HYPERBOLE: origins
Creative Director, Video Designer, Writer
Rogue Artists Ensemble • 2010 • Los Angeles, CA
A wordless theatrical experience exploring global origin myths through over 40 masks, puppetry, and surround media. Interactive pre-show and immersive illusions created a participatory, sensory-rich journey.
Nominated for Production of the Year by LA Weekly.
REVIEWS
A fusion of mask, puppetry and music, HYPERBOLE: origins catapulted audiences into multiple origin stories examaning what links us all. LA Weekly Award Nomination for Production of the Year. “GO! A profusion of lighting, sound, videography, puppetry, masks and music, superb production values…expressive masks…imaginative costumes…indispensably animating audio design [and] a terrific seven – person ensemble…As impressive as these technical elements are, they never outrun the stories themselves.”– LA Weekly
“A succession of ingenious mask and puppetry work, set to a soundtrack of alt-pop.”- LA Times “Very insightful, funny and very “PG”, so bring the family to the Ford. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you might actually learn something, but most of all you will be entertained.” – Examiner ” A unique theatrical experience… Though its themes are serious, wondrous, and thought provoking, humor is at the core of this production… cohesive and finely-honed.” – Edge LA
HYPERBOLE: origins is an immersive, wordless exploration of origin myths from around the world, told through over 40 original masks, puppetry, and projected media. As Creative Director, Writer, and Video Designer, Sean Cawelti crafted a multisensory theatrical journey that surrounded the audience with illusions, movement, and music from over 20 artists.
Presented as a completely non-verbal experience, the production invited audiences into a kaleidoscopic visual world where language was replaced by visceral imagery and sound. Before the show, guests were guided through a theme-park-inspired “holding room” where they encountered a visual presentation and safety briefing, and explored the Origin-torium — an interactive, museum-like exhibit space where audience contributions could later be woven into the performance.
Premiered in Los Angeles and nominated for Production of the Year by LA Weekly, HYPERBOLE: originsblurred the lines between museum, mythology, and memory.