La MaMa Forced to Cancel Dood Paard's BOTOX ANGELS Due to U.S. Visa System Glitch

According to an announcement on La MaMa's blog, Dutch theater troupe Dood Paard has been unable to obtain visas for the actors and crew behind its production of BOTOX ANGELS, set to run at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theater (66 East 4th Street) from June 26 to 28, coinciding with Gay Pride Weekend. With no way for the team to travel from Amsterdam, the show has been cancelled.

"La MaMa Experimental Theater is now one victim of the widely-reported chaos for business travelers, agricultural workers and international performers as an ongoing computer glitch has halted the application process for US visas," the entry states.

The glitch has reportedly been causing trouble for the State Department -- and world travelers -- since around June 15. Official sources say it will be at least another week before the problem is resolved.

BOTOX ANGELS is a play about militant female sexuality, which is abundant in sultry dialogue, jealousy and emotional violence. Three clownish lesbian characters, named Swift, Cocky and Deedee, negotiate shifting power relationships, juggle dildos and fake breasts, play dress-up games and cross swords about men, breast reductions, philosphy versus banality and emotion versus rationality.

Written by Rob de Graaf, translated into English by Paul Evans, the work was set to be performed by Ellen Goemans, Janneke Remmers and Manja Topper, all from Holland. BOTOX ANGELS would have featured choreography by Roy Peters, lighting design by Prem Scholte Albers, sound design by Krzysztof W. Burdzy and costume design by Carmen Schabracq.

Dood Paard (www.doodpaard.nl) is the performance ensemble of Kuno Bakker, Gillis Biesheuvel, Raymond Querido, ThomasRoyé and Manja Topper. The name Dood Paard ("Dead Horse," in Dutch) is lifted from a poem by the Dutch poet Gerrit Achterberg and embodies the double vision of the company itself: the darkness represented by death, in contrast with the bright vitality and life represented by a horse. The group was founded in 1993 when its members were about to graduate from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Arnhem. Integral to its philosophy was a commitment to operate as a collective with no single voice of authority. More than two decades later, that idea still reigns with company decisions made through discussion among its members, which include actors, directors and technicians. The company regards the world from a critical stance, but one infected with good humor and an optimistic belief that man's intellect and creativity can transcend tragedy.