The Center at West Park Presents
the magic lantern anthology
Presented as part of the CWP Evolution Festival
Saturday, September 19, 2026 @ 7:00 PM
New Stage Performance Space
36 W. 106th Street, New York, NY 10025
Let the Magic Lantern Anthology guide you through future folklore and forgotten myths. Through the power of puppetry, science and light, puppeteer Jacob Graham lures you into distant worlds, aided by Michael Vandergard's light puppets, the art of magic, and strange physics. Explore how the world around us manipulates our identity and how the confines of our physical world can never stop us from taking a joyride or flying toward the stars.
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The Magic Lantern Anthology radiates from New York City’s shimmering puppetry underground! With acts originating in the Object Movement Puppetry Residency, made possible by generous support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Jim Henson Foundation, this anthology brings together some of the most innovative acts in American puppetry.
Fresh off the heels of his collaboration with Marina Abramović, renowned puppeteer Jacob Graham’s Cast from Heaven is a play about trying to escape the world by means of esoteric sorcery. The show acts as an allegory for processing childhood religious trauma that makes way for discovering and reclaiming one's own dormant, queer spirituality. Cast from Heaven showcases elaborate costumes, twinkling lighting effects and live electro-acoustic sound by Jono Currier.
Science meets art in Michael Vandergard’s Future Folklore, a reimagining of the John Henry fable but with… race cars? Yes. This act debuts a new form of polarized light puppetry pioneered by Vandergard that uses spectral interference to bring indecent color and dimension to the thitherto flat world of shadow puppetry. This technique is based on the optical physics pioneered by Edinburgh’s own David Brewster, a former principal at the University of Edinburgh, just a ten-minute walk from the venue.
Cam Upton and Preston Wollner bring a bug to life through light in Glow Up! Meanwhile, Sasha Panyuta’s Cabbage & Co. brings a touch of whimsy as Ms. Sasha, an urban gardener, consoles her best friend, Cabbage, who just happens to be a cabbage in a perpetual state of existential crisis. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have learning about sustainability!
The stage is opened with a piece that opened at Concrete Boom to rave reviews, and now revitalized with Drolly Theater's new process. GUARD DOG! promises terror, laughs, and puppies.
This production comes direct from Summerhall at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Puppet lovers, Science fanatics, and magic enthusiasts will love every moment.
Cast & Creative Team
Lead Puppeteer/Producer: Michael Vandergard
Writer/Director, Cast From Heaven: Jacob Graham
Director, Cabbage & Co.: Sasha Panyuta
Director, Must be Nice (Glow Up): Cami Upton
Lead Puppeteer/Co-Producer: Preston Wollner
Music/Composer: Jono Currier
About the Lead Artist
The Drolly Theater is run by Michael Vandergard and Preston Wollner. Vander is a puppeteer in Brooklyn who developed a technique for light puppetry using polarizers and birefringent materials. Preston is a writer teacher and puppeteer living in Brooklyn NY.