Theatre Gigante presents Little Bang with Ladislaw Starewicz

The work of early stop motion animation artist Ladislaw Starewicz has to overall feel of watching something by early fantasy filmmaker Georges Méliès. The jerky low-res images from the dawn of cinema feel like a fever dream from another era, but there’s something more going on here that speaks to something stranger and more bizarre. It’s a bit like the Brothers Quay, but from an early 20th century that seems to exist within the shadows of the pop culture of the era. 

This coming July, Theatre Gigante stages a screening of the old classic shorts with live music specifically scored for them by The Little Bang Theory. Watch Starewicz’s work on YouTube and you get some idea of what you might be in for, but the real beauty of this show is that the music LBT has put together for it will be performed entirely on toy instruments. It’s easy to dismiss this kind of experience. The internet has made video shorts something that could be casually viewed at an intersection between thoughts. Google the guy’s work. Watch a little bit of it. Then imagine it on a large screen in a studio theatre/art gallery atmosphere while grown adults play toy instruments and you get some of the magic that a show like this can produce. Something like this could be sweetly surreal in all the right ways. Sounds like a fascinating show.

Little Bang Theory performs with the works of Ladislaw Starewicz Jul. 10 - 11 at the Theatre Gigante Studio on 706 S. 5th St. For more information, visit Theatre Gigante online.