AMERICAN MILL #2 to Play La MaMa Galleria, 6/25-27

Pioneers Go East Collective, whose work according to Backstage "knocks down the walls between expressive genres and amalgamates music, video, and acting into an adrenalizing, ...dramatic experience," returns with AMERICAN MILL #2, with direction and design by Artistic Director Gian Marco Lo Forte, writing and puppetry by co-Artistic Director Abby Felder, choreography by Maura Nguyen Donohue, and sound design by John Sully. AMERICAN MILL #2 will be presented by La MaMa as 3 live performance installations June 25,26 and 27 at 7:30pm at La MaMa Galleria, with daily exhibit open to the public from 1:00pm-7:00pm.

AMERICAN MILL #2 is a docudrama theatre work about childhood and child labor at the turn of the century, framed by an exploration of the textile industry in the American South. Live and recorded video and photography re-create a textile mill environment, as live artists perform folk music written and arranged by Gina Stewart and Brenda Lee Gambill of the folk duo, Jonesalee, and interview excerpts inspired by original oral historical texts from textile workers.

Daily gallery hours will showcase photo and video excerpts of PGEC's residency with students from The Children's Institute / TCI Film School Productions in New Jersey, in which teaching artists led an exploration of texts and elements of puppetry and video used in the performance installation.

AMERICAN MILL #2 features singer/puppeteers Anthony Napoletano, Kamala Sankaram, Julia Dobner- Pereira, Seth Gilman, Ian Cherry, and Ryan Leach. Creative team also features musical direction by Kamala Sankaram, dramaturgy by Allison Curseen, assistant direction by Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, assistant direction and video design by Hao Bai, photography and video by Silvia Forni, puppet co-design and construction by Ashanti Ziths-Coombs.

Pioneers Go East is an award-winning collective of adventurous artists dedicated to developing immersive live music performance experiences whose work has been widely presented in NYC, including at La MaMa, St. Ann's Warehouse, Governor's Island / LMCC, Incubator Arts Project, Dixon Place, Chashama, and Goethe Institut. AMERICAN MILL #2 continues the collective's mission to promote socially engaged theatre projects through collaboration with a roster of award winning composers and designers, supporting the work of a new generation of musicians, performers, and puppeteers.

Tickets for AMERICAN MILL #2 are $15, with 10 tickets per performance at $10/ea available by pre-sale only. Purchase through the La MaMa Box Office at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/947693, or by calling 646-430-5374.