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... an Orwellian sprawl, built on militancy and enforced productivity.  But after the unexpected death of Eli’s father, the family finds itself an anomaly in their society, and are forcefully relegated to the outskirts of their city. 

It is here, on the edge of their world, that Eli and his mother, Amanda, discover their only chance for salvation: a retired circus bear, named Bumbles. 

 

What will happen when a young man raised by military textbooks makes friends with a bear, and enters a new world of … purple couches.

 And brass bands!  Tiny hats!  And fireflies – more than you can count. 

Eli and his mother make their home in a monstrous city...

An original piece

of physical theater.

Created and performed by an international ensemble...

3 physical actors

50 minutes

An Orwellian tragedy
with a magical imagination

"Eli faces the same struggle as so many young people in our world today: he not only faces the confusion and heartache of growing up, but does so while surrounded by a society that popularizes violence, divisiveness, and corrupt leadership.  What hope does he have?  What kind of world will he perpetuate?"

Zafiria Dimitropoulou

Zafiria Dimitropoulou Delangel is a Greek­Mexican actress and dancer. Born in Mexico in 1989, her parents decided to move to Greece when she was two years old, she started taking ballet classes and since then she never quit dancing. She has studied Political Sciences and Public Administration at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Acting at the Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun. During her third year of studies, she did an internship at the Troubleyn/Jan Fabre company for the re­enactment of the two historical shows “The Power of Theatrical Madness” and “This is Theatre as it was to be Expected and Foreseen” in Antwerp, Belgium, where she first got introduced to the principles of physical theatre. Moving back to Greece, she has been part of many productions and has worked with several directors and ensembles. In 2013, the audience of all4fun.gr voted for her as the best female actress of the year for her part in the theater play ''Pitsibourgo'' in the Argo theater, directed by Babis Klaliotis. In 2017, she graduated from the M.F.A program in Physical Theatre, at Dell'Arte International in Blue Lake, California where she got accepted with a scholarship for her research in physical theater and new forms of theater making. She loves the ocean and her dog.

Tushar Mathew

After graduating with a degree in mass media from the University of Mumbai, Tushar Mathew worked as a writer for a travel magazine, then wrote a sitcom and finally worked in a production house before enrolling at The Drama School Mumbai. After touring various parts of India with an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (The Curious Climb of Cutter Chee) where he played the titular character, he decided he needed to continue his physical theatre education and so he found himself at Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theater. After graduating with his MFA he was a part of the Dell’ Arte Company’s Summer Show- “The State of Jefferson Picnic”. He is currently touring "Eli and the Bear” and continues to work on his site-specific solo show “Detective Private Saves the World!”.

Becca Finney 
 

Becca Finney has been committed to life as a theater maker since her childhood in rural Kentucky, where she developed a love for outcasts and outskirts of all kinds.  She has trained in academic settings, graduating from the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, earning her BFA from Centre College, and earning her MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theater from Dell’Arte International.  She believes in the unique ability of the living stage to make the heart more available, and tries to be an ambassador for this possibility wherever she goes.  Her work has taken her around the globe (France, England, and Bali), and allowed her to collaborate with incredible communities such as Bread and Puppet Theater, the Dell’Arte Company, the Ink People in northern California, a domestic violence shelter in rural Oregon, an environmental studies group in central Kentucky, and many public schools throughout the southeastern United States.

About
The Ensemble

Laura Muñoz
 

Laura Muñoz is a theater artist born and raised in Spain. She started her training in childhood as a gymnast, and soon after, as a dancer.  Laura graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in Studies of the Earth, and later studied at the School for New Dance Development at the University of Amsterdam. Muñoz is also a graduate of The Moving On Center, where she studied Interdisciplinary Arts and Somatic Movement Therapy. An avid traveler, Laura loves to learn movement and gesture from around the world, which she then incorporates into her theater work. Her works have been seen in Europe, Russia and the US. She has collaborated with many artists over the years as director, dancer, actor, choreographer, producer, and creator. Her own company Pequeño Teatro de Danza works with musicians, actors, dancers and light designers in the fertile ground where these disciplines meet. As an educator, she has taught, among other places, at UMKC, HSU, Trinity Rep/Brown University Consortium, and is now faculty at Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theater, with whom she has had a professional relationship for the last 20 years. Laura is currently working on When I Die Leave the Balcony Open, a character based solo piece that will premiere this summer at the Mad River Festival in Blue Lake, California.

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