homage to popova: An experiment in puppetry

Hanne Tierney

The drawings by the Russian artist Lyubov Popova are the starting point for this work. Constructed in three-dimensions these intersecting lines, controlled and yet alive, are manipulated into gestures of dramatic story telling. The geometric, shape-shifting figures lend themselves to the wit and humor of the rewriting of the Emperor’s New Clothes, and to a parody on truth and on mindless political ambition.

Conceived by Hanne Tierney
Performed by Hanne Tierney and Shawn Lane
Music composed by Jane Wang
Live and pre-recorded music performed by Shawn Lane, Jane Wang, Grant Smith
Lighting design by Trevor Brown
Direction by Phil Soltanoff

Performances take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7pm June 2 - June 18, with additional 8pm performances on June 16, 17 and 18.
Performances are free, but reservations are required.

ABOUT THE ARTIST, and contributors:

Hanne Tierney has performed her work at HERE Arts Center, St. Ann’s Warehouse, FiveMyles, the Public Theater, BAM, the Sculpture Center, MoMA/PS1, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, and internationally. She is the Founder and Director of FiveMyles.
www.hannetierney.com

Saturday, June 4, post-performance talk:

"New Storytelling: How NYC has Shaped Contemporary Puppetry in the U.S."
Hanne Tierney will be in conversation with Leslee Asch, author and former Executive Director of the Jim Henson Foundation, and Producing Director of the Henson International Festivals of Puppet Theater.
The public conversation is made possible thanks to the support of Humanities NY.

Trevor Brown (Lighting Designer) is the current lighting Programmer for musical performances on Saturday Night Live (for which he received 3 Emmy awards).
In addition to working as a lighting designer, he is also a member stagehand of I.A.T.S.E. Local One.

Phil Soltanoff (Director) directed PLAN B which has performed around the world since 2003. He received a Doris Duke Creative Exploration Award and was nominated for the Moliere Award in 2007. His upcoming work THIS and WHAT will be presented at the Chocolate Factory in 2022. He received the 2020 Herb Alpert Award in Theater.

Jane Wang has composed the music for this piece and has performed it with Grant Smith. She received a 2013 Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Music in a play by Hanne Tierney Strange Tales of Liaozhai. She is a member of Mobius, a Boston artist collective.

GALLERY HOURS:

Thursday - Sunday, 1 - 6pm, or by appointment. Please email hanne@fivemyles.org, or call 718-783-4438.

DIRECTIONS:

Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The pre-production of this performance was made possible thanks to a grant from the Spunk Fund, Inc.
FiveMyles is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, the Perlemeter Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Joseph Robert Foundation, and the William Talbott Hillman Foundation.