[Theatre] S16 Luna Nera (Pioneers Go East Collective)

Miners Inferno

Echo in the Tunnel

Bullfight

Becoming the Moon

LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE CLUB,
EAST VILLAGE, NYC
APRIL 2012

S16 LUNA NERA (Sulfer Black Moon) is loosely based on the short story Ciaula scopre la luna (Ciaula discovers the moon) by Italian writer and playwright Luigi Pirandello and presents the life of a young miner, Ciaula, who works and lives inside a Sicilian sulfur mine in the 19th century.  S16 Luna Nera is a performance work exploring human displacement. The story analyzes the harsh lives of miners whose work subjects them to the danger of bodily injury, primarily from the ever present possibility of explosions. The stage action takes place in an installation environment that evokes a "diaphragm shutters" system inhabited by live performers, live music, animated video and projected art.  The world is created with smoke, see-through plastic screens, and mirrors, using live camera feeds projected on actors bodies to create an intimate experience of the desperation and psychological isolation of sulfur miners. 

Gian Marco Lo Forte (concept & direction & libretto); Adam Cuthbért (music & sound design); Maura Nguyen Donohue (choreography); Ji-youn Francesca Chang (lighting design); Mark Tambella (projected paintings); Abby Felder (costume design) Ido Levran & Rocco D’Santi (projection design). Performers (stage): Ian Cherry, Xavier Reminick, Giacomo Rocchini, Brian Walters. Performers (music): Ashley Winland, Rebecca Hudelson, Kat Yew.