Main Stage Productions

upcoming shows medium

Each year we produce original, company-generated plays for both families and adults. Using visual, musical and movement narratives, in addition to words, In the Heart of the Beast translates complex issues of mind and society into images that breathe with soul and spirit.

 

Due to COVID-19 all programing & performances have been postponed

You can read our full COVID-19 Update here.

We hope to reschedule these performances at a later date and look forward to connecting with you digitally in the days and weeks to come!

Coming Home to Wild: New Puppet Works on Extinction and Resilience

March 21st and 28th, 7pm

Tickets on sale now!

Coming Home to Wild reminds us: we are not the only ones wondering what wholeness feels like as the world burns.  Through music, puppet performance, and a light community meal we will strengthen our collective resistance and resilience.

Experience new puppet works by Julie Boada (Anishinabe), Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra (Maya-Lenca), and Wild Conspiracy (Elle Thoni and company) and Montana Cypress (Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida) with New Native Theatre who ask: in the face of extinction and climate catastrophe, what do our ancestors have to teach us about resilience? You are invited to join the circle as our ancestors, human and more than human, speak, sing, and soar. Encounter stories of our time that awaken rather than paralyze reminding us of the world as it truly is, in all its beauty and its pain.

All ticket income will benefit Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)

Neighborhood Night at Midtown Global Market: Free Puppet Shows for Kids & Families

Midtown Global Market is hosting six, FREE Heart of the Beast performances in the Midtown Central Court on Thursday nights during the weekly Neighborhood Night celebrations this winter.

Come for the show at 5:30pm and stay for the “Make-n-Take” workshop based on that day’s puppet show theme. You’ll leave with your own puppet creation to take home.

Puppet Cabaret

As HOBT and MayDay enters a moment of metamorphosis and transformation, so does Puppet Cabaret! 

Steve Ackerman & Akiko, co-curators of Puppet Cabaret, are excited to expand the circle of cabaret artists by seeking (short!) applications for our upcoming Puppet Cabaret on April 24th! Selected artists will be given a stipend of $75 and 15 hours rehearsal/build space at In the Heart of the Beast Theatre.

Performances should be 5-10 minutes in length, and in some way, somehow, involve puppetry.  Puppetry covers a wide variety of forms, from hand, shadow, rod, finger, to crankie, cantastoria, to randomly moving around a trash bag in a poetic manner.  We are open to you challenging that definition and encourage those of all skill levels in the form to apply.

Previous Mainstage Performances

Puppet Lab 2019

01-07-2020

March 2019

Puppet Lab 2018

07-11-2018

March 2018

Make Believe Neighborhood

07-11-2018

February 2018

Action Sequence

09-06-2017

June 2017

Music Animated featuring Dreamland Faces

09-06-2017

February 2017

Music Animated: A Puppet Concert Series featuring Dosh

10-27-2016

October 2016

Queen

10-27-2016

SEPTEMBER 2016

Basement Creatures

03-11-2016

March 2016

The Story of Crow Boy

02-18-2016

February 2016

Between the Worlds

12-11-2015

2015, 2013, 2002

La Natividad

12-11-2014

2016, 2014, 2012, 2008, 2007, 2006

Cartooon

01-16-2014

January 2014

La Guadalupana/Our Lady of Guadalupe

12-07-2013

December 2013

Kid Enkidu

01-25-2013

Jan-Feb 2013

Hidebound

10-18-2012

October 2012

Winter Dreams

12-02-2011

December 2011

La Befana

12-03-2010

December 2010 & 2001

A Path Home

11-06-2009

November 2009

Beneath the Surface

03-22-2009

2009, 2008

Decorate the Well in Gratitude

07-26-2008

July 2008

Come to the Well

03-02-2007

March 2007

A Company of Angels

09-25-2006

2006, 2005, 2004

GOTAMA: A Journey to the Buddha

02-24-2006

February 2006

The Pink Dress

11-05-2005

November 2005

Lake Street Excavations

03-04-2005

March 2005

Wild Swans

12-05-2003

December 2003

From the Inside Out

03-07-2003

March 2003

Queen Nanny, Queen Nanny!

01-17-2003

January 2003

Seed: Awesome Vessel of Power

09-27-2002

September 2002

Befriended by the Enemy

03-21-2002

March 2002

The Nightingale

02-01-2002

February 2002

City Rhapsody

11-03-2000

November 2000

Gyre: Song for a Millennium

12-11-1999

December 1999

The Reaper’s Tale

10-11-1989

October 1989

Table, Table

10-11-1987

1987

A Life of HOH

07-11-1983

1983

Shoes of Infant Light

10-11-1981

1981

GIFT CERTIFICATES to our productions can be purchased by emailing [email protected]

Citation Of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry

Sandy Spieler, 2007

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre

Since 1975 UNIMA-USA has awarded Citations of Excellence (the "UNI") that recognize and reward the best of the puppetry arts in this country. In addition to encouraging worthy puppeteers, the goal of the Citations program is to provide credible recognition that will aid puppeteers as they seek audiences in this country and abroad. The Citations are awarded to shows that touch their audiences deeply; that totally engage, enchant and enthrall.