Off-Broadway NewsNick Payne's Constellations, Elizabeth Swados' The Beautiful Lady, and More Part of La MaMa Winter–Spring 2020 SeasonCheck out what's playing at the Tony-winning downtown theatre January–April 2020.
By
Olivia Clement
January 03, 2020
A scene from Nick Payne’s Constellations
Yang Yang
La MaMa continues its 58th season, celebrating the centennial of founder Ellen Stewart, with a spring and winter lineup brimming with new work from artists both local and international.
The January programming includes the Wang Chong-helmed Constellations, Nick Payne's Broadway play re-imagined by the Beijing-based Théâtre du Rêv Expérimental with live video and a live hamster (as part of Under the Radar, January 9–12); the U.S. premiere of Komuna Warszawa's Cezary Goes to War,a queer fantasia on masculinity directed by European avant-garde artist Cezary Tomaszewski (January 16–19); and the world premiere of The Transfiguration of Benjamin Banneker, a multi-disciplinary spectacle celebrating the life of Benjamin Banneker, a free black man who lived in Maryland from 1731 to 1806 and made ground-breaking scientific discoveries. The production, running January 23–February 2, will feature dance, live music, the Soul Tigers Marching Band, puppetry, and a multi-generational cast of Brooklynites.
From January 8–12, La MaMa will also present a series of events featuring work by artists in the Indigenous community as part of reflections of native voices.
February highlights include Andrea Thomes' Fandago For Butterflies (And Coyotes), inspired by interviews with undocumented immigrants from Latin America (February 6–15); Kara Feely and Travis Just's utopian space-opera You Are Under Our Space Control (January 23–February 2); Jack Waters' meditation on the AIDS epidemic as cultural phenomenon, Generator: Pestilence Part 1; and Japanese playwright, performer, and director Hideki Noda's gender-bending farce exploring selfie culture, technology, and consumerism, One Green Bottle (February 29–March 8).
Through March and April La MaMa will present Martín Santangelo's Antigona (March 19–April 5), an evening-length flamenco performance adapted from Sophocles' classic play; Elizabeth Hess' Spoiled, an exploration of gender-based violence featuring an ensemble of women (March 19–29); and the previously announced New York premiere of Elizabeth Swados and Paul Schmidt's The Beautiful Lady, directed by Anne Bogart. The musical follows a group of influential Russian poets on the eve of the 1917 October Revolution (April 30–May 17).
Surrounded by period-accurate, 19th-century holiday decorations lit via candlelight, the 70-minute production is based on Dickens' own script of the classic.
