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Golem: Storms of the South
This was our first outing with The Immersive Theatre Company and it was a fantastic adventure.
Based on real stories of Jewish immigrants, or their immediate descendants, sourced through the Yiddish Book Centre, this immersive show transformed a DoMA - a modern art gallery (and whiskey distillery) - into a 19th century market place.
It was a fascinating process linked in with the Immersive Theatre acting classes I had been running for two months prior to opening. The workshops (ongoing) are designed to combine many forms of acting, which is what I believe Immersive Theatre acting is all about. Some of the forms worked with are: improvisation, physical character work, monologuing, theatre acting - no one can call cut, and camera acting - the audience are right in front of the actor.
Please read my interview with WABE Atlanta, for a more detailed description of what Immersive Theatre acting is.
Promo blurb of the show:
Journey into an immersive 19th-century New York marketplace where Jewish immigrants are busy selling
their wares on the last day of Hanukkah. You’ll hear incredible real-life stories of how they escaped the
“Storms of the South:” ten years of persecution in Western Russia. Upon reaching America, they discovered
freedom but brought with them something they could never have imagined.
Everyone is excited it’s the last day of Hanukkah, yet they are also full of fear. Every year on this day the
village is tormented by strange entities. However, this year, Rabbi Bezalel has had enough and summons up
a Golem – a Frankenstein-like creature – to rid the village of its tormenting demons, but nothing goes as
planned.
After a surprising discovery - and an unexpected reconciliation is made - the connection between the future and
past is sewn together. And yet, the story continues.
Written and Directed by: Louis Kyper
Produced by: Shellie Schmals and Louis Kyper
Costumes: Amy Wachtel
Props: Lauren Matsubara
Venue: The Distillery of Modern Art
Sound: DGM Sound
Photo credit: Charles Bailey
Isobel's Tree
After receiving my second grant from the Royal Borough of Kensington Chelsea, London — the first grant was for a busking show we did in Portobello Market, West London — we embarked on a journey researching the deforestation of our planet. The result was the show Isobel's Tree. Using a panoply of handcrafted recycled musical instruments, Crank and Spanner take a Isobel — a girl from a future in which all the trees have been destroyed — back in time to discover how all the trees were destroyed. The show culminates with her building a tree out of all of the recycled musical instruments.
With my prior six years experience in the show Stomp I composed and performed live music, along with The Junk Orchestra, which served as a metaphor for the theme of the piece. That metaphor being: Even in the shadows of our refuse there is music. which helps us discover the true beauty of what we have thrown away — namely the trees, and in turn a habitable planet. The show premiered at The Shaw Theatre during the Camden Fringe Festival, in London U.K. It then transferred to The Color House, in South London, for an extended run.
Written by: Louis Kyper
directed by: Manolis Emmanouel
sound design: Louis Kyper and Saul Eisenberg
photo credit: Louis Kyper
Shakespeare in the Ponce
In 2020 I came up with the idea of doing a series of Shakespeare plays in an outdoor space at Ponce City Market and called it Shakespeare in the Ponce. Battling the global pandemic, among other things, I produced and directed the first in the series: A Midsummer Night's Dream.
With the world in turmoil during the first year of the pandemic I wanted to translate that confusion through the use of Shakespeare's summer romp. The Faeries were scary, ugly, entities representing the Coronavirus who threw the world of the Athenian lovers into chaos. My hope was that the play would afford some level of levity to the ongoing crisis while bringing awareness that to the idea that we, as mere mortals, are in control of very little.
We had a cast of 10 actors, no budget, and just, well, a dream, but the show was seen by over 1,000 people during the four week run and raised upwards of $8,000.
directed by: Louis Kyper
photo credit: Michael Denizard and Jennifer Skura Boutell
masks & costumes: Jennifer Skura Boutell and Louis Kyper
produced by: Louis Kyper, Jennifer Skura Boutell and Rolecall
Theatre in the Pod
Making theatre in unconventional spaces is something I have always loved doing. I've performed with many immersive shows staged in warehouses, gardens, and zoos!
The award-winning work of Bearded Kitten, Secret Cinema, We Are Family London etc. inspired the idea of a pop-up theatre within a theatre. And so, Theatre in the Pod was born. Staged at Mixdeity Media Studios, audiences walking in to the cavernous main space were greeted with an enclosed black pod.
When the "doors" of the pod were rolled back, another word awaited within: The world of the play Slaughter in the Lake by Jose Rivera. This short 30-min drama was performed for a weekend and was very well received. The experience of being so tightly enclosed in this space-within-a-space enhanced the suffocating nature of the relationship between the two protagonists. Theatre is not just on the stage, it's in the entire experience.
directed by: Chris Chi
produced by: Louis Kyper and Mixdeity
set design: Louis Kyper
photo credit: Louis Kyper
What Big Teeth You Have
The first in my F**ked Up Fairytale series, What Big Teeth You Have tells the well-known tale of Little Red Riding Hood from the perspective of The Wolf, whose children are killed at the beginning of the play, sparking in him an existential crisis. The play is set in a world where Little Red is addicted to fairy dust, and will do anything for InstaGrimm's followers. The Wolf, in his own crisis, must learn to stop being a victim of his past, and eventually find his Big Bad Wolfness again, which he does. In doing this he comes face to face with the narcissistic Little Red and her malevolence shrouded in mock-humility. The play ran for two weeks and was immensely well-received. The script is currently being converted into a screenplay.
I took inspiration from theatre makers Bertolt Brecht and Jerzy Grotowski for the set design as well as from Michel Gondry's 2006 film, The Science of Sleep. The sparse, surreal and somewhat stark design allowed the audience to cast their imagination onto this fantastical blank canvas. With the addition of an equally sparse light design, which bounced off the white cardboard set, this approach allowed the themes in my play to come through while keeping hold of the surrealist high-concept.
written and directed by: Louis Kyper
produced by: Louis Kyper and Jennifer Skura Boutell
set design: Louis Kyper
costumes: Jennifer Skura Boutell
additional help: Some Bodies Theatre Collective
photo credit: Louis Kyper
Family's All You've Got
An original short, Family's All You've Got set the stage for what seemed like a real funeral. As the play progressed members of the "congregation" stood up and protested the proceedings and tried to hijack the funeral. What ensued was a short farce which dealt squabbling kids over their inheritance, literally, over their fathers casket.
I wanted to add some level of immersion to the experience so as audiences entered the space they were greeted with an actor handing out obituary of the "deceased" while other actors were crying in the corner. This was low-level immersion but it served to keep audiences asking questions, chiefly: Was this a real funeral? Keeping audiences on their toes, and asking questions right from the beginning of their experience was key to this piece, which revolved around shocking revelations.
written and directed by: Louis Kyper
produced by: Louis Kyper and Rolecall
photo credit: Louis Kyper
