"Room to Panic" by Loco7 to premiere at La MaMa

By Jana Black

photo of Federico Restrepo as an immigrant in a new world

Life as an immigrant is awkward, somewhat confusing and requires time for adaptation to a foreign land. Combine these feelings with giant puppets, elaborate choreography, and live music and the outcome is "Room to Panic," a new work by LOCO7 (www.loco7.org). It will have its premiere run at La MaMa Experimental Theater, Manhattan, from October 4 to October 13, 2008.

Using movement and visual theater, "Room to Panic" depicts the struggles of the immigrant's mind on the path to assimilation. The piece is conceived and created by Federico Restrepo and Denise Greber with music composed by Elizabeth Swados. It brings together magical puppets, choreography, three-dimensional scenery and video. Typical of Federico Restrepo's style, the puppets will include huge winged creatures, fifteen foot high politicians and mothers, a dancing puppet house and body-puppets of Restrepo himself. The cast consists of ten performers, all of whom will be singing, dancing and manipulating giant puppets.

Federico Restrepo is a Colombian-born master of Puppet Theater and physical theater who stages epic thoughts using giant puppetry, acrobatic choreography and tempestuous music. In recent years, he has conceived his shows primarily with two collaborators: Denise Greber (concepts, costumes) and Elizabeth Swados (musical score).

Federico Restrepo (top) inspects a big bird puppet, to be manipulated by Joah Gonzales (below). Photo by Jonathan Slaff.

"Room to Panic" is the culminating production of a trilogy that Restrepo began in 2002, exploring the phenomenon of being a stranger in a foreign land. Restrepo dons body puppets to indicate how we assume new identities. Throughout, the feeling persists that all the characters are going through the same process--they are all immigrants at various parts of their journey. Masks descend around the space, representing their forefathers whose memories haunt them. Massive "Politician Puppets" pass a giant globe from hand to hand, indicating the authority of the powerful. Ultimately, the cast erects a floor-to-ceiling puppet house from large panels, symbolizing that they will finally be at home.

The visual feast is played to a continuous score by Elizabeth Swados that is sung by the ensemble and played live with percussion, violin, Shakuhachi and keyboard. The piece will also incorporate text from "Gate of the Sun" by Lebanese novelist and playwright Elias Khoury, which will be used as spoken text and sung in the score.

"Room to Panic" is part of The La MaMa Puppet Series Festival Part 2, which features multicultural works from Hawaii, Colombia and Japan. All the productions are brimming with international art forms. The series also contains "Ko'olau" by Tom Lee, a puppet epic based on a now-legendary story of Hawai'i in the 1890s (September 18 to October 5) and "The Doll Sisters" (Ningyo Shimai), directed by Setsu Asakura, the most noted stage designer of contemporary Japan (October 23 to November 2). Patrons pre-purchasing two shows in the festival will be entitled to $3 off each ticket; patrons pre-purchasing all three shows will receive $5 off each ticket. The discounts are available at the box office and through La MaMa's website, www.lamama.org.

L: Federico Restrepo; R: puppeteer/dancer/singer Allison Hiroto. Photo by Jonathan Slaff.

"Room to Panic" is conceived and created by Federico Restrepo and Denise Greber, directed and choreographed by Federico Restrepo with puppet, set, video and light design by Federico Restrepo. Costume Design is by Denise Greber. Music is composed by Elizabeth Swados. Text is taken from "Gate of the Sun" by Elias Khoury (with permission from the author). The performing ensemble includes Federico Restrepo, Denise Greber, Cary Gant, Allison Hiroto, Sara Galassini, Emily Vick, Linwood Young, Joah Gonzales, Kat Yew and Dmitry Chepovetsky. Musical director is Kris Kukul. The musicians are Yukio Tsuji (percussion and shakuhachi), Heather Paauwe (violin) and Jon Sapino (keyboard). The Tent Puppet is designed by visual artist Catarina Leitão (www.catarinaleitao.net). Additional video design by Angela "Nena" Sierra (www.nenasierra.com).

Mr. Restrepo and LOCO7 have received support from the New York State Council of the Arts, The Ford Foundation, The Jim Henson Foundation, American Music Center 2006, The Puffin Foundation, Ministerio De Cultura Colombia, Minister of Exterior Relations of Colombia, Instituto Distrital De Cultura Y Turismo Bogota Colombia and TeatroStageFest as well as individual donors.

This show is supported in part by New York State Council for the Arts, Jim Henson Foundation, American Music Center-Live Music for Dance 2008 and Ellen Stewart and La MaMa ETC.

Performances will be October 3 through October 19, 2008 at La MaMa E.T.C. (The Annex Theatre), located on 74A East Fourth Street in Manhattan. The show will take place Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2:30 pm. Ticket prices are $25; $20 for students and seniors. For tickets call the box office at (212) 475-7710 or purchase online at www.lamama.org.