Object theater rock opera dramatizes allegorical Persian epic poem with music by Avi Fox-Rosen and imagery by famed illustrator Peter Sís.

WHERE AND WHEN:
November 22-Dec. 8, 2024, Thur-Sat @ 7pm, Sun @ 2pm, Wed Dec. 4@7pm 
(no show Thanksgiving Day Nov. 28)
Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa, 66 East Fourth Street
Presented by La MaMa E.T.C. in association with GOH Productions
Tickets:  $30 gen. adm., $25 seniors & students [fees included]. The first ten tickets for every performance are available for only $10 each (limit 2 per patron, advance sale necessary). Preview Nov. 22 @ 7pm: $20.
Running time: 90 minutes
Box office 212-352-3101, www.lamama.org/
Critics are invited November 23 (opening date)
Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/esD7PQMDG2bqUrut8

NEW YORK, November 1 -- When it comes to choosing a leader, birds are just like us. Subject to gaggle mentality, bitter political campaigns and senseless squawking, they argue endlessly and viciously peck each other. That was inspiration to Vít Horejš and Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre for "Fowl Play: Conference of the Birds," an object theater rock opera with music by Avi Fox-Rosen and inspired by Farid us-Din Attar’s 12th century Sufi poem, as re-told by contemporary illustrator and author, Peter Sís. La MaMa E.T.C. will present the world premiere of the piece November 22 to December 8 in its Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East Fourth Street.

"The Conference of the Birds" is an allegorical epic poem that explores themes of spiritual enlightenment and the journey toward union with the divine. A flock of birds, drawn from all species and led by a hoopoe (a wise bird), embarks on a quest to find their king, the mystical Simorgh, a symbol of divine truth and enlightenment. They travel through seven mystical valleys that represent stages of spiritual development. Those who endure the voyage reach the mountain to learn a profound lesson: that Simorgh the king is, in fact, each of them and all of them.

Celebrated children’s book creator Peter Sís created his first book for adults with his adaptation of "The Conference of the Birds" (Penguin, 2011). His paintings, as seen in that book, are transformed into projections by Tom Lee that form the backgrounds of this opera. Puppets, objects, and costumes are designed in the spirit of Sís's colorful illustrations, but are built with found objects including flags, flowers, banknotes, traffic tickets, dry leaves, newspapers, political yard signs, sales flyers and garbage (and elements artfully designed to look like them).

The music, composed by Avi Fox-Rosen and played by a four-piece band, ranges in style from '60s Rock to Kurt Weill.

Author/director Vít Horejš writes, "The performance is devoted to the burning topic modern democracies face in election years—selecting a leader – currently an agonizing process in the USA, as the very foundation of democracy is challenged. It may not be fair to project human foibles onto guiltless birds, but the resemblance is uncanny. I will also include the enormous potential of humanity--soaring to the skies in ever improving technology--often used for warfare--but highlight selfless achievements in music, thought, and artistic creation."

The piece is performed by Deborah Beshaw-Farrell (Hoopoe), Michelle Beshaw (Noisy Bird), Vít Horejš (Nitpicking Bird), Saima Kary (Duck), Theresa Linnihan (Nightingale and Sparrow), Gage Morgan (Peacock), Sammy Rivas (Owl), Sarazina Stein (dancer), Emily LaRochelle (dancer) and Ben Watts (Falcon).

The Fowl Play Band is Avi Fox-Rosen (guitar, voice), Rima Fand (violin, keys, voice), Eleonore Weill (flutes, keys, voice) and Jesse Chevan (drums, percussion).

Assistant Director is Bonnie Sue Stein. Music is composed by Avi Fox-Rosen; lyrics are by Mr. Rosen based on the book “Conference of the Birds” by Peter Sís. Choreography is by Martha Tornay with the cast. Scenic/Production Design is by Tom Lee and Theresa Linnihan. Illustrations are by Peter Sís from his book “Conference of the Birds.” Costumes are by Michelle Beshaw. Lighting is by Daisy Long. Sound Design is by Boris Nazarov. Production Supervisor is Rebecca Werner. Production Assistants are Nora Iammurino and Alex Church-Gonzales. Project dramaturg is Michael Posnick. Script and music consultant is Frank London. Bird behavior consultant is Dr. Rebecca Safran, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Colorado (https://www.safran-lab.com/meet-the-team.html).

Vít Horejš (Libretto, Director) was born in Prague and escaped from Communist Czechoslovakia in 1978. In 1990, with fellow émigrés, he founded Czechoslovak American Marionette Theater (CAMT) in New York. He has translated, written, adapted, and directed over two dozen marionette plays for CAMT. He is a resident artist at La MaMa Theater, where the troupe has performed "Golem," with score by Frank London (1997, 1998 Henson International Puppetry Festival, and 2011), "The Little Rivermaid Rusalka" (1999), "Johannes Dokchtor Faust" (2000), "The Prose of the Transsiberian and of the Little Joan of France" (2001), "Don Juan or the Wages of Debauchery" (2003), "The Life and Times of Lee Harvey Oswald" (2004, 2017), "Once There Was a Village" (2007), an ethno-opera with puppets, found objects and music by Frank London of the Klezmatics; "Twelfth Night (or What You Will)" (2009), "The Republic, or My Dinner with Socrates" (2013), "A Christmas Carol, Oy! Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa" (2014), "The New World Symphony: Dvorák in America" (2016) and "Audience" by Vaclav Havel (2023). Other works include "The Very Sad Story of Ethel & Julius, Lovers and Spyes, and about Their Untymelie End while Sitting in a Small Room at the Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y.," "The Bass Saxophone," "Hamlet," "Twelfth Night," Kacha and the Devil," The White Doe, Or, The Piteous Trybulations of the Sufferyng Countess Jenovefa, and "Twelve Iron Sandals."

Horejš has performed on stage, in films, and on TV. His published works include "Twelve Iron Sandals" (1985), "Pig and Bear" (1989), and "Faust" (1993). He co-produced "Faust on a String," an award-winning documentary about Czech puppetry, and wrote the lead essay for Czecho-Slovak-American Puppetry (GOH Productions, 1994). Horejs has received commission grants from The Henson Foundation, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Foundation for Jewish Culture, Columbia University, and New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2018, he received the Czechoslovak Society for Arts and Sciences (SVU) Award in recognition of his lifetime achievement in fostering the art form of Czech and Slovak puppetry.

Peter Sís (Illustrations) is an author, filmmaker and illustrator. He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia and grew up there under Communist rule. In 1982 a film project on the 1984 Winter Olympics brought him to Los Angeles. After the Eastern bloc decided to boycott the event, Sís refused the Czech government’s request for his return home, and he was granted asylum. After corresponding with children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, he moved to New York to begin a career in illustration. Since then, hundreds of Sís’s drawings have been published in the New York Times Book Review, as well as in numerous other magazines. His visual art has also included subway and airport murals, book jackets, and hats. Sís’s illustrations often portray a shadowy, fast-shifting experience of childhood. He has written and illustrated dozens of books for children, winning numerous honors including six New York Times Book Review’s Best Illustrated Book awards. A selection of his films are held in the permanent collection of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art. He is winner of the Caldecott Honor, a MacArthur genius fellowship, and many other awards.

Avi Fox-Rosen (Composer) is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, singer, songwriter, Jewish culture-maker, producer and multi-instrumentalist who is equally at home in rock, Yiddish, klezmer, theater, or improvised music worlds. He’s worked with Adrienne Cooper, Daniel Kahn, Sarah Gordon, Michael Winograd, Basya Schechter, The Klezmatics, and the solo projects of Matt Darriau, Frank London, and many others including his brother, bassist and singer Benjy Fox-Rosen. As a songwriter, Avi makes music with a sardonic sense of humor, dense and dark lyrics, and enchantingly twisted melodies. (https://www.avifoxrosen.org/)

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa's 63rd Season, The “La MaMa Beyond Season,” expands its efforts to develop creative methods and tools for greater access to the arts.  Pop up performances and installations will be happening in parks, neighborhood community centers, as well as online. By going beyond La MaMa’s physical campus,  new audiences and artists from different contexts are welcomed into the creative process. La MaMa has been honored with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie Awards and Villager Awards, the 2018 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and most recently a 2023 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Special Citation. La MaMa is a creative home to artists and resident companies from around the world, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, Robert De Niro, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Cole Escola, Bridget Everett, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Charles Ludlam, Tom Eyen, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Meredith Monk, David and Amy Sedaris, Stephanie Hsu, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O'Horgan, Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa's vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961.

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Critics are invited November 23 (opening date)
Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/esD7PQMDG2bqUrut8