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PROTOTYPE: OPERA l THEATRE l NOW is a co-production of Beth Morrison Projects and HERE, two trailblazers in the creation and presentation of contemporary, multi-disciplinary opera-theatre and music-theatre works. The visionary festival is the only one of its kind in New York City and is a model now emulated around the country—producing and presenting a wide spectrum of works, from intimate black-box experiences to larger chamber opera productions, valuing artistic, curatorial and producorial risk-taking.
PROTOTYPE is committed to surprising audiences and confounding their expectations through content, form and relevance. The festival gives voice to a diverse group of composers, librettists, performers and musicians across all genres, backgrounds and cultures. In providing a recurring showcase of visionary opera-theatre and music-theatre pieces, the touring life of the work extends around the world. The festival also presents groundbreaking new works by international artists and has become a global reference of artistic excellence in the field of opera and music-theatre.
2025 festival includes:
Eat the Document
January 9-17
HERE Arts Center
Eat the Document is based on the novel by Dana Spiotta, unfolds in the wake of a radical protest gone wrong. Shifting between the the 1970s and the 1990s, the piece by composer John Glover, librettist Kelley Rourke, director Kristin Marting and music director Mila Henry considers idealism, activism and consequences, while exploring connections between the two eras—their language, technology, music and activism.
Black Lodge
January 11-15
Village East by Angelika
Set in a nightmarish Bardo, a place between death and rebirth, a tormented writer faces down demons of his own making. Forced to confront the darkest moment in his life, he mines fractured and repressed memories for a way out. A woman is at the center of all the writer’s afterlife encounters. She is the subject of his life’s greatest regret, and she materializes everywhere in this Otherworld. The writer cannot detach any thoughts of his life from her.
In a Grove
January 16-19
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club's Ellen Stewart Theatre
Inspired by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s classic story, In a Grove is a haunting meditation on the impossibility of truth and the subjectivity of memory and perception. Set in a ghost forest in the aftermath of a wildfire in the Pacific Northwest, this searing adaptation plunges the listener progressively deeper into the ever more fallible regions of the human heart, interrogating how we see, hear, remember and believe.
Positive Vibration Nation
January 10-13
HERE’s Dorothy B. Williams Theatre
Journey from the year 3050 back to the present with the ambassadors of the New Miami Sound, and explore the origins of their Miami-licious swagger and unified superpowers in the Positive Vibration Nation.
Art Bath
January 18
The Blue Building
Art Bath is an immersive performance salon that blends concert and art party, featuring an eclectic mix of opera, music, dance and fine artists in a raw and intimate setting. Held at the historic Blue Building on E 46th St., Art Bath hosts a vibrant artistic community, fostering exploration and exchange among diverse artistic disciplines.
PROTOTYPE is committed to surprising audiences and confounding their expectations through content, form and relevance. The festival gives voice to a diverse group of composers, librettists, performers and musicians across all genres, backgrounds and cultures. In providing a recurring showcase of visionary opera-theatre and music-theatre pieces, the touring life of the work extends around the world. The festival also presents groundbreaking new works by international artists and has become a global reference of artistic excellence in the field of opera and music-theatre.
2025 festival includes:
Eat the Document
January 9-17
HERE Arts Center
Eat the Document is based on the novel by Dana Spiotta, unfolds in the wake of a radical protest gone wrong. Shifting between the the 1970s and the 1990s, the piece by composer John Glover, librettist Kelley Rourke, director Kristin Marting and music director Mila Henry considers idealism, activism and consequences, while exploring connections between the two eras—their language, technology, music and activism.
Black Lodge
January 11-15
Village East by Angelika
Set in a nightmarish Bardo, a place between death and rebirth, a tormented writer faces down demons of his own making. Forced to confront the darkest moment in his life, he mines fractured and repressed memories for a way out. A woman is at the center of all the writer’s afterlife encounters. She is the subject of his life’s greatest regret, and she materializes everywhere in this Otherworld. The writer cannot detach any thoughts of his life from her.
In a Grove
January 16-19
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club's Ellen Stewart Theatre
Inspired by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s classic story, In a Grove is a haunting meditation on the impossibility of truth and the subjectivity of memory and perception. Set in a ghost forest in the aftermath of a wildfire in the Pacific Northwest, this searing adaptation plunges the listener progressively deeper into the ever more fallible regions of the human heart, interrogating how we see, hear, remember and believe.
Positive Vibration Nation
January 10-13
HERE’s Dorothy B. Williams Theatre
Journey from the year 3050 back to the present with the ambassadors of the New Miami Sound, and explore the origins of their Miami-licious swagger and unified superpowers in the Positive Vibration Nation.
Art Bath
January 18
The Blue Building
Art Bath is an immersive performance salon that blends concert and art party, featuring an eclectic mix of opera, music, dance and fine artists in a raw and intimate setting. Held at the historic Blue Building on E 46th St., Art Bath hosts a vibrant artistic community, fostering exploration and exchange among diverse artistic disciplines.
Performance Schedule:
Visit prototypefestival.org for full schedule.
