Works & Process to Presents Signature Theatre's MOTHER RUSSIA, and ANIMAL WISDOM
Lauren Yee and Heather Christian join a moderated discussion led by Signature Theatre artistic director Emily Shooltz, and performers will present excerpts from both works.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Dec. 22, 2025
Works & Process will present a chance to go behind the scenes with Signature Theatre resident artists Lauren Yee and Heather Christian about their upcoming productions: Mother Russia and Animal Wisdom. The evening is set for Sunday, January 25, 2026 at 7PM at the Peter B. Lewis Theater, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10128.
In Mother Russia, by Signature Theatre resident artist Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band, The Great Leap), the setting is 1992 St. Petersburg: the Soviet Union has collapsed, McDonald's has risen, and Evgeny, a young man at a loss, stumbles into a job working surveillance with his old friend Dmitri. Their target, Katya, is a former pop singer with questionable allegiances and a mysterious past. As their lives riotously intertwine, Evgeny finds himself falling in love and losing his bearings--all while grappling with the taste of freedom (and fast food) along the way. This savvy, off-kilter tale of identity, espionage, and the cost of capitalism makes its New York premiere, in this razor-sharp dark comedy directed by Teddy Bergman.
In Animal Wisdom, by Signature Theatre resident artist Heather Christian (Oratorio for Living Things, A Wrinkle in Time), step into a musical séance like no other- where the veil is thin, the music is wild, and the spirits of memory come roaring to life. Called "dazzlingly original" by Vogue, this work blends storytelling, requiem, and family mythology in a musical ritual made for sinners and saints alike. A journey into the haunted spaces of memory and loss-diving deep into the relationship between the soul, the seen, and the unseen-this transporting experience comes to Signature in a thrilling new production helmed by director Keenan Tyler Oliphant. With her raucous, singular music fusing blues, gospel, and folk, Obie Award-winner Christian invites you to pay tribute to the forces that shape our lives.
Yee and Christian join a moderated discussion led by Signature Theatre artistic director Emily Shooltz, and performers will present excerpts from both works.
