La MaMa to Present THE EDGE OF NATURE Directed by Emmy Winner Josh Fox

La MaMa will present the world premiere of The Edge of Nature, a live performance by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Josh Fox, best known for Gasland, the documentary that ignited the anti-fracking movement worldwide. The Edge of Nature chronicles Fox's year-long journey healing himself from long Covid in a one room cabin in the woods just as the world shuts down in 2020. Running June 14–30, 2024, with an opening set for Monday, June 17, performances take place at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre.

Josh Fox is internationally recognized as a spokesperson on climate change and extreme energy. Fox wrote parts of the Democratic Platform on energy and environment for Bernie Sanders in 2016, and has created The Edge of Nature to call attention to the only time in human history that we, as a civilization, halted emissions. Since 2010, Fox has toured over 600 cities with his film projects, which galvanized the anti-fracking and climate change movements worldwide. The premiere of The Edge of Nature at La MaMa launches a tour of the project throughout the Northeast.

Scientists have come to call the first six-eight months of the Covid Pandemic the “anthropause,” an unprecedented global reduction in human activity. During this time, industrial fossil fuel pollution plummeted and for the very first time in history and worldwide emissions were reduced enough to halt climate change.

In the midst of this, Fox, who is suffering from neurological symptoms and cognitive damage from long Covid, isolates himself in a one room cabin in the hopes that his beloved Pennsylvania forest can heal him. During his nine month seclusion, Fox confronts the legacy of genocide and intergenerational trauma that scars the land and his family. His co-stars are a tenacious group of beavers, a young bear mother, howling coyotes and a ton of invasive honey-suckle. Nature may just teach us how to heal ourselves and the lessons of the anthropause may just save the world.

In this live performance, Fox narrates his battle with long Covid alongside an ensemble of 11 musicians and singers who perform classic American Folk songs and an original score by Dougie Bowne. Fox, known for his first person voiceover and storytelling, will narrate the film live as well as play the score live on banjo and many other instruments.

The premiere of The Edge of Nature at La MaMa brings together performance, film, music and environmental action in a visually stunning and innovative way. Fox is planning to release the film version of The Edge of Nature in conjunction with performances at La MaMa.

Following each performance, notable celebrities and local climate activists will join Fox onstage in a post-show conversation. The goal of these talks is to educate audiences in ways they can help heal the planet.

“We can't heal ourselves without healing the planet,” says Fox, “And we can't heal the planet unless we heal ourselves. The Edge of Nature is about healing. Healing long Covid, healing intergenerational trauma, and healing spiritual and political anguish. This healing process is not one of self- focused individualism. The earth, our forests, and all of our ecosystems are deeply scarred, traumatized, sick, and wounded. The Edge of Nature is grappling with the idea of survival, the value of human life and the profound internal legacy of identity.”

Fox created The Edge of Nature with the late Myron Dewey (1972–2021), a native Paiute filmmaker who co-directed the documentary Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock (Netflix) with Fox. Myron was tragically killed in 2021 under suspicious circumstances. This is Fox and Dewey's final collaboration. Their intense dialogue about indigeneity, genocide, intergenerational trauma is a focal point of the project. Fox voices fears of antisemitism in the USA and takes on the deep seated racism of American History- drawing attention to the parallels between the native American Genocide, the holocaust and the present moment of extreme sectarian violence in the USA.

The Edge of Nature marks Fox's first show at La MaMa since 2002, when his company, International WOW Company, premiered Orphan on God's Highway following his legendary work The Bomb in 2001.

Joining Fox onstage is a gifted 11-member ensemble including Gabriela Bonomo, Mya Elzy, Ira Gamerman, Morgan Jenness, Emma Lyndell, Sammy Rivas, Eva Rubin, Belle Rue, Bella Torres, Celeste Vandermillen, and Georgina Saldaña Wonchee.

The additional creative team for The Edge of Nature includes Charles Foster (lighting design) Scott Fetterman (video/projection design), Morgan Jenness (dramaturgy/ensemble), Erick Alonso (assistant director), Matthew Sanchez (film editor),. The Edge of Nature is produced by Diane Crespo. Frances Fisher, Myron Dewey (1972–2021), Doug GoodFeather, V (Formerly Eve Ensler), Jake Sargeant, and serve as Executive Producers.

Twelve performances of The Edge of Nature will take place June 14–30, 2024, at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre, located at 66 E 4th Street in Manhattan. Critics are welcome as of Friday, June 14 for an opening on Monday, June 17. The performance schedule is Thursdays–Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm plus Monday, June 17 at 8pm. The anticipated running time is 2 hours with one intermission. General admission tickets are $30 and $25 for students or seniors. The first 10 tickets to every performance are $10 each. Tickets are available at www.lamama.org.

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