{{Infobox theatre group | name = Great Small Works | image = | image_size = | caption = | formed = {{Start date|1995}} | disbanded = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | genre = Avant-garde, folk, and popular theater | location = New York City | num_members = John Bell, Trudi Cohen, Stephen Kaplin, Jenny Romaine, Roberto Rossi, and Mark Sussman | ArtisticDirector = | notable = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> }}
'''Great Small Works''' is a performance collective founded in New York City in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://appext9.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=2034293&p_corpid=1977288&p_entity_name=Great%20small%20works&p_name_type=A&p_search_type=BEGINS&p_srch_results_page=0 |title=Entity Information |publisher=Appext9.dos.state.ny.us |date=1995-11-29 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> Its six founding members—John Bell,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cavs.mit.edu/artists.html?id=264,565 |title=Center |publisher=Cavs.mit.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=John |title=Puppets, Masks, and Performing Objects at the End of the Century |journal=TDR |date=1999 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=15–27 |id={{Project MUSE|32944}} |doi=10.1162/105420499760347298 |s2cid=57571623 }}</ref> Trudi Cohen,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Db6EA0X-lIC&q=%22trudi+cohen%22+puppets&pg=PA50 |title=Staging resistance: essays on ... - Jenny S. Spencer - Google Books |isbn=0472066714 |access-date=2012-02-25|last1=Colleran |first1=Jeanne Marie |last2=Spencer |first2=Jenny S. |year=1998 |publisher=University of Michigan Press }}</ref> Stephen Kaplin,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaplin |first1=Stephen |title=A Puppet Tree: A Model for the Field of Puppet Theatre |journal=TDR |date=1999 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=28–35 |id={{Project MUSE|32951}} |doi=10.1162/105420499760347306 |s2cid=57568100 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinesetheatreworks.org/ |title=Chinese Theatre Works |publisher=Chinese Theatre Works |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> Jenny Romaine,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://klezkanada.org/faculty/jenny-romaine/ |title=Jenny Romaine |publisher=Klezkanada.org |date=2011-04-19 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> Roberto Rossi,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.curtainup.com/pupkab.html |title=A CurtainUp Review: Great Small Works at Los Kabayitos |publisher=Curtainup.com |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> and Mark Sussman<ref>{{cite web |author=Elisabeth de Grandpré |url=http://fasttalkingdame.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/the-void/ |title=Interview with Mark Sussman « Fast-Talking Dame |publisher=Fasttalkingdame.wordpress.com |date=2007-11-22 |accessdate=2012-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425065014/http://fasttalkingdame.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/the-void/ |archive-date=2012-04-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref>—draw on avant-garde, folk, and popular theater traditions to address contemporary social issues in a various scales, from tiny toy theater spectacles to giant puppet pageants.
== Events == Since their inception, Great Small Works has hosted frequent Spaghetti Dinner events, where the company members cook and serve spaghetti with vegetarian sauce to their audience, followed by a cabaret-style variety show involving puppetry, music and other forms of live entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nysun.com/arts/great-small-works-moves-from-ps-122/25579/ |title=Great Small Works Moves From P.S. 122 - January 10, 2006 - The New York Sun |publisher=Nysun.com |date=2006-01-10 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.me.com/puppetslam/Slam_Profiles/Great_Small_Works_Spaghetti_Dinners_-_Great_Small_Works.html |title=Great Small Works Spaghetti Dinners - Great Small Works |publisher=Web.me.com |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://diycultures.org/2011/10/12/great-small-works-spaghetti-dinner-performances/ |title=Great Small Works Spaghetti Dinner & Performances | Creative DIY Cultures and Participatory Learning |publisher=Diycultures.org |date=2011-10-12 |accessdate=2012-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425065014/http://diycultures.org/2011/10/12/great-small-works-spaghetti-dinner-performances/ |archive-date=2012-04-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Great Small Works has also hosted several festivals of toy theater that bring artists and performers from all over the world to perform and display their interpretations of the 19th-century art form.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stannswarehouse.org/current_season.php?show_id=47 |title=St. Ann's Warehouse - Toy Theater Festival featuring KAMP |publisher=Stannswarehouse.org |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.justseeds.org/blog/2008/05/great_small_works_internationa_1.html |title=Blog: Great Small Works International Festival of Toy Theater |publisher=Justseeds |date=2008-05-19 |accessdate=2012-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617062619/http://www.justseeds.org/blog/2008/05/great_small_works_internationa_1.html |archive-date=2013-06-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Great Small Works members create and perform their own toy theater productions, and as a collective have made ten installments of ''Terror As Usual'', an episodic toy theater serial that combines surrealism with current events.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120907062925/http://www.pleasance.co.uk/islington/events/great-small-works-triple-bill Great Small Works Triple Bill - Pleasance Theatre in London and Edinburgh]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queensmuseum.org/the-curse-of-bigness |title=The Curse of Bigness|date=April 2010|accessdate=October 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726155645/http://www.queensmuseum.org/the-curse-of-bigness |publisher=Queens Museum of Art|archivedate=July 26, 2010 }}</ref>
== Other productions ==
=== Small-scale works === "Toy Theater Faust" and "Olivier's Hamlet", directed by John Bell and designed by Stephen Kaplin;<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/view/id/16 |title=Theater > Great Small Works |publisher=Nyc Arts |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401132310/http://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/view/id/16 |archive-date=2012-04-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> "A Walk in the City", adapted from a story by Italo Calvino, directed and designed by Roberto Rossi;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/emmybean/5049126209/ |title=Great Small Works: A Walk in the City | Flickr - Photo Sharing! |publisher=Flickr |date= 27 May 2008|accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> "Soil Desire People Dance", directed and designed by Mark Sussman and Roberto Rossi;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theatre.concordia.ca/people/faculty/full-time/mark-sussman.php |title=Sussman, Mark - Department of Theatre - Concordia University - Montreal, Quebec, Canada |publisher=Theatre.concordia.ca |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> "Three Books in the Garden", about the renaissance and religious tolerance in Cordoba, Spain, created by Trudi Cohen, John Bell, and Isaac Bell;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/alankin/3946822103/ |title='Three Books in the Garden', no.3 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! |publisher=Flickr |date=2009-09-23 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> "The White Pajamas",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyu.edu/classes/bkg/mayer/MK_toytheater.pdf |title=7th INTERNATIONAL TOY THEATER FESTIVA |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> directed by Jenny Romaine. "B.B. in L.A"; about Bertholt Brecht's time spent living in the United States;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/41826-Great-Small-Works-Returns-w-4th-Annual-Toy-Theatre-Festival-In-NYC-Nov-5-22 |title=Great Small Works Returns w/ 4th Annual Toy Theatre Festival In NYC, Nov. 5-22 |publisher=Playbill.com |date=1998-11-05 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> two shows for kids, "Our Kitchen",<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |url=http://www.charlestownworkingtheater.org/greatsmall.cfm |title=Charlestown Working Theater |publisher=Charlestown Working Theater |accessdate=2012-02-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320164037/http://www.charlestownworkingtheater.org/greatsmall.cfm |archivedate=2012-03-20 }}</ref> created by Trudi Cohen; "Kasper in Metropolis",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/22/arts/family-fare-celebrating-flower-power.html?pagewanted=2 |title=FAMILY FARE; Celebrating Flower Power - Page 2 - New York Times |work=The New York Times |date=1998-05-22 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> created by Roberto Rossi and George Konnoff; two cantastorias, "The History of Oil",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/96286 |title=Banners & Cranks a festival of cantastoria |publisher=Brownpapertickets.com |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> and "The True Story of CHARAS",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lists.topica.com/lists/jfrej-alert@igc.topica.com/read/message.html?sort=d&mid=700027233 |title=Topica Email List Directory |publisher=Lists.topica.com |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> and "Lyzer the Miser",<ref name=autogenerated1 /> created by John Bell, Trudi Cohen, and Isaac Bell.
=== Large-scale works === 1996, "A History of Apizza in New Haven",<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFnfnKg6BcAC&q=great+small+works+%22history+of+apizza%22&pg=PA455 |title=Vaudeville old & new: an ... - Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman, Donald McNeilly - Google Books |isbn=9780415938532 |access-date=2012-02-25|last1=Cullen |first1=Frank |last2=Hackman |first2=Florence |last3=McNeilly |first3=Donald |year=2007 |publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref> an outdoor circus pageant, for the First International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven. 1998, "The Bread and Roses Pageant"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFnfnKg6BcAC&q=great+small+works+%22bread+and+roses%22+harlem&pg=PA455 |title=Vaudeville old & new: an ... - Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman, Donald McNeilly - Google Books |isbn=9780415938532 |access-date=2012-02-25|last1=Cullen |first1=Frank |last2=Hackman |first2=Florence |last3=McNeilly |first3=Donald |year=2007 |publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref> with students and teachers at the Bread & Roses Integrated Arts High School in Harlem. 2001, "the Procession to End All Evil"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.driftline.org/cgi-bin/archive/archive_msg.cgi?file=spoon-archives/puptcrit.archive/puptcrit_2001/puptcrit.0110&msgnum=32&start=1615 |title=Folder Contents |publisher=Driftline.org |date=2001-10-16 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> for the D.U.M.B.O Art Under the Bridge Festival in downtown Brooklyn. New street processions annually in D.U.M.B.O since then, most recently, "The Spectacle of the Rising Tide"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cavs.mit.edu/videos.html?id=554,664 |title=Center |publisher=Cavs.mit.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> in 2006. Also in 2006 "The Rising Tide Parade" for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council as the opening event of the summer River to River Festival.
=== Full-length works === "A Mammal's Notebook: The Erik Satie Cabaret" 2001;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://satie-archives.com/web/satie/144.html |title=La Mama Etc. presents |access-date=2011-10-15 |archive-date=2012-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425065014/http://satie-archives.com/web/satie/144.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln; " The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare",<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dessmarionnettes.uqam.ca/pages/mark_sussman.php |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-10-15 |archive-date=2012-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425065014/http://www.dessmarionnettes.uqam.ca/pages/mark_sussman.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> 1997-’98 "The Rapture Project" 2007<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104385-Great-Small-Works-The-Rapture-Project-Will-Play-HERE-Jan-421 |title=Great Small Works' The Rapture Project Will Play HERE Jan. 4–21 |publisher=Playbill.com |date=2006-12-21 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref>
== Awards == Great Small Works received a 2005 Puppeteers of America Jim Henson Award for Innovation in the Field of Puppetry,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.puppeteers.org/community/puppeteers-of-america-awards/ |title=Puppeteers of America Awards | Puppeteers of America |publisher=Puppeteers.org |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216234050/http://www.puppeteers.org/community/puppeteers-of-america-awards/ |archive-date=2012-02-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a 1997 Village Voice OBIE Award grant,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/index/1997/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828182253/http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/index/1997 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 28, 2008 |title=New York Obies Theater Awards |publisher=Villagevoice.com |date= |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> and a 1997 UNIMA Citation for excellence in puppetry. They are listed in NYC Arts, The Complete Guide.<ref name=autogenerated2 />
==Other projects== Great Small Works members are in involved in many other performance projects, including Circus Amok and Chinese Theater Works in New York City, the HONK! Festival in Boston, and Vermont's Bread and Puppet Theater.
== References == *Jesica Avelone, ''nytheatre.com review archive'', January 5, 2007, "The Rapture Project"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nytheatre.com/showpage.aspx?s=rapt4500 |title=The Rapture Project nytheatre.com Review |publisher=Nytheatre.com |date=2007-01-05 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> *James David Morgan, ''Groundswell, a Journal of Art & Activism'', JULY 11, 2008, "Great Small Works"<ref>{{cite web|author=James David Morgan |url=http://groundswellcollective.com/2008/07/11/great-small-works/ |title=Great Small Works - Groundswell |publisher=Groundswellcollective.com |date=2008-07-11 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref> *staff, ''Bryn Mawr Now'', Dec. 1, 2008, "Great Small Works: Colossal Performances in Miniature"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.brynmawr.edu/?p=1316 |title=Great Small Works: colossal performances in miniature | Bryn Mawr Now |publisher=News.brynmawr.edu |date=2008-12-01 |accessdate=2012-02-25}}</ref>
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Category:Performing groups established in 1995 Category:1995 establishments in New York City Category:Theatre ensembles in New York City