Theater News

Lazarus 1972–2022 Will Reimagine Ping Chong's Seminal Work at La MaMa

Ping Chong and Company will celebrate the work of its founder throughout its 2022-23 season.

An image from Ping Chong's original production of Lazarus.
An image from Ping Chong's original production of Lazarus.
(© Cathy Zimmerman)

Ping Chong and Company will open its 2022-23 season with Lazarus 1972-2022, PCC founder Ping Chong's new reimagining of the production that launched his creative career. Performances will run at La MaMa September 30-October 16.

Written and directed by Chong, Lazarus 1972- 2022 features Christopher Caines as Lazarus and Jeannie Hutchins as Woman. The creative team includes Watoko Ueno (set design), Hao Bai (lighting design), Stefani Mar (costume design), Ernesto Valenzuela (sound design), and Kate Freer (projection design).

Lazarus was Chong's first independently created theater production. It is an imagistic meditation on the resurrected man transplanted from its biblical setting to the surreal, urban purgatory of New York City in the 1970s — a deeply personal work about cultural alienation disguised as a biblical story. With the exception of a voice-over, sound effects, and some music, Lazarus is silent, poetic, and nonlinear.

The 2022-23 PCC season celebrates 50 years of Chong's work, as both Chong and longtime PCC executive director Bruce Allardice retire from their leadership roles at the end of this year.

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