GILGAMESH, PRESENTED BY ST. ANN’S WAREHOUSE AND MACNAS
St. Ann’s Warehouse and Irish spectacle theater, Macnas, will bring a contemporary version of Gilgamesh to life in a giant puppet pageant connecting Downtown Brooklyn to the Waterfront. The procession will activate disparate and underused public spaces, engage arts and civic groups, hire local artists, apprentices, and technicians to work with Irish creators to join our neighborhoods in a singular joyous endeavor. Macnas will descend on Brooklyn with a visionary street theater performance of stunning leviathans, costumed creatures, and live music drawing audiences into a magical immersive spectacle.
An ancient epic, Gilgamesh is a universal tale of love, power, and grief. In Macnas’ version, two opposing Giants awaken – one on land and one at sea. They cross the urban landscape to engage in battle face to face, but instead they fall in love and their tribes unite. Performed in three days in various locations, Gilgamesh starts with the assemblage of a 30’ giant and ends in a royal procession of puppets, masked courtiers, animals, rooftop drummers, and serenading choirs.
St. Ann’s is delighted to partner with Macnas to animate our neighborhoods with a stunning theatrical spectacle of joy and hope. The scale and humanity of the Macnas behemoths and artistic director Noeline Kavanaugh’s ability to bewitch entire civic populations with unbridled enthusiasm is infectious. They will take us to the streets for a pageant of reconciliation and potential – cross barriers, demystify separations, illuminate the connectivity among our disparate enclaves, give creative and equitable purpose to the plans for Downtown Brooklyn’s future.
Susan Feldman, Artistic Director, St.Ann’s Warehouse
