STAGE TUBE: Greening the Light Grid with JUPITER (A PLAY ABOUT POWER) at La MaMa

JUPITER (a play about power) will be presented by La MaMa February 11 to 28. The production is being designed with a solar-powered lighting system, and the tech staff just put together a behind-the-scenes look at the green design build for the production. Check it out below!

The project has received an Off-Off Broadway Greening Grant from the Broadway Green Alliance to experiment with a solar-cell/battery-powered LED system for its lighting. The design team (David Bengali, Anshuman Bhatia, Eva von Schweinitz and Angela Harner) is working with Jay Maury, the Senior Technical Advisor of The Bushwick Starr (who has been experimenting with green design for that theater) to execute their design. At The Bushwick Star, use of hyper effecient LED work lights for rehearsal presently saves 25% on electricity. "JUPITER..." will be lit partly using solar energy and partly using the New York grid. It is hoped that this experiment will create dialogue in our community about the possibilities and challenges of sustainable approaches to theater-making.

The play was developed by Superhero Clubhouse and Kaimera Productions and was conceived by playwright Jeremy Pickard, director Simón Adinia Hanukai and musician/energy policy specialist Jonathan Camuzeaux. It's a two-character play of Shavian dialogue, soaring irony and logic. Ethical issues become drama as humanity argues its case against an overlord who has made all fossil fuels disappear. Separate from its curiosity value as eco-theater, I hope you will take an interest in the writing of playwright Jeremy Pickard, who is as a splendid new theatrical voice and should be on your radar.

Performances are February 11 to 28 in La Mama's First Floor Theatre, 74A East Fourth Street; Thursdays to Saturdays at 7:30PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. The running time is one hour and critics are invited on or after Feb. 13.

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