“Room to Panic” is the final episode in a triptych theatrical work depicting, in movement and visual theater, the experience of immigration to America.

The triptych began in 2002 with a work entitled “9 Windows,” in which nine episodic vignettes reveal a series of multimedia, live art paintings that depict the experience of being a displaced immigrant. “Open Door” (2006), the second episode, directly addresses the impact of the many new immigrants who now make up New York City.

“Room to Panic” is the journey of joy, fear, alienation, and struggle that reveal the allure, pressures, disillusionment, and rites of passage necessary to achieve the American Dream, creating the new American culture.

Funding for this project made possible with support from New York State Council on the Arts, The Jim Henson Foundation American Music Center – Live Music For Dance Program 2008.

CREDITS

Conceived & Created by Federico Restrepo & Denise Greber
Directed, Designed, & Choreographed by Federico Restrepo
Music Composition: Elizabeth Swados
Text taken from Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury

Puppet Design & Construction, Set, Video & Light Design by Federico Restrepo
Costume Design & Puppet Construction: Denise Greber
Musical Director: Kris Kukul
Additional Music & Orchestrations: Kris Kukul, Heather Paauwe, Jon Siapno, & Yukio Tsuji

Musicians: Heather Paauwe, Jon Siapno, & Yukio Tsuji

Video Edit Design: Angela “Nena” Sierra & Federico Restrepo
Tent Design & Construction: Catarina Leitão
Sound Design: Tim Schellenbaum

Cast: Federico Restrepo (Immigrant on Tiny Bike), Denise Greber (Memory Machine), Cary Gant (Man in Tent), Sara Galassini (Immigrant/Dancer), Joamer Gonzalez (Immigrant/Dancer), Allison Hiroto (Immigrant/Dancer), Emily Vick (Immigrant/Dancer ), Linwood Young (Immigrant/Dancer), Dmitry Chepovetsky & Kat Yew (Companions in Tent/Performers )

Stage Manager: Paula Wilson
Production Assistants: Tracy Francis, Sung Yeon Park, Gabriel Ponce, & Da Jung Shin

Photos: Gian Marco Lo Forte & Kaori Fujiyabu
Window and Door Frame Construction: Gian Marco Lo Forte
Press Representation: Jonathan Slaff
Artistic Design Consultant: Eduardo Rodas

PRESENTATIONS

October 3–19, 2008
La MaMa ETC
New York

PRESS

“In New Land, Still Haunted by the Old”
Anita Gates, The New York Times