The U.S. Bureau of Ethnology Annual Report of 1888 is the unlikely source material for a mystical mask-and-puppet piece, The Woman Who Fell From the Sky, playing at NYC's Provincetown Playhouse Sept. 25-27.
The Mettawee River Company's production of Woman, designed and directed by artistic director Ralph Lee, portrays a version of the Iroquois creation myth, drawn from archived interviews with three 19th century Native American chiefs.
The hourlong family show, using music, actors and puppets, coincides with the final weekend of the International Festival of Puppet Theatre presented by the Jim Henson Foundation. The puppet play was staged last week in the Garden at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (where Lee is Artist-in-Residence) and earned a rave in The New York Times, said publicist Rima Corben, who expects crowds this weekend.
Ralph Lee's works have won the Obie Award and the New York State Governor's Arts Award, among others. Music is composed and peformed by Karen Hansen, poems and lyrics are by Bob Holman, costumes are by Casey Compton.
Tickets are $10. For information call the Provincetown Playhouse, 133 Macdougal in Greenwich Village. Call (212) 998-5867. -- By Kenneth Jones