UPCOMING SHOWS…

Plunkett & Tremolo

performed by Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell

Weinberg Center for the Performing Arts, Frederick MD

February 13 @ 10:30am

Tickets available HERE or by calling 301-600-2828

As star of the show, Tremolo is full of spectacular skill, knock-about comedy, and classic physical antics but Plunkett is determined to upstage him! Great entertainment for the entire family.

Low Tide Hotel / FarFar Oasis Double Bill

performed by Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, and Scott Sedar

Kogod Theatre at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park

March 10, 11, 12 @ 8pm

Tickets available HERE or by calling 301-405-ARTS

LOW TIDE HOTEL is a whimsical voyage on a surreal steamship to the Coney Island of the Imagination, a little dream of the sea coming ashore.  It was inspired by the sea and the coast, ships, sailors, mermaids, messages in bottles, antique luggage labels, and the idea of being lost at sea. This show was voted best comedy of the 2007 Capital Fringe Festival.

FARFAR OASIS is a playful romp through the cultural phenomenon of “Orientalism”  inspired in part by the scholarly masterpiece of that name by Edward Said. We’ve collected cultural material spread in the wake of the checkered European and American fascination with the regions to their East, which they have long called “The Orient:” a relationship ranging from romantic to racist, from quaint to shameful, from curiosity to conquest.  Almost all the words are taken directly from historical sources, like Napoleon’s edicts from his conquest of Egypt, diaries of Victorian Explorers, promotional prose from The Chicago Colombian Expo of 1893, the silent films of the 1920’s, and the Tin Pan Alley songs making fun of those films. We’ve also included a few choice appropriations of “Oriental” images from Mozart to a TV commercial, and in counterpoint some genuine poetic and musical voices from the region.

The Seven Ages of Mime

performed by Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell

Montgomery College Performing Arts Center, Theatre 2, Silver Spring MD

April 16 – May 2 – Fridays and Saturdays @ 7:30pm Sundays @ 2pm

Tickets not yet on sale. Visit www.happenstancetheater.com for more information.

The Washington Post called THE SEVEN AGES OF MIME “A Gentle Nod to The Greats”. It is an entertaining survey of the history of the Art of Gesture from ancient pantomime to Commedia, from circus to silent film. The last time this show ran it sold out it’s 2 week run, was extended and sold that out too. Don’t miss it this time ’round.

Prufbox

performed by Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, and Gwen Grastorf

Round House Theatre Silver Spring, MD

June 18 and 19 @ 8pm June 20 @ 2pm

Tickets available HERE or by calling 240-644-1100

PRUFBOX is an original production loosely based on T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Drawing inspiration from Dada assemblages and the box constructions of Joseph Cornell, the hit show’s spare aesthetic conjures the 1920s and ‘30s eras. Two characters animate the stage collage: a woman from the sea who rides a cycle of existence, and a man who hesitates. Their poetic world balances between whimsy and angst over tea in a life-size shadow box with dancing puppets.

IN THE WORKS…

Handbook for Hosts

Happenstance Theater and banished?Productions

Capital Fringe Festival, DC

We are collaborating on a new show for the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival with banished?Productions who brought you last year’s Fringe hit A Tactile Dinner. This year we are developing a Film Noir genre piece that will be sure to puzzle and seduce. It is called HANDBOOK FOR HOSTS and all are invited to discover the ultimate recipes for the consummate host, from a time when men were men, dames wore gloves, and cold gin tippled often. Be prepared to follow instructions.

Storm Cycle

Happenstance Theater and In-Flight Theatre

This is a very exciting project in the early development stage. Sabrina Mandell of Happenstance Theatre is collaborating with Mara Niemanis of In-Flight Theatre and the aerial sculptor Tim Scofield and the incredibly talented musician and composer Karen Hansen, to create a whirlwind of a piece loosely inspired by the book “The Nature of Violent Storms” and various poetic weather service reports about people and places ravaged by nature, and the parallels between weather and human temperament.

Look Out Below! Reviews

WASHINGTON POST

DC THEATRE SCENE

OUR KIDS.COM

and HERE is an article about us from the Gazette…

Are you looking for an affordable alternative or supplement to the usual Christmas season entertainments? LOOK OUT BELOW! another Happenstance Tour De Force just finished its performances at Round House Theatre Bethesda…keep posted to see where it will happen next.

THUNDER!  MOONLIGHT!  SLAPSTICK! The end of the 19th century is at hand…Pierrot is on his way to Paris where he intends to make the very first recorded sound. En route he meets Augustine, a would-be Hot Air Balloonist.  Accompanied by an eccentric one-person Band they encounter comic misadventures at the Circus, the Paris Metro, the Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge. Starring Mark Jaster as Pierrot, Sabrina Mandellas Augustine andKaren Hansen as The Band.

Happenstance Theater employs whimsical imagery, physical comedy and live music to engage imaginations of all ages.

AUTUMN NEWS!

Mark Jaster has been selected as the winner of the 2009 Montgomery County Executive’s Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Outstanding Artist Award for his achievements in, and contribution to, the arts in Montgomery County. Also, Happenstance Theater received an Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County Creative Projects Grant and have been invited to perform at the Montgomery County Executive’s Ball on October 19th, 2009 where we will show a short preview of Look Out Below! and Mark Jaster will receive his Outstanding Artist Award. This event is free and open to the public. Click HERE for more information.

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Cabaret Coo Coo Voted Best Comedy of the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival!

Well, the audiences voted for Cabaret Coo Coo as the Best Comedy of the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival.

Thank you all so much for coming out to see our chaotic Vaudeville extravaganza. Look for a remounting of Cabaret Coo Coo in the fall…

 

Fringe and Purge Blog Hip Shot of Cabaret CooCoo

This is a remarkably astute REVIEW! We were trying to take it easy this year having built so many new shows the last couple of years and so we decided to try something a little less “devised” and a little more “assembled”.
Thank you so much for your sensitive eye and patience with us while we experiment with ways to make art when there is no time and no money.
Love you DC city paper cats!

Cabaret CooCoo at the 2009 Capital Fringe

Get your tickets HERE

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Be sure to cast your vote for Cabaret CooCoo at capitalfringe.theatremania.com ______________________________________

FarFar Oasis NOW RUNNING! One more weekend April 23 – 26

FarFar Oasis

“Where the warm winds of the East become the hot air of the West”

In the early 20th Century, Europeans and Americans indulged romantic notions of the Middle Eastern Desert in popular culture:  Rudolph Valentino’s  The Sheik was an international sensation, spawning a host of imitators and the hit song, “The Sheik of Araby”;  R.J. Reynolds used the long-standing allure of the desert and pyramids to sell Camel Cigarettes, while Gertrude Bell and Freya Stark actually went exploring and mapping the region, writing for a ravenously fascinated public. FarFar Oasis takes as its point of departure this rich cultural phenomenon, contrasting the era’s charmed perceptions with the reality they missed, in a pastiche of poetry, image and song. It is the companion piece to our original theatrical scrapbook, Low Tide Hotel and will feature Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Scott Sedar and Tina Chancey.

It will run at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring from April 16th – 26th, 2009. For Tickets click HERE

Reviews:

TheatreDC.com

Abyssal Plain blog

DC Theatre Scene

Diz and Izzy Aster at VoixDeVille

VoixDeVille

Saturday March 28th

Doors at 7:30, Show starts at 8

in the INDIGO ROOM

ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

1333 H St NE, Washington DC

Come experience VoixDeVille, the city’s newest and snazziest Variety show, slurp on a Cosmo and enjoy an evening of performances by the some of the areas most talented musicians, magicians, cabaret acts, clowns, and characters.

Including the amazing Diz and Izzy Aster (Sabrina Mandell and Mark Jaster of Happenstance Theater) who bring their baggage to the stage in harmonies from Between-the-Wars and cheery songs of the Great Depression.

Tickets only $5

To purchase click HERE

or call the box office at 202-399-7993

Plunkett and Tremolo at Wolftrap

Plunkett and Tremolo
Tuesday, July 14 - Saturday, July 18 at 10 am

Enjoy a picnic in the meadow between performances at Wolf Trap’s Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods. Tickets may be purchased for a single performance for $8 or for both the 10 am and 11:15 am performances for only $2 more.
The incomparable Mark Jaster returns to Wolf Trap and this time he’s got fellow entertainer Sabrina Mandell with him creating all sorts of trouble. As star of the show, Tremolo is full of spectacular skill, knock-about comedy, and classic physical antics but Plunkett is determined to upstage him! Hilarity ensues as these two mute fools try to prove who is who.

For Tickets and Info Click HERE

WORKSHOP: Text? Assembly Required! Process by Happenstance

Presented as part of the Capital Fringe Festival Training Factory.

Cost $85

Monday night sessions (Nov. 17 & 24) 6:30 – 9:30pm –

REGISTER FOR MONDAYS

OR

Tuesday sessions (Nov. 18 & 25) 6:30 – 9:30pm –

REGISTER FOR TUESDAYS

We have created three successful productions for the Capital Fringe Festival: Prufbox, Low Tide Hotel, and Manifesto!, all of which have enjoyed further lives at venues such as the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, NY Clown Festival, The Peabody Essex Museum, and Round House Theater. The team of Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell have developed these shows through a collaborative process that treats text fragments with visual imagery, character, clown, puppetry and physical expression.

In a pair of workshops we will take text fragments and explore a range of possible treatments.  In the first meeting we will provide the source material, and stimulate its creative exploration and presentation in a small group format. In the second, material brought in by the participants will provide the points of departure, allowing guided collaborative inquiry and the experience of a variety of approaches.  In both meetings, supportive, interactive, creative play will set the tone.

This Training Factory Event will run on two consecutive weeks, with a Monday class and Tuesday class for your scheduling convenience. That’s six great hours with Happenstance Theater for only $85!

Workshops will be at FORT FRINGE – 607 New York Ave. NW, Washington DC 20001

We’ll see you at the Fort!