pm
Oct 10, Sunday at 4pm

Ticket Prices
Adults: $25
Students/Seniors: $20
Multi-Show Puppet Packages Available