As dusk settles over the Catskill hills, The Party Theater invites you back into the woods for our 5th annual Microcosm: LORE—one night only. A lantern-lit trail leads you through pasture, barn, and pond’s edge, where twelve local artists have hidden new works across dance, theater, music, puppetry, film and more. Step into a landscape transformed by folk-rock ghost stories from the legend of Rip Van Winkle, field recordings of frogs gathered from Brazil to Vancouver, rising into a choral soundscape, watch dancers and live musicians spin the myth of Arachne into a web that never stops weaving. Along the way: Czech folklore rendered in projection and shadow, a dance duet staged in goldenrod, Victorian poetry reborn as movement, and more. Each piece is glimpsed once, then gone, but together they build a microcosm.
2026 Microcosm artists are Clare Bierman, Djahari Clark, Sarah France, David Kamm, Ilona Kohlova, Joanna Mendl-Shaw, Rhea Nowak, Jami Reimer, Shane Perry, Mikey Rosenbaum, Rod Sauquillo and Glenna Yu. Program director is Adrian Shirk, with producers Kristin “Kiki” McCalley and Marisa Caruso. Lighting design by Moonstar Lighting. Audio environments by E.C. Hooper. Bonfire, food and festivities follow until 9:00pm.
*Please note that a fair amount of walking on occasionally uneven ground is necessary to view most of the performances.*
