LA MAMA Sets 54th season

La MaMa - the world-renowned theatre complex located on East 4th Street in New York City's East Village - will begin its 54th year this fall with an impressive roster of local and international artists, both established and emerging. "From Clove Galilee, who will direct and choreograph Mabou Mines in the world premiere of her IMAGINING THE IMAGINARY INVALID which was created in collaboration with her mother, the late Ruth Maleczech after Moliere, to SQUIRTS featuring legendary downtown queer artists alongside emerging young performers, the continued impact of the intergenerational exchange of ideas for which La MaMa is renowned is a focus of La MaMa's 54th season," stated La MaMa Artistic Director, Mia Yoo.

Opening the season is Euripides' MEDEA directed by Italian avant garde actor and author Dario D'Ambrosi. featuring a cast with differently abled actors. In a compelling evening at the theatre, this acclaimed production marks Mr. D'Ambrosi's 35th anniversary at La MaMa. Also in October, Gardiner Comfort returns by popular demand with THE ELEPHANT IN EVERY ROOM I ENTER, a humorous and touching tale about his experience at a Tourette's Syndrome Conference in Washington DC. "...a window into a world we aren't often given access to" - Teddy Nicholas, New York Theatre Review

"It's very exciting to see such a diversely abled group of artists on La MaMa's stages telling new and old stories, showing us in a fresh way what it means to be human," says Ms. Yoo. "We are very pleased, particularly on the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, to share this work with our audiences."

For the month of November, the 2015 LA MAMA PUPPET SERIES curated by Denise Greber takes over with work by American and international artists using interdisciplinary forms and time-honored craft to create a wide range of new contemporary puppet theatre, as well as family programming and puppet workshops for the young and young at heart. Special events throughout the festival include La MaMa's trademark Coffeehouse Chronicles with Cheryl Henson; works-in-progress presentations; and the one-night-only PUPPET SLAM featuring short-form and object theatre from both emerging and veteran puppet artists.

Heather Henson/Ibex Puppetry kicks off the puppet series with a spectacle of environmental theatre CRANE: ON EARTH, IN SKY. Tom Lee and Japanese Master Puppeteer Koryu Nishikawa V use traditional Kuruma Ningyo puppetry, video projection and live music to create SHANK'S MARE, an exploration of life and death and how tradition is passed on. THE CHILD WHO from interdisciplinary and daring Belgian troupe, Theatre d'un Jour (T1J) is an arresting visual poem of childhood inspired by the life of sculptor, Jephan de Villiers. UNDEFINED?