Creatures – October 23-November 2
GET TICKETS:
This event features multiple performances. You can purchase single tickets or save with a discounted package:
October 23 – November 2, 2025
74A East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tickets:
Adults: $30
Students/Seniors: $25
La MaMa Members: $10
First 10 @ $10 Tickets
Ticket prices are inclusive of all fees.
By The Great Jones Repertory Company
“…a gateway onto endless, globe-crossing vistas of family histories and fraught stories of immigration.”
— Ben Brantley, The New York Times (Panorama)
ABOUT
Creatures is a two-week inhabitation of 74A E 4th St. with installations, short works/performances, workshops, meals, vigils, processions, and conversations about liminal beings as they manifest across cultures. Creatures convenes artists, scientists, scholars, and theologians from across the globe to consider non-human protagonists as prophets of compassion in an era of great ecological precarity.
WEEK ONE
Thursday 10/23 => 4:45pm-6:30pm:
La MaMa Kids: Frog Parade
Enjoy interactive fun for kids & families, featuring music, clowning, puppets, & more — all leading up to our whimsical Frog Parade finale!
Thursday 10/23 => 7:00pm-9:15pm
Creatures / Terraria
Puppetry/Theatre/Music/20 min
Created by Tom Lee & Averly Sheltraw
BALLS in the Park
Written by Paul Foster
Directed by Arthur Adair
Produced by CultureHub
Opening Reception
Community/Spirit/55 min
Friday 10/24 => 7:00pm-9:15pm
Creatures / Terraria
Puppetry/Theatre/Music/20 min
Created by Tom Lee & Averly Sheltraw
Summon Play
Theatre/Puppetry/30 min
Writer/Director: lim mui
SKY meets SEA
Theatre/Dance/Puppetry/30 min
Playwright/Director: maura nguyễn donohue
Saturday 10/25 => 11:00am-12:30pm
Conversation
- Global Languages: A Cross-Pollination Discussion
Led by Adam Parker (US) & Aroji Otieno (Kenya)
Richi Wa Utat / Richard III: Bold Theatre KE brings education & opportunities to artists from marginalized East African communities while amplifying Kenyan identity.
- Prehistoric Body Theater:
Led by Prehistoric Body Theater
The Biological Tree of Life unites all living beings, past and present, within a vast story of shared prehistoric inheritance.
Saturday 10/25 => 2:00pm-4:15pm
Pit Hoist
Theatre/Projection/30 min
Director: Magaly Pefig
Writers: Juan Pablo Toro (Original) & Magaly Pefig (adaptation)
Arachne: A Heroine for Our Times
Theatre/Dance/Music/30 min
Created by Katherine Yew
Music by Carlos Mena & Katherine Yew
We Are So Happy You Are Here
Theatre/Dance/Music/30 min
Writer/Director: Kim Ima
Co-director: Marina Celander
Saturday 10/25 => 4:30pm-6:00pm
Conversation
Strategic Exchanges: A Cross-Pollination Panel
Led by Dr. Rob Gegear (U.Mass/Dartmouth) & Dr. Lucy Spelman (Creature Conserve & RISD) in conversation with Maeve Donohue (RDWray Farm Trust)
Wildlife populations are declining worldwide due to human impacts. Scientists working in behavior, biology, ecology, veterinarian medicine & conservation discuss their work.
Saturday 10/25 => 7:00pm-9:15pm
- Thổ Địa (Creation of the Mother Goddess) & Bồng Bềnh (Buoyant), Film/35 min
Thổ Địa (Creation of the Mother Goddess) from Hanoi-based Valerie Linh Pham, Tran Kim Ngoc & ToLo Puppet Theatre follows a Tutelary Spirit to a mythical River. Bồng Bềnh (Buoyant) by Đoàn Thanh Toàn & Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc considers depleting fishing grounds due to climate change in a queer tale along the coast of Vietnam, when a mermaid is rescued from the fish market.
- Summon Play Theatre/Puppetry/30 min
In the quiet car of a train, Writer attempts to write a ‘creature play,’ but is obnoxiously interrupted by humans & creatures riddled with rotting medicine.
Writer/Director: lim mui
- SKY meets SEA Theatre/Dance/Puppetry/30 min
Converging on the banks of the Mekong River during the Vietnam War,
Playwright/Director: maura nguyễn donohue
Sunday 10/26 => 11:00am-1:00pm
Conversation
Creating to Connect Us: A Generative Art-Science Workshop
Led by Dr. Lucy Spelman, Susan Tacent, & Deanne Fernandes
Sunday 10/26 => 2:00pm-4:15pm
Pit Hoist
Theatre/Projection/30 min
Director: Magaly Pefig
Writers: Juan Pablo Toro (Original) & Magaly Pefig (adaptation)
Arachne: A Heroine for Our Times
Theatre/Dance/Music/30 min
Created by Katherine Yew
Music by Carlos Mena & Katherine Yew
We Are So Happy You Are Here
Theatre/Dance/Music/30 min
Writer/Director: Kim Ima
Co-director: Marina Celander
Sunday 10/26 => 5:00pm-6:30pm
Conversation
Creature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservation
With Dr. Lucy Spelman, Susan Tacent, Eléna Rivera & Jodie Noel Vinson
This is a How-to Discussion & Book Reading for folks interested in the health of all species (including humans!) Creature Needs, published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2025, is a path-setting fusion of literary art & scientific research that deepens our understanding of the interdependence between life & habitat.
WEEK TWO
Monday 10/27 => 6:00pm-8:00pm
Conversation
The Skeleton Rep(resents) The Salon Series
Led by Ria T. DiLullo
Featuring original music by Ben Freeman
3 Staged Readings of New Shorts by Erik Ehn: All Nouns End As Verbs One Day; Radif; & Zombie vs. Godzilla.
Monday 10/27 => 8:00pm-10:00pm
Atalanta / Ellen
Theatre/Music/35 min
Playwright/Director: Matt Nasser
God’s Grandeur & Other Divine Mortal Creatures
Music/45 min
Musicians: Michael Sirotta, Yukio Tsuji, Heather Paauwe. Guest Singer: Cary Gant
Wednesday 10/29 => 7:00pm-9:15pm
Cause and Effect (an excerpt)
Puppetry/Dance/Music/30 min
Created/Directed: Federico Restrepo & Denise Greber
Zombie vs. Bambi
Theatre/Music/Projection/30 min
Playwright: Erik Ehn
Directed/Designed: Peter Case
FourPlay
Theatre/Poopetry/Pooetry/30 min
Devised by The Urinals: Frenchie Cavallo Phelps, eugene the poogene, Kiku Sakai, Jane Catherine Shaw. Jason Trucco, Maya Tsou
Thursday 10/30 => 12:00pm
Staging a Protest: What We Talk About When We Talk About Protest & R for Rebel
Theatre
Conceived, Directed, & Performed by Zishan Ugurlu
26.5-hour durational performance. Disappearances mark our days! Deeply dwelling on disappearances. Who and what is next?
Thursday 10/30 => 7:00pm-9:15pm
Cause and Effect (an excerpt)
Puppetry/Dance/Music/30 min
Created/Directed: Federico Restrepo & Denise Greber
Zombie vs. Bambi
Theatre/Music/Projection/30 min
Playwright: Erik Ehn
Directed/Designed: Peter Case
FourPlay
Theatre/Poopetry/Pooetry/30 min
Devised by The Urinals: Frenchie Cavallo Phelps, eugene the poogene, Kiku Sakai, Jane Catherine Shaw. Jason Trucco, Maya Tsou
Friday 10/31 => 7:00pm-9:15pm
UnHappy Hour: Punch & Munch
Free Halloween Punch & Munch for all.
UnHappy Hour: Creature Feature
Film/Spirits/30 min
By Prehistoric Body Theater
In Your Head
Theatre/Music/Movement/20 min
Written & Directed by: Yael Haskal
Return of UnHappy Hour: Monster Mash
Film/Spirits/45 min
By Beck + Col
Saturday 11/1 => 2:00pm-4:15pm
`Ohi`a Lehua
Film/ 3 min
Conceived/Directed: Kiku Sakai
Mother Nature, Songs of Spirit
Music/Theatre/30 min
Deer Dancer (Poems by Joy Harjo)
Dance/Theatre/20 min
Produced by Dancing With Fire – a Native led & focused Albuquerque production company.
Performed by Kimberly Gleason
Relations
Theatre/15 min
Author: Sheldon Blackhorse
Saturday 11/1 => 4:30pm-6:00pm
Conversation
Stewards of Creation:
Eco-Theology Panel
Hosted by Erik Ehn.
Spirit and Art – compassion & responsibility in the creative life. How do artistic and spiritual languages and missions overlap?
Saturday 11/1 => 7:00pm-9:15pm
Herd Grievance
Film/Theatre/35 min
Filmmaker/Playwright/Director: Valois Mickens
Los que viven: Palm & Stations.
Dance/Theatre/35 min
Directed by: Erik Ehn
Mother Nature, Songs of Spirit
Music/Theatre/30 min
Created by: Sheree V Campbell & Ensemble
Songwriter/Composer/Director: Sheree V Campbell
Sunday 11/2 => 10:30am-1:30pm
Conversation
Storytellers/Walking with Creation Discussion
Hosted by Erik Ehn
How storytelling convenes, sustains, & conveys communities.A conversation among practitioners, live & online, with q/a.
Deer Dancer (Poems by Joy Harjo)
Dance/Theatre/20 min
Produced by Dancing With Fire – a Native led & focused Albuquerque production company.
Performed by Kimberly Gleason
Relations
Theatre/15 min
Author: Sheldon Blackhorse
Sunday 11/2 => 2:00pm-5:00pm
`Ohi`a Lehua
Film/ 3 min
Conceived/Directed: Kiku Sakai
Herd Grievance
Film/Theatre/35 min
Filmmaker/Playwright/Director: Valois Mickens
Los que viven: Palm & Stations.
Dance/Theatre/35 min
Directed by: Erik Ehn
Closing Reception
Community/Spirit/55 min
Join us to celebrate the final moments of our two-week journey.
INSTALLATIONS
Experience installations in different areas of the building during your visit.
Installations List
Creatures Dispatch
Sound/Visual Art
A mytho-paranormal radio station, shuffling missives from liminal beings in unstable environments.
Created by Yael Haskal
DAMN’d
Theatre/Sound/Visual Art
12-minute theatrical installation for one audience member.
Created by Arthur Adair
With Dakota Silvey & Victoria Villie
Fire / Flies
Film/Sound/(7:37 min)
Re-imagines a swampland’s firefly mating season as a psychedelic video & sound installation
Written/Shot/Edited by maura nguyễn donohue
Library
Community/(3rd flr)
Participating artists contribute to a community library of CREATURES-related texts.
Posthuman Meditation Number 0
Soundscape
Sound installation exploring breath as a language for resistance.
Created by Tareke Ortiz
Staging a Protest: What We Talk About When We Talk About Protest & R for Rebel
Theatre
Begins Thursday 10/30, 12:00pm
26.5-hour durational performance. Disappearances mark our days! Deeply dwelling on disappearances. Who and what is next?
Conceived, Directed, & Performed by Zishan Ugurlu
The Bat, the Moose, & the Tamarack Tree
Soundscape/Projection
Aural landscape with interactive shadow puppetry.
Performed by Matt Nasser, Yael Haskal, Caitlin Nugent, Peter Case, Eugene the Poogene.
WAMIMO: walk a mile in my ooze
Video/Audio/Sculpture/(17 min)
Composed of elements from Stacy Dawson Stearns’ Los Angeles-based installation large slug and people you cannot see.
Text performed by Stacy Dawson Stearns & Tim Cummings
large slug and people you cannot see was exhibited at CultureHub LA, August 30, 2025
Where Did They Go
Sound/Visual Art
(North Stairwell)
An installation that explores the void left when emotional connection remains but physical connection is lost.
Created by Onni Johnson & Sara Galassini
With the participation of: Sheree V Campbell, Peter Case, Katherine De La Cruz, Yael Haskall, Valois Marie Mickens, lim mui, maura nguyễn donohue, Caitin Nugent, Frenchie Cavallo Phelps, Nick Swenson, Jason Truco, Maya Tsou, & Katherine Yew
Where Did They Go
Sound/Visual Art
(North Stairwell)
An installation that explores the void left when emotional connection remains but physical connection is lost.
Created by Onni Johnson & Sara Galassini
Writing Conservation: An Interactive Book-Based Installation
Community/(3rd flr)
Celebrating the work of artists, writers, & creatives around the globe who are combining art, science, & traditional ecological knowledge to study, celebrate & protect animals & their habitats.
Compiled by Susan Tacent
Zombie vs. Ophelia
Film
Zombie has found Ophelia, on the banks of the Hogsmill, right where that painting was made.
Performed by Yael Haskal (Ophelia/Vole); Caitlin Nugent (Zombie (Jasper)/Vole); Hattie Turner (Vole); Sheree Campbell (Vole).
ABOUT
Creatures is a two-week inhabitation of 74A E 4th St. with installations, short works/performances, workshops, meals, vigils, processions, and conversations about liminal beings as they manifest across cultures. Creatures convenes artists, scientists, scholars, and theologians from across the globe to consider non-human protagonists as prophets of compassion in an era of great ecological precarity.
42 Lead Artists
Arthur Adair, Mattie Barber-Bockelman, Sheldon Blackhorse, Sheree V Campbell, Peter Case, Beck & Col, Billy Clark, Ria T. DiLullo, David Diamond, Toan Doan, maura nguyễn donohue, Erik Ehn, Sara Galassini, Kimberly Gleason, Denise Greber, Yael Haskal, Kim Ima, Onni Johnson, Tom Lee, Nguyen Le Hoang Phuc, Valois Mickens, lim mui, Matt Nasser, Tran Kim Ngoc, Aroji Otieno, Tareke Ortiz, Heather Paauwe, Adam Parker, Linh Valerie Pham, Magaly Pefig, eugene the poogene, Federico Restrepo, Kiku Sakai, Averly Sheltraw, Michael Sirotta, Stacy Dawson Stearns, Juan Pablo Toro, Zishan Ugurlu, Lois Weaver, Katherine Yew, Mia Yoo.
155 Participants
Isabella Aldarete, Hera Alice, Chen Alon, DeAndra Anthony, Chris Brandt, Claudia Doring Baez, Christian Baxter, Claudia Bernardi, Murielle Borst-Tarrant, August Boyne, Cherri, Maria Camia, Aislinn Cantin, Jimmy Carmody, Jesse Castellanos, Marina Celander, Sangmin Chae, Channing Christ, Ryan Christian, Yuna Clark, Cynthia Cohen, Maya Collins, Ndiangui Collins, Lily Cox, Katherine De La Cruz, Tim Cummings, Jon DeVries, Maeve Donohue, Zach Dorn, Margi Sharp Douglas, Sheri Doyel, Paris Dwyer, Ekirapa Edwin, Edgar Eguia, Marte Joh Ekhougen, Deanne Fernandes, Michaela Ferrell, Catherine Filloux, Asma Feyijinmi, Giorgia Fiorentini, Andres Fonseca, Paul Foster, Jayla Franklin-Sullivan, Rhiannon Frazier, Ben Freeman, Cary Gant, Adriana Garbagnati, Dr. Rob Gegear, Simon Gonville, Silvana Gonzalez, Joanna Greer, Vicente Griego, Kathy Guerrero, John Gutierrez, Ziv H, Judy Halebsky, Aliza Haskal, Charley Hayward, Rachel Healy, Juli Hendren, Allison Hiroto, Margaux Hiroto Heise, Robbie Lynn Hunsinger, Robin Hutchinson, Neville Ignatius, Oliver Jones, David Katana, Henriques Katema, Bonnie Kim, John King, Nathalie Lam, Jullianne Grace Lao, Leah Lara, Katie Leffen, Rowena Liu, Daisy Maina, Robin Manganaro, Madrone Matishak, Christian Matson, Tivah Mbindyo, Caitlin McCleod, Carlos Mena, Katherine Mena, Andreea Mincic, Ali Molaei, Juan Sebastian Monsalve, Haneen Arafat Murphy, Mary Mutheu, Daniel Muturi, Rob Neill, Becky Njoki, Norah Noonan, Isabella Nuanez, Caitlin Nugent, Nissy Ogweno, Julianna Outeda-Matute, Orlando Pabotoy, Hadas Pacholder, Anuj Parikh, Jacqueline Penrod, Frenchie Cavallo Phelps, John Racioppo, Val Ramirez, Amanda Reynoso, Eléna Rivera, Patrick Robinson, Brody Rogers, Ari Dharminalan Rudenko, Cody Ryan, Wago Ryoichi, Mauricio Salgado, Christopher Sanfilippo, Kim Savarino, Dan Scarantino, Gael Schaefer, Isabella Jane Schiller, Greg Schroeder, Jane Catherine Shaw, Oren Shoham, Buffy Sierra, Dakota Silvey, Dr. Lucy Spelman, Jonathon Stearns, Sam Streich, Myra Su, Zachary Sun, evan ray Suzuki, Nicholas Swensen, Susan Tacent, Lazaros Theodorakopoulos, Mariana Tinoco, Ursula Tinoco, Jason Trucco, Maya Tsou, Yukio Tsuji, Hattie Turner, Róisín Tyrrell, Brennan M Urbi, Ashley Kristeen Vega, Aidan Vogel, Victoria Villier, Jodie Noel Vinson, Cyrus Von Hochstetter, Chris Wild, Morgan Wild, Emilie Helene Rebecca Wingate, Linda Wingerter, Meredith Wright, Kathy Xia, Mia Yankovich, Jet Yung, Sunil Yapa, Jet Yung, Sasa Yung, Steven Zhang.
18 Organizations
Bold Theatre KE (Kenya); Care Cafe (NYC); Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival (IL); Creature Conserve (RI); Dancing with Fire (NM); Gegear Lab – U. Mass/Dartmouth (MA); Loco 7 (NYC); Movement Research (NYC); National Institute of Flamenco (NM); Peacebuilder (NC); Prehistoric Body Theater (Indonesia); RDWray Trust (MA); Safe Harbors (NYC); The Skeleton Rep(presents) (NYC); ToLo Puppet Theatre (Vietnam); UNDOXX (NYC); University of New Mexico ABQ, Dept. of Theatre and Dance; Yara Arts Group (NYC).
Great Jones Repertory Company
Great Jones Rep is an OBIE-winning, diverse ensemble of artists that started in 1972 as the resident company of performers for La MaMa. The Company will be joined by artists, theologians, scientists, and scholars considering how compassionate consciousness from an artistic perspective is genuinely interconnected with scholarship and scientific research.
