UPCOMING EVENTS

2020 is a tough year for theater! We hope you’ll watch the newly released “Eli the Luthier” film below and support us by donating the ticket price. The funds will go towards a residency where we’ll be rewriting and revising another legacy piece, Solina (below).

SOLINA

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SOLINA is Little Did’s first all-original, full-length show written and designed for New York audiences. It’s the story of young girl, told through diverse styles of puppetry and original music, who awakens to Rooster’s call and discovers Sun is missing and everyone she loves is trapped in a deep sleep, peacefully unaware. She ventures into the darkness to speak to the creatures of the night, encountering false trails, riddles, and dangerous characters on a quest to find Sun and save the world from darkness. This original hybrid multimedia puppet opera draws from myths, techniques, and musics from a variety of cultures to resonate as something rooted in the familiar, yet never before seen.

SOLINA premiered at the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival. It was presented at the Theater for the 14th St Y, where critics called it “one of the most ambitious and thoughtfully constructed offerings at Fringe 2015.”

“The company’s puppets are jaw-dropping, and accompany actors in a way that doesn’t fade them into the background, but draws even the grumpiest theatergoer into their joyful fantasy.”

– Theater is Easy (Click here for full review)

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Solina is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. It was also workshopped as part of Standard ToyKraft’s Hot Time in the Old City Residency.

In 2020, Little Did Productions did a pod residency at The Quonochontaug Grange, where a new cast recorded a “sing-through” of the rewritten Solina. Please enjoy the new version of Solina below, shot by Shaun Dawson.

Eli, the Luthier

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Little Did’s take on Toy Theater is a reimagining of an old folk tale set to original music.  The piece is performed in front of a pop-up book that sets the stage for this dark love story.  After workshopping at a Great Small Works Soiree we were accepted to perform it as part of the prestigious Toy Theater Festival Presented by St. Ann’s Warehouse in June 2013. It was also performed at The Hare Club in November 2013.

In 2015, Eli was remounted for the Puppeteers of America National Festival! We are so thankful to have performed this special show for our peers. This version of the show featured a new cast and was workshopped as part of Standard ToyKraft’s Hot Time in the Old City Residency.

In 2020, in an attempt to raise relief funds for the company, Eli, the Luthier (the film) premiered to the public for streaming! It was truly made for video, with multiple cameras and no audience, but run straight through so as the feeling of live theater. Thank you so much to the 2013 cast for participating, and to Ryan Keyes and our friends at nyiloveyou.tv

“Looking back at Eli while writing grants to secure funding for our 2020 residency, it strikes me how much of our current mission and working method continues to be informed by it. To Jessica and I, Eli represents our first major work out of college. Featuring DIY-style handmade puppets paired with live, looped cello, it acted as a sort of ‘proof of concept’ of what our collaboration could be. After the stressful experience of loading puppets in and out of a circus tent for Fringe Festival, we conceived of Eli as a show that could travel on a subway, with pop-up sets and toy theater-style puppets that would fit on a tabletop. We never would have guessed that it would eventually play for hundreds of puppet enthusiasts at the 2015 National Puppetry Festival–on one of the biggest stages that we’ve ever worked on.”

~Luke Santy, Co-Artistic Director

Check out our Review from the show’s premiere.

Photos: Jane B Clausen