World Premiere Of FOOTNOTES Begins Tonight At La MaMa
La MaMa hosts the innovative puppetry performance FOOTNOTES, exploring walking's multifaceted impact
The world premiere of Skysaver Production's FOOTNOTES, created, designed, and directed by Theodora Skipitares, with music and lyrics by Sxip Shirey begins tonight. The production runs February 27 - March 15, 2026 in a limited engagement at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre, located at 66 East 4th Street in New York City. Opening night is March 1.
FOOTNOTES is an immersive multi-media puppetry performance created, designed and directed by Theodora Skipitares. The show takes place in four distinct locations in the Ellen Stewart Theatre and explores the theme of walking... its history, its science, its political power, its poetic and spiritual dimensions. The audience itself travels to several spaces within the theater, each member guided by a small booklet of instructions and stories. As they embark on their journey, the audience encounters a labyrinth, and several "famous" walkers throughout history: Aristotle who taught his lessons while walking, three medieval female pilgrims who walked thousands of miles, Henry Thoreau, Virginia Woolf and Mahatma Gandhi. In one scene, three bipedal animals boast about their superiority over humans. The production features dozens of puppet figures, video, animated film, and live music composed and performed by Sxip Shirey.
Theodora Skipitares says, "I believe that puppets are innocent beings, capable of telling the truth in a powerful way. That's why I have always created puppets to tell important stories about American history, genetics, medicine, incarceration, food and famine, and racism. As I was researching for FOOTNOTES, I was thrilled by Rebecca Solnits' book on the history of walking, WANDERLUST. She writes, 'Walking came from Africa, from evolution and from necessity, and it went everywhere, usually looking for something. The pilgrimage is one of the basic modes of walking, walking in search of something intangible.'
Performers and musicians include Sxip Shirey (composer/lyricist), Anthime Miller (singer/cello), Saudia Young (singer/narrator), and Tommie Moore (narrator).
Puppeteers include Jane Catherine Shaw (lead puppeteer), Victoria Forbes, Eva Lansberry, Nat Marvan, Sasa Yung and Kimori Zinnerman.
The production team includes Sxip Shirey (Composer and Lyricist), Theodora Skipitares with Jan Leslie Harding and Jane Catherine Shaw (Puppetry Design), Theodora Skipitares and Donald Eastman (Set Design), Federico Restrepo (Light Design), Andrea Balis and Sue Heinemann (Dramaturgy), Kay Hines (Video Design), Shraddha Tiwari (Digital Animation), Bill Soules (Assistant Set Design), Jan Leslie Harding, Jane Catherine Shaw and Victoria Forbes (Fabricators), and Karen Oughtred (Production Stage Manager).
Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm. There will be a livestreamed performance on Thursday, March 5 at 7pm. Run time is approximately one hour. Tickets are $35 (adults), and $30 for students and seniors (includes fees). First ten tickets to every performance are $10, limit 2 per person. All ages welcome. While this is a fully-seated production, the audience will move to different locations throughout the theater between scenes.
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