La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club will present the world premiere of Mia M.I.A., a genre-bending, science fiction fairytale that blends puppetry, music and storytelling, running Feb. 5–15, 2026, at The Club in Manhattan’s East Village.
Created and written by Charlotte Lily Gaspard, Mia M.I.A. opens Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at La MaMa’s The Club, 74A E. 4th St. Tickets range from $10 to $30, with discounted options available for members, students and seniors, as well as a limited number of $10 tickets offered at each performance.
Developed in residence at La MaMa since 2021, the production has taken shape through three Jump Start programs, the theater’s long-running puppet works-in-progress series curated by Denise Greber. The show is described as a science fiction fairytale about grief, love and the role of imagination in healing.
The story follows Ella, whose world is upended when her beloved Mia disappears without explanation. Refusing to accept her loss, Ella ventures into an otherworldly dimension filled with space travel, unknown forces and transformative encounters. The journey becomes a meditation on sorrow, resilience and the power of connection.
The production fuses lo-fi space pop, live hip-hop and hand-cut shadow puppetry, combining live singing with original music. Hip-hop artist and griot Malik Work performs live, bringing ancestral storytelling traditions into conversation with futuristic soundscapes. Shadow puppetry and striking costume design create shifting worlds onstage, allowing characters to move between physical and silhouetted realms.
“This project has been years in the making and is very dear to my heart,” Gaspard said. “I began writing the story in 2021 during pandemic times, when I was fascinated by identity in the face of disconnection and how our understanding of ourselves is shaped by being in relation to others.”
Mia M.I.A. is directed by Gaspard and Ash Winkfield, with music by Nebraska, Doc Frost, Malik Work and Rebecca KellyG. Puppet design is by Gaspard. The cast includes Rina Dutta, Malik Work, Shabbi Sharifi, Gaby Febland, Zlata Godunova, Nat Marvan and Gaspard.
The production is presented by Midnight Radio Show, a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary theater collective known for its experimental blend of science fiction, fairytale narratives, puppetry and music.
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