A Unicorn, a beast of pure goodness and light, wakes in a black void and discovers, horrified, that it’s dead; but in the hands of a team of puppeteers, it lives again and looks for a way to escape its past, and maybe escape its future too.

Designed and directed by Justin Perkins, Unicorn Afterlife is a grimy, synthesizer dream ballet about fantasy, greed, gender, glitter and the power of belief.

Join us Saturday, May 8 at 8:35pm for an artist talkback on Zoom. It’s available to ALL ticket and package buyers, and a link will be sent to you via email, so keep a lookout!

Creator: Justin Perkins has appeared in works by Ping Chong + Company, Basil Twist, Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Tom Lee, Lake Simons, Patti Bradshaw, Puppet Cinema, Unitards, imnotlost, and more. Justin’s works have been presented at NYC venues including Dixon Place, 14th St Y, Center at West Park, Carriage House, and FlameCon. Justin is a curator at Object Movement Puppetry Festival, a residency program for puppet artists, and the Director of Programs at New Country Day Camp. For more on Justin and Unicorn Afterlife, follow them on Instagram @itsjustmejustinp and @unicorn_afterlife

Projection Designer: Gabriel Aronson, originally from Vienna, Austria, is a Brooklyn-based designer and animator primarily active in the performing arts industry. He works with industry-leading video and projection designers to bring their visions to life on stage. His work has appeared on Broadway, at theaters around the world, at sea and on TV. Selected credits — Broadway: Tina, the Tina Turner Musical, Anastasia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,Aladdin, Motown the Musical, Macbeth. Jekyll & Hyde, Bring It On; Opera and Ballet: Cinderella (Royal Albert Hall, London and Dutch National Ballet, Amsterdam), The Thirteenth Child (Santa Fe Opera), Winter’s Tale (Royal Ballet, London). Outside of the performing arts Gabriel works as a motion graphics designer for both large and boutique production houses in New York and London.

Puppeteer: Kate Brehm is a puppeteer and movement director. She works as a close associate of Basil Twist, is certified in the Margolis Method of Physical Theater, and teaches her signature class: ’movement for puppeteers’ as well as ‘performing design.’ Select Credits: Things Fall Apart, Dark Space (imnotlost); Dogugaeshi, Symphonie Fantastique, Rite of Spring, Petrushka (Basil Twist); Dorothy and the Prince of Oz (Edwaard Liang); Paper Hat Game (Torry Bend); La Divina Caricatura (Mabou Mines). I’m thrilled to be a part of this journey with Justin.

Puppeteer: Dorothy James is a Brooklyn-based puppeteer, educator, and maker of tiny things. She has performed with Basil Twist (Hansel & Gretel, Michigan Opera Theatre), Wakka Wakka (Made In China, The Immortal Jellyfish Girl), the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (Petrushka, Giants Are Small), the Rockettes (The New York Spectacular, Radio City), Derek Fordjour & Nick Lehane (Fly Away), and is a puppeteer for the children’s series Moon and Me (BBC, Andrew Davenport). She has puppeteered at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, the Jim Henson Carriage House, St. Ann’s Warehouse, 59E59, Dixon Place, La MaMa and overseas in Norway and the Czech Republic. Dorothy is a co-creator of Bill’s 44th, which received a Production Grant from the Jim Henson Foundation as well as support from the NY State Puppet Festival, St. Ann’s Puppet Lab, and Dixon Place, and will premiere the first week of June! Dorothy is also a co-creator/intern of the Late Night Puppet Talk Show With Special Guest, a 100% live, 100% improvised puppet catastrophe performed Saturday nights at 10pm on twitch.tv/talkpuppet2me. More at dorothy-james.com

Puppeteer: Jenny Hann (she/they) is a puppeteer, fiber artist, and visual storyteller based in New York City. As a puppeteer, they have worked onstage, and in tv and film, in a variety of different puppetry forms. Jenny has appeared in works by WonderSpark Puppets, Doppelskope, Unitards, Jim Kroupa, and Concrete Temple Theatre. Their original work has been seen at The Tank, La MaMa, The Center at West Park, The Metropolitan Room, Coney Island Sideshows, Flint Repertory Theatre, The Nasty Women Unite Festival, and Inwood Art Works. Jenny had the immense pleasure of being one of eight resident artists for the 2018-2019 Object Movement Festival, and is a current artist for their 2021 spring festival. She is a three time participant of The Eugene O’Neill Puppetry Conference and was a Catapult Artist at the 2017 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. www.jennyhann.com / @thepuppetprincess on IG

Puppeteer: Monica Lerch is a puppet artist, director, performer, and model from Chicago now based in Brooklyn. Her work has been seen at the Lincoln Center, La MaMa ETC, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Dixon Place, The Tank, Here Arts, and The Center at West Park. Monica was awarded a 2020 Jim Henson Foundation Grant for the continued development of her project Otherworlds, and has been spending the pandemic improving her puppet fabrication skills. More of her work can be found at monicalerch.me or on Instagram where she models @death.by.monica and hugs her friends @monica.lerch.

Puppeteer: Rachael Shane is a Troy, NY based puppeteer. Performances include: Basil Twist’s Rite of Spring, ‘13, Sister’s Follies, ‘15, Symphonie Fantastique, ‘18, Julie Atlas Muz and Matt Fraser’s, Jack and The Beanstalk, ‘17, Chris Green’s Firebird, ‘13,’15, ‘18, Lake Simons’ Carnival of the Animals ‘15-19, Roman Paska’s Fall of the House of Usher, MassMoca ‘19, as well as multiple projects with Puppet Kitchen.

Stage Manager: Rachel Funderburk

Lighting Design: Rob Lariviere

Sound Design: Ien Denio

Production Assistant: Camille Cooper

This Dixon Place Commissioned Production is made possible with private support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Cheryl Henson & the Jim Henson Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Scherman Foundation, and Shubert Foundation; public funds from the NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs w/the City Council, and the NY State Council on the Arts w/the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo & the NY State Legislature; and generous donors like you!

Check out all 4 shows here.
Watch a short trailer for the 4 shows here.