Photo Flash: La MaMa Gets Solar Panel for Eco-Theater Production 'JUPITER'

The production team of JUPITER (A PLAY ABOUT POWER) installed a solar panel February 8, 2016 on the roof of La MaMa, 74A East Fourth Street, for a green design experiment conceived by Superhero Clubhouse, a NYC-based eco-theater company. Superhero Clubhouse received an Off-Off Broadway Greening Grant from the Broadway Green Alliance to experiment with a solar-powered lighting system that will illuminate a portion of the stage for this production. The play will be presented by La MaMa, February 11-28, in its First Floor Theatre. Scroll down for a look at the solar panel installation!

'JUPITER' designers David Bengali and Anshuman Bhatia worked with Jay Maury, the Senior Technical Advisor of The Bushwick Starr (who has been experimenting with green design for many years), to engineer this system, which involves a solar cell, batteries, and LED instruments homemade by Mr. Maury.

'JUPITER' is a 200-year-long dialogue between Humanity and a man who made all fossil fuels disappear permanently from the Earth. Featuring original music and created in collaboration with energy experts, JUPITER asks whether it is right or effective to impose radical change for the greater good.

The experimental solar system cannot light the entire production; much of the playing area will still be connected to the NYC grid, which is fueled predominantly by non-renewables. Just as the content of 'JUPITER' challenges audiences to consider how fossil fuels are connected to their personal lives, the play's lighting design will challenge them to consider how fossil fuels are connected to their experiences at the theater. This design choice, which functions practically and also aesthetically to support central questions in the piece, is an example of Superhero Clubhouse's commitment to creating a unique model of ecological production that could serve as a resource and inspiration for other independent theater artists.

The new solar panel sits right by the window into the old apartment of La MaMa's founder, Ellen Stewart, in a poetic tribute to the innovative artistry the institution has always championed.

La MaMa presents JUPITER (A PLAY ABOUT POWER) by Superhero Clubhouse & Kaimera Productions February 11 - February 28, 2016, Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm; Sundays at 2:00pm, in its First Floor Theatre, 74a East 4th Street. Tickets are Adults $18; Students/Seniors $13. Box office is (646) 430-5374, www.lamama.org.

Photo Credit: Eva Von Schweinitz

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