FABRIK – The Legend of M. Rabinowitz
Written, Directed & Produced by WAKKA WAKKA PRODUCTIONS, INC.
www.wakkawakka.org
DAVID ARKEMA, GABRIELLE BRECHNER, KIRJAN WAAGE, GWENDOLYN WARNOCK
A co-production with Nordland Visual Theatre/Figurteateret i Nordland
Set & Costume Design by WAKKA WAKKA PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Original Puppets by KIRJAN WAAGE
Original Masks by GWENDOLYN WARNOCK
Original Music by DAVID ARKEMA & GWENDOLYN WARNOCK
Original Score “Rabinowitz Suite” composed by:
LARS PETTER HAGEN and TROND OLAV REINHOLDTSEN
Dramaturge: GABRIELLE BRECHNER
Final Directing Consultant: DANIEL GOLDSTEIN
Technical Director: JAN ERIK STARBY
Set Miniatures by STEIN HANSHUUS
Banner by JENAH PELLEY
Lighting Design by ANDREW DICKEY
Publicity/PR NYC: JIM BALDASSARE
Additional Props by LISA MEI LING FONG
Urban Stages Theatre
259 West 30th Street (between Seventh & Eighth Avenues)
January 17th – February 17th, 2008
Opening Night: January 23, 2008
First of all, let’s make known the names behind Wakka Wakka Productions, Inc.
– David Arkema, Gabrielle Brechner, Kirjan Waage, and Gwendolyn
Warnock – because these four individuals have managed to jam-pack 55 minutes
with so much creativity and talent that they deserve special recognition. With
amazingly expressive and exquisitely dressed puppets by Waage and
ingenious masks by Warnock, miniature sets, and imaginative props,
FABRIK tells the story of Moritz Rabinowitz, one of the few Jews who
lived in Norway in the early 1900’s. In addition to building one of the largest
clothing empires in the country, he also spoke out publicly against
anti-Semitism and predicted the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. He left a rich
legacy that Wakka Wakka researched and immortalized with this inventive
production.
Within 15 seconds you are in love with Rabinowitz, the puppet, and within 60
you’ve totally forgotten that he is a puppet. He sings, he dances, he takes you
on a raucous car trip through his village, and he introduces you to his family
and co-workers. Against original music and sound design, he recites his Life
Plan for the Businessman, croons to his daughter while she practices ballet,
pacifies his wife in bed, and maintains his sense of self and humor throughout.
He would have been as pleased with FABRIK as the lucky audiences who get
to see this delightful masterpiece will undoubtedly be.
- Laurie Lawson -