The Magic Bullet, A Work-in-progress Share-Out

7-8:30 p.m. ET Friday, February 23, 2024

In-person at AANM or Online via Livestream
Purchase Tickets for In-person | Purchase Tickets for Livestream
$10 Members
$12 Student/Senior
$15 General Public
$5 Livestream

THE MAGIC BULLET is a transdisciplinary performance about an ensemble of seven contemporary artists trying to tell the story of a French colonial magic show that took place at Algiers’ Bab-Azoun Theatre in 1856. As the ensemble attempts to confront the legacy of this historical performance, an overlapping, intersecting sea of stories unfolds across space and time, defying a global legacy of colonization and reclaiming the liberatory potential of magic.

The project is inspired by historical accounts of the marabouts—Sufi mystics who animated Algeria’s massive revolt against French colonial rule in the 19th century—and by the story of renowned French stage magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, who crossed the Mediterranean on an imperial mission to prove the superiority of European conjuring over the miracles of Algerian rebel mystics and indigenous spiritual leaders. Drawing on archival sources, ritual, original writing, stage magic and documentary filmmaking, THE MAGIC BULLET offers an uncanny confrontation between the power of illusion and the illusion of power.

THE MAGIC BULLET is created by LubDub Theatre Co with the following ensemble of generative artists: Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, Noelle Ghoussaini, Pierre Jampy, Ismail Khalidi, Mohamed Yabdri, Geoff Kanick, and Robert Duffley. THE MAGIC BULLET is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Pangea World Theatre in partnership with the Arab American National Museum, Noor Theatre, and NPN.

About LubDub Theatre Co
LubDub Theatre Co is an NYC-based company of artists that animates stories of science, magic, and myth. LubDub’s work has been produced around the world with translation into 10+ languages. Current projects include: To Tell A Story About the Earth (commissioned by Concord Theatricals), The Magic Bullet (co-commissioned by Pangea World Theatre in partnership with the Arab American National Museum, Noor Theatre, and National Performance Network), and A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist currently on a sustainable tour of Europe, Asia, and the UK). Learn more at lubdubtheatre.com

Artistic Team for The Magic Bullet

Caitlin Nasema Cassidy (she/her) is an actor, director and producer making experimental performance that is physical, collaborative and poetic. Her practice is rooted in joy, embodied research and (com)post-activism. CaitlinNasemaCassidy.com

Robert Duffley (he/him) is a dramaturg, editor and teacher based in New York City. As a dramaturg, Robert partners with writers, directors, composers, collectives and institutions to develop new plays and original stagings of classic work. He is particularly inspired by creative encounters between performance and other disciplines: recent collaborators include biologists, poets, climate activists and archives. He has been a teacher/guest artist at Harvard University, Georgetown University, and Emerson College. RobertDuffley.com

Noelle Ghoussaini (she/her) creates performance, ritual and sacred gathering with and for community. Each embodied experience aims to nurture freedom in the very fabric of our being; cultivating connection with our inherent belonging to the world around and within us. Noelle works at sites ranging from public parks to detention centers, from theatres to community spaces. As a Lebanese American who grew up across three continents, Noelle is dedicated to collective liberation & decolonial creative practice; her visions thread together artistic and sacred spaces of homecoming. www.noelleghoussaini.com, www.shapelight.org

Pierre Jampy (he/him) is a French, New York-based Filmmaker. He directs, films and edits fiction, music videos, commercials, documentaries, branded content and more. His work combines powerful storytelling, captivating shots, and compelling aesthetics. pierrejampy.com

Geoff Kanick (he/him) is a performer-magician-theatremaker originally from Tacoma, Washington and now based in NYC. Blending improvisation, physical theatre and illusion, Geoff creates immersive, poetic work that locates the awe-inspiring in the everyday. He is currently developing a TV series that celebrates magicians and magic from around the world. Geoff is an alum of SDCF’s Observership Program, The Orchard Project Greenhouse and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. GeoffKanick.com

Ismail Khalidi (he/him) is a playwright, screenwriter, director and educator. Khalidi’s work explores themes of racism, displacement and colonialism. His plays have been included in numerous anthologies and he co-edited Inside/Outside: Six Plays from Palestine and the Diaspora (TCG ‘15). Khalidi holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is currently a Directing Fellow at Pangea World Theater.

Mohamed Yabdri (he/him) is an award-winning actor, director, screenwriter and producer from Oran, Algeria based in Saint Paul Minnesota. He has participated in over 50 theatre shows locally and internationally, and has appeared in over 200 television episodes. As a teaching artist, Mohammed specializes in acting, clowning and physical theatre. His international career has included audiences in France, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.