#lamama

https://youtu.be/rqQ5fG37TXI?si=bHPNfxpd7w7uu9JRNEW YORK - The Edge of Nature at La MamaJosh Fox’s passion for this planet and all who live on it is the center of his theatrical, musical, film memoir movement, The Edge of Nature, happening now at La Mama.Fox’s International Wow Company is committed to creating works that speak to “socially conscious themes and subjects.” Partnered with an ensemble of 14 triple threats, actors/singers/musicians, they tell the story of our planet and how it was able to spring back to health when humans were in a worldwide pandemic. Our hiding inside, living, working, and engaging with one another via Zoom allowed this planet to regenerate.In the midst of the pandemic, Fox left civilization for a year and moved into a small cabin with no bathroom, one bed, and a fireplace. He is a filmmaker, and thus, he brought with him all that was needed to document his time alone in the woods of Pennsylvania. Alone but for his neighbors, two dam-building obsessed beavers, coyotes who fill the night air with their haunting cries, deer, bears, the invasive honeysuckle, he will swing an ax at with a vengeance, and the quiet of the world as snow will fall, spring will come. He will discover the beauty and silent movement of a caterpillar, a beautiful green-bodied creature with stunning scattered red dots. Josh Fox. Courtesy joshfoxfilm.comFox holds the camera on this sweet, tiny creature, and we are mesmerized. The quiet power of silence and taking life at a slow, contemplative pace will be shaken by the end of the lockdown and the return of humans to the forest. Humans with their guns and ATV vehicles. Humans with their pollution, noise, and air.We watch all this unfold on the giant screen. We watch Fox, who I believe has mastered every string instrument on the planet, as he plays the banjo, guitar, and bass, singing songs that he created and songs we all know from activist and artist Pete Seeger. “Which Side Are You On,” which Seeger wrote for those workers in unions, is used to ask which side are we on with climate change, helping the climate or climate indifference? And we watch this remarkable ensemble further the story with music, movement, and words.You may think that a show about climate change will carry the severity of the horrors of what is happening to our planet and nothing more. The loss is there, but mostly, the love of our little planet and the pure joy of the creatures who inhabit it is the underlying theme. The Edge of Nature is a festival celebrating this planet, what it has to offer, and our role in protecting it and helping it flourish. There is a surprise around every moment on screen and stage that will leave you rejoicing and contemplating our planet’s future, our future. And like me and my friends who heard about the play and joined me, you might find yourself discovering a place to sit and have a coffee and discuss what you just experienced after the show.Go. Experience The Edge of Nature.The Edge of Nature at La MamaCreated by Josh Fox / International Wow Company and Myron Dewey Josh Fox / International Wow Company La Mama Ellen Stewart Theater. Courtesy lamama.orgCastJosh FoxFeaturing the Ensemble: Aaron Magloire, Carl Nowak, Eva Rubin, Ira Gamerman, Emma Lyndell, Gabriela Bonomo, Celeste Vandermillen, Georgina Saldana Wonchee, Belle Rue, Mya Elzy, Sammy Rivas, Nora Gatz, Erick Alonso, Scott FettermanCreativeCharles Foster (lighting design)Scott Fetterman (video/projection design)Morgan Jenness (dramaturgy/ensemble)Erick Alonso (assistant director)Matthew Sanchez (film editor)Produced by Diane Crespo, Frances Fisher, Myron Dewey (1972–2021), Doug GoodFeather, V (Formerly Eve Ensler), and Jake Sargeant, who also serve as Executive ProducersFox 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. Dewey was tragically killed in 2021 under suspicious circumstances. The Edge of Nature is Fox and Dewey’s final collaboration.Tickets and information for La Mama productions are available HEREEllen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa66 East 4th Street(between Bowery & Second Avenue)New York, NY 10003Running Time: 2 hours with one intermissionReaders may also enjoy our reviews of Empire the Musical at New World Stages, If These Wigs Could Talk by Panti Bliss at the Irish Arts Center, Elevator Repair Service Ulysses, N/A at Lincoln Center, Much Ado About Nothing at the Gene Frankel Theater. Ella the Ungovernable at the Theater for the New City, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse.