THEATERLAB PRESENTS
Ti Madanm and the Three Beans
original text by Mimi Barthélémy
Translated by Dr. Maryse N. Roumain
Directed and produced by Emmanuel Elpenord
Performed with Kahbia-Asaaj Sada
“Ti Madanm and the Three Beans” continues Emmanuel Elpenord’s passionate effort to adapt Haitian folktales and oral traditions for the puppet theater stage. With a deep commitment to preserving and celebrating Haitian cultural heritage, Emmanuel, through his newly formed production company, Tiger Love Studios LLC, is thrilled and honored to collaborate with another acclaimed Haitian-American puppeteer in Kahbia-Asaaj Sada, alongside New York’s own respected puppet theater company, The Boxcutter Collective. This collaboration brings together great minds and skilled hands to present this work-in-development featuring bespoke puppets, inventive staging, and live musical accompaniment.
The story of “Three Beans” follows our protagonist through various settings, exchanging one curious item for another after an initial gift of three beans. Some items are practical and ordinary while others are enigmatic and meaningful. Though our protagonist has forgotten her magic powers in old age, she deftly remembers in time to rescue herself. This text is overflowing with powerful messages and holds great potential for the puppet theater stage. Join us in unpacking the lessons of community, generosity, and empowerment embedded in this story!
This project is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) through the Support for Artists Grant.
PERFORMANCES
Saturday, November 14th @ 2:00pm
Saturday, November 14th @ 7:00pm
Run Time – 60mins
TICKETS
Please make your purchase according your needs.
MEET THE ARTISTS
EMMANUEL ELPENORD (Creator)
Emmanuel Elpenord is a Brooklyn-born, Haitian-American actor, puppeteer, producer, and voice-over artist. Highlights from his distinguished body of work: puppeteer in El Niño (Met Opera); original cast of Disney’s “Winnie the Pooh: A New Musical Adaptation” (Rockefeller Prod.); original cast of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show” (Rockefeller Prod.), national tour of Broadway’s Life of Pi; puppeteer at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater (10+ years), actor with The Drilling Company’s Shakespeare in the Parking Lot and Bryant Park (10+ years).
A proud recipient of Haiti Cultural Exchange’s 2023 LakouNOU Artist Residency Grant, Puppet Showplace Theater’s 2023 Creative Residency for Black Puppeteers Grant, and the Jim Henson Foundation’s 2024 Family Grant. The summer of 2025, He studied ancient traditional theater forms in India, Japan, and Greece with One Year Lease’s International Performance Residency, and is a proud recipient of the 2026 New York State Council of the Arts Grant.
Most recently, He earned the inaugural “Hand of Fate” award, with “5-out-of-5 kitties” reviews, performing his acclaimed solo-show “The Choose Your Own Adventures of Turtle Boy” at the Minnesota Fringe Festival last August. He also looks forward to being a keynote speaker on marionette puppetry at a Duke University symposium in April 2027. @sword.of.elpenord
KAHBIA-ASAAJ SADA (Performer)
Kahbia-Asaaj Sada is a multidisciplinary artist and performer from central Florida currently based in Los Angeles. Kahbia Sada creates art and stories through puppetry, embroidery and paper mache pieces that connect her Haitian heritage with childlike wonder. As a first generation Haitian American, Sada crafts a space to explore the obscurity of puppetry and the folklores that have built the foundation of African fairy tales. She heavily believes in the power of black joy and working to inspire the youth is at the center of her narratives. Kahbia seeks to preserve traditional skills and hand craftsmanship that have been passed down by her grandmothers that encourage patience, resourcefulness and the magic of one creating with their hands. Sada blends the colors and the vibrancy of a child’s world while looking through the experiences and lens of an adult.
THE BOXCUTTER COLLECTIVE
The Boxcutter Collective is made up of four core members who bonded over their shared passion for waving things around and pretending that the things are talking. This is called “puppetry,” and it is a highly respected art form in every culture except this one. Like all good stories, this one begins on a farm in rural Vermont, specifically the one that houses the world famous (except in this country) Bread & Puppet Theater. This is where the members of the Boxcutter Collective first met. First Sam met Jason. Then Jason met Joe. Before long Tom entered the picture, and soon everyone was met. Each member of the group brings a unique skill, each useless on its own, but taken together forming what can only be described as something undeniably existent.
Titles of their work include, but are not limited to:
Everything is Fine! A Children’s Show for Scared Adults Living in a Scary World
Caveman Ballet
The Possession of Judy
The Exploding Electric Bath
The Whoopsy Daisy Circus
The History of Laughter
Bing Bong: A Strange Ritual for You and Your Loved Ones
The Divinity Supply Company
They have performed at the Jalopy Theatre, Sideshows by the Seashore, Rubulad, LaMama Experimental Theater Club, Henson Carriage House, The Detroit Institute of the Arts, The University of Connecticut and other places.
COVID-19 policy: In guidance with the city and state COVID-19 policies, we will no longer be requiring masks, but strongly recommend them.