Main Stage Productions
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
March 2019
Puppet Lab 2018
March 2018
Make Believe Neighborhood
February 2018
Action Sequence
June 2017
Music Animated featuring Dreamland Faces
February 2017
Queen
SEPTEMBER 2016
Basement Creatures
March 2016
The Story of Crow Boy
February 2016
Between the Worlds
2015, 2013, 2002
La Natividad
2016, 2014, 2012, 2008, 2007, 2006
Cartooon
January 2014
La Guadalupana/Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 2013
Kid Enkidu
Jan-Feb 2013
Hidebound
October 2012
Winter Dreams
December 2011
La Befana
December 2010 & 2001
A Path Home
November 2009
Beneath the Surface
2009, 2008
Decorate the Well in Gratitude
July 2008
Come to the Well
March 2007
A Company of Angels
2006, 2005, 2004
GOTAMA: A Journey to the Buddha
February 2006
The Pink Dress
November 2005
Lake Street Excavations
March 2005
Wild Swans
December 2003
From the Inside Out
March 2003
Queen Nanny, Queen Nanny!
January 2003
Seed: Awesome Vessel of Power
September 2002
Befriended by the Enemy
March 2002
The Nightingale
February 2002
City Rhapsody
November 2000
Gyre: Song for a Millennium
December 1999
The Reaper’s Tale
October 1989
Table, Table
1987
A Life of HOH
1983
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.
