A radical reimagining of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. From Italian street theater to the Ballets Russes, from The Punch and Judy Show to The Simpsons, the commedia characters are part of our culture – high and low. Miller Rothlein plays with those archetypes, turning Pulcinella into a joy-tinged grotesquerie. Composer Zeena Parkins joins Miller Rothlein as they use microphone, whammy pedals, and eggs to playfully scandalize.
Concept and Direction: Amanda Miller and Tobin Rothlein
Choreography: Amanda Miller
Video and Visual Design: Tobin Rothlein
Composer: Zeena Parkins after Igor Stravinsky after Giambattista Pergolesi
Dramaturgy: Tobin Rothlein
Original Cast: Dana Dlugosz, Amanda Miller, Paul Struck, Andre Zachery, and Caleb and Malcolm McCreary
Commissioned by the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA)
Co-Produced by Mariene de la Cruz and Lee Snyder
“Punch challenges us to ask why we are so attracted to such an often malevolent, rebellious figure… Miller and Rothlein embrace the zany spirit of commedia dell’arte, but also… inject[...] gender parity through strong, alluring women who are the physical equals of the male characters.” —Broad Street Review
“It’s not usually done… they embraced the freedom to fashion something completely different.” –Bucks County Courier Times
–The Philadelphia Inquirer