Theatre

Nov 21—23, 2025

SpaceBridge

Visual Echo & Irina Kruzhilina / from USA & Russia

“One of the most moving theatre works I’ve ever witnessed.”

— Carol Rocamora, American Theatre Magazine

Immigration stories you MUST hear!

Following its acclaimed New York premiere, the groundbreaking and deeply moving SpaceBridge comes to Boston! In this singular production, Russian refugee children—who fled to the U.S. with their families for opposing the war in Ukraine and now reside in NYC shelters—join forces with their American-born peers to imagine a more welcoming world where new friendships can truly take root.

They are joined on stage by acclaimed actor Ellen Lauren (SITI Company) as Samantha Smith, who in 1983 at the age of 10 wrote a letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov pleading for peace. Invited to visit the Soviet Union in response, she became famously known as “America’s Youngest Ambassador” and was interviewed by everyone from Ted Koppel to Johnny Carson. Smith tragically died in 1985 at the age of 13, but in SpaceBridge she is brought back to life as an adult who continues the dialogue she began as a child.

The title SpaceBridge refers to the “satellite-mediated citizens’ debates”, also known as “spacebridges,” between the U.S. and the USSR, which prompted unfiltered and uncensored conversations between ordinary people from both cultures during the Cold War.

Created by Irina Kruzhilina, this delightful, moving, one-of-a-kind piece of documentary theater centers the stories of children we seldom consider: Russian youth affected by the war in Ukraine. Supported by award-winning Broadway designers such as Peter Nigrini (Dear Even Hansen, Fela!) and Darron L West (Cult of Love, Jitney), SpaceBridge follows the true stories of these children’s efforts to integrate into American society where they often encounter suspicion, bullying, and a lack of empathy.

SpaceBridge was originally presented by La MaMa ETC in association with En Garde Arts and Visual Echo, as part of the Under the Radar Festival in NYC.

Info

Venue

Robert J. Orchard Stage,
Emerson Paramount Center
559 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

Dates

Nov 21, 2025 - Nov 23, 2025

PACKAGES

TICKETS

GROUPS

Details

95 mins

Ages 12+

SpaceBridge is primarily in English with some portions in Russian. English subtitles are provided for any sections spoken in Russian.

Access

Open Captioned Show
Sat, Nov 22 2:00 pm

ASL Interpreted Show
Sat, Nov 22 8:00 pm

Audio Described Show
Sun, Nov 23 2:00 pm

NOTE: OUR PRICES HAVE NOT INCREASED! ALL-IN PRICING is now in effect. In compliance with the H.R.1402 bill , we now list the total price of tickets, with no additional mandatory fees added at checkout.

Performances

Friday, Nov 21, 2025

8:00 PM

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Saturday, Nov 22, 2025

2:00 PM

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Saturday, Nov 22, 2025

8:00 PM

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Sunday, Nov 23, 2025

2:00 PM

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Artist Note

SpaceBridge emerged from a series of storytelling workshops with immigrant and non-immigrant youth which used art and performance to spark dialogue about the realities faced by young refugees in the US.

Support for SpaceBridge has been made possible by a two-year artist residency at La MaMa ETC. The project was commissioned in part by En Garde Arts’ Joan D. Firestone Commissioning Fund and through its Uncommon Voices program and by Creative Engagement—a regrant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by LMCC. Additional institutional support was provided by the David Richenthal Foundation and the Leon Lowenstein Foundation.

Educational partnerships include the Stella Adler Center for the Arts and the New School of Drama.

Companies

Visual Echo, La MaMa & En Garde Arts

Visual Echo

Visual Echo is a New York–based multidisciplinary performance organization founded by a collective of immigrant artists and educators. Rooted in our cross-cultural experiences, we create bold, socially engaged performances and educational programs—locally and internationally—that address civic issues such as immigration, polarization, and peacebuilding. We believe in the power of theatre to activate communities, integrate the marginalized, and foster healing. Our work sparks dialogue and dismantles barriers between people of all backgrounds by bringing them together in new and unexpected ways.

La MaMa

La MaMa builds audiences that are integral to the creative process. Our local and global community members who gather in our physical, digital, and hybrid spaces to see new work, are often the first audience for that work. The audience response helps to shape the evolution of the piece for the artist, and is an essential part of the creative ecosystem that La MaMa nurtures. La MaMa believes art is a force for change. Violence, discrimination, and systemic racism will not stop without a unified resistance.

En Garde Arts

En Garde Arts is the award-winning pioneer of New York City’s site-specific theatre movement. En Garde has a rich, impactful history of using the city as our stage to create, produce and present bold theatrical experiences that reach across artistic, physical and social boundaries. It has a significant legacy of producing ground breaking productions by Anne Bogart, Chuck Mee, Tina Landau, Reza Abdoh, Jonathan Larson and Mac Wellman, among others.

Conceived and directed by:

Irina Kruzhilina

Written by:

Irina Kruzhilina and Clark Young

Projection designer:

Peter Nigrini

Associate projection designer:

Zoey Crow

Lighting designer:

Brian H Scott

Sound designers:

Darron L West and Sophie Yuqing Nie

Cinematographer:

Aleksei Postnikov

Choreographers:

Laura Peterson and Robbie Simpson

Composer:

Ian Miller

Voice / Speech coach:

Alba Quezada

Props artists:

Moira Zhang, Jacqueline Brockel, and Noyu Ueda

Puppet designers:

Yuliya Tsukerman and Nick Lehane

Assistant directors:

Anamaria Willars and Colin Wilson

Stage Manager:

Berit Johnson

Production Manager:

Thijs Beuming

Assistant Coordinator:

Irisdelia Garcia

DEVISING ASSISTANTS:

Lars Montanaro, Pau Zabaleta Llauger, and Rodrigo Pocidonio Silva

Cast

Ellen Lauren as Samantha Smith

SpaceBridge ensemble:

Alisa Shaverdova, Anastasia Skorobogach, Anna Skorobogach, Arina Skorobogach, Artem Skorobogach, Leon Ladia, Lily Borzenko, Mark Savin, Mars Markelov, Sasha Boikova, Sonia Tsatskina, Adele Nigrini, Alexis Edel, Drake Malave, Henry MacDowell, Isaac Stinson, Maisie Pickar, Nate Hatter, Sabine Gutenberg, Silas MacLean and Zora Graves

Irina Kruzhilina

Irina Kruzhilina (director and co-writer) is the creator, director, co-writer, scenic designer, and co-producer of SpaceBridge, which she began developing in the winter of 2022, immediately following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She creates work at the intersection of visual art, live performance, and civic engagement, ranging from interdisciplinary downtown theatre to large-scale parades, opera, and site-responsive installations. Her work has been presented at Times Square, Tokyo, Disney, BAM, the Prague National Theatre, the New York Philharmonic, and the Barbican Centre. Irina is the founder of Visual Echo, a New York-based performance organization that sparks dialogue and dismantles barriers between people of different backgrounds by bringing them together in new and unexpected ways. She is also an assistant professor at The New School of Drama, where she co-developed the MFA in Contemporary Theatre and Performance. Irina is a resident artist at La MaMa, the recipient of En Garde Arts’ 2024 Joan D. Firestone Fund Award and Boston’s 2024 Elliot Norton Award.

Ellen Laure

Ellen Lauren (performer) began working with SpaceBridge October 2023. Founding member/co-artistic director SITI Company (NYC) 30 years. Suzuki Company of Toga member (Japan) 40 years. Faculty Juilliard School 32 years. New York credits include BAM (Harvey, Howard Gilman, Fisher), CSC, NYTW, Joyce, Miller, NY City Opera, Westbeth, NJPAC, West Bank, Abington, La MaMa (Evelyn Brown; A Diary), Public, Women’s Project, Skirball, Guggenheim Museum. TCG Fox Fellowship Distinguished Achievement, NYCO’s Kosovar Award, Juilliard’s John Erskine Faculty Prize and Presidential Medal. She has performed and taught at over 350 festivals, arts centers, and universities around the world. Published in American Theater; Scott Cummings’ Actors’ Actors on Ms. Lauren’s career and practice; currently working on a book, The Invisible Body.

Clark Young

Clark Young (co-writer) would like to thank each member of the SpaceBridge family for their friendship and for sharing their stories. He is the co-author of Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski (NYT Critic’s Pick) and its film adaptation Remember This (PBS Great Performances). A publication of the play features essays from Madeleine Albright and Samantha Power. His work has been translated into over six languages and performed around the world.

Peter Nigrini

Peter Nigrini (projection designer) is one of Broadways pioneering projection designers. His work includes Hell’s Kitchen, Tommy, Here Lies Love, MJ, Beetlejuice, Dear Evan Hansen, The SpongeBob Musical, A Doll’s House Part 2, and Fela! In other venues and forms including Ground (Public Theater), Lucia de Lammermoor and Don Giovani (Santa Fe Opera), Hans Zimmer Live, The Grace Jones Hurricane Tour, and Deep Blue Sea for Bill T, Jones/Arnie Zane Dance.

Zoey Crow

Zoey Crow (associate projection designer) is a New York based projection designer who works with images and visuals to build worlds and tell stories. Her recent assistant and animator credits include Tammy Faye (Broadway), Hell’s Kitchen (The Public Theater and Broadway), MJ: The Musical (1st National Tour, West End, and Germany), and Here Lies Love (Broadway). Zoey has a BA in theatre from Arizona State University and an MFA in Design and Technology with a focus in Integrated Media for Live Performance from The University of Texas in Austin.

Aleksei Postnikov

Aleksei Postnikov (cinematographer) As do many SpaceBridge actors, Aleksei Postnikov went through the process of obtaining political asylum. Back in Russia, he was a political journalist at an independent radio station Echo of Moscow. In 2017, he joined Navalny’s presidential campaign as a videographer. Aleksei immigrated to the United States in 2018. He started his filmmaking career working within the NYC music scene. He also was the Director of photography in several independent projects. For him, SpaceBridge is not only a professional challenge but a new way to give back to the Russian-speaking community.

Brian H Scott

Brian H Scott(lighting designer) is a lighting designer based in New York City, recently designed The Handmaids Tale with Anne Bogart and Boston Lyric Opera, the theatre is a blank page with SITI Company and Ann Hamilton and Lost In The Stars for LA Chamber Orchestra, Falling and Loving with Elizabeth Streb and SITI Company as well as a number of projects with Kronos Quartet. He created lighting for Tears become…Streams become, Bound to Hurt and Neck of the Woods with artist Douglas Gordon. With Ann Hamilton habitus, The Event Of A Thread. He designed lighting for Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet’s Landfall. As a SITI Company member he designed lighting for Chess Match No.5, Steel Hammer with Bang on a Can All Stars, American Document with Martha Graham Dancers, bobrauschenbergamerica, The Bacchae, Trojan Women, and many others.

Berit Johnson

Berit Johnson (production stage manager) has been working in Indie Theater in NYC since 1996 as a stage manager and prop designer. They are a member of Untitled Theater Company #61, and co-director of Gemini CollisionWorks with their partner, Ian W. Hill.

Darron L West

Darron L West (sound designer) is a TONY and OBIE award-winning sound designer whose 30 year career spans theater and dance, Broadway and Off Broadway. His work has been heard in over 600 productions all over the United States and internationally in 15 countries. Additional honors include the Drama Desk, Lortel, Audelco and Princess Grace Foundation Statue Award, among many others. Thirty year company member designing the productions of Anne Bogart’s SITI company. His soundscapes for Photograph 51, Paradise Blue and Coal Country can be heard on Audible.

Sophie Yuqing Nie

Sophie Yuqing Nie (sound designer) is a sound designer, artist, and audio engineer. A graduate of New York University’s Master of Music program in Music Technology, her work spans theatre, dance, concerts, conferences, and installations. Blending aesthetic sensitivity with technical expertise, she crafts captivating sonic experiences that forge emotional connections and inspire. Recent credits include: Piano 360 Concert featuring Marilyn Nonken, The Alchemist’s Veil featuring Maureen Fleming, Existentialism (Created by Anne Bogart and Talking Band), Big Trip (Krymov Lab NYC).

Laura Peterson

Laura Peterson (choreographer) is a choreographer and Artistic Director of Open Arts Studio in Brooklyn. Peterson’s performance and large scale paintings were included in the MoMA exhibition Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done at the Judson Dance Theater Reassembled event. Her dances have been performed at The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Stage, and internationally. Awards include NYSCA’s Choreography Commission, Brooklyn Arts Council, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Queens Museum, Greenwall Foundation, and others. Residency awards include HERE Arts. Bogliasco Foundation, Marble House Project, et AL. She is very honored to work with Irina Kruzhilina on SpaceBridge.

Alba Quezada

Alba Quezada (voice/ speech coach) has performed in operas, musicals, and on the concert stage throughout the US and in Europe, including on Broadway in Phantom of the Opera, Houston Grand Opera, BAM, American Repertory Theater, and at Lincoln Center. Ms. Quezada is featured singing the music of Carlos Chavez on the Grammy-nominated recording, Exágonos, 2005. Ms. Quezada has taught singing, voice and speech for over 24 years at the New School for Drama and is a recipient of the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She has worked in television, radio, and film including YES, GIORGIO! with Luciano Pavarotti.

Moira Zhang

Moira Zhang (lead props artist) is a conceptual artist, visual designer, writer and performer based in New York City. Moira is the visual Designer for 24 Set of Seasons (2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Video), Chengdu Hot Lolita City Promotional Film (shortlisted in Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and 2023 SAIFF Stars Globe). Currently Moira is a MFA student in the New School Performing Arts Contemporary Theater Program.

Jacqueline Brockel

Jacqueline Brockel (props artist) is a designer and fabricator of props and environments. Recent works include… :PROPS DESIGN: Push Party (The Hearth), Scaredy Kat Presents (Westport Playhouse Mobile Unit), Pericles (Target Margin Theater), Antelope Party (Dutch Kills Theater) :ASSOCIATE DESIGN: Terce (Prototype festival @ HERE) Other Orbits (Applied Mechanics), 1001 Arabian Nights (Target Margin Theater), Scarlet Night (Virgin Voyages), Remarkable Productions :ART DIRECTION: Amityville: An Origin Story (B17 Productions, MGM+), Take it Away Cheryl (Edinburgh Fringe Festival).

Noyu Ueda

Noyu Ueda (props artist) is a playwright, lyricist, director, translator, and visual artist. They co-founded Theatre Unit QD in Tokyo, Japan with actor and composer Elly Katayama. Together, the two create original plays and musicals. Born and raised in Japan, Noyu currently resides in New York City. Noyu believes in the value of the interaction between a story and the space in which it is told. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, they tell stories that question what it means to be “normal” or “right” in society. Recent works include The WALL: The Musical (writer/lyricist/ director) and Pause/Pose (writer/lyricist/director).

Yuliya Tsukerman

Yuliya Tsukerman (puppet designer) is a Brooklyn-based puppeteer and maskmaker working in theater and film. She writes, directs, and builds cross-disciplinary works, often in collaboration with other artists. Her current project, Transmissions from the Ancient Forest, is a series of video poems and accompanying books in which a community of lesser gods tries to make sense of human suffering.

Nick Lehane

Nick Lehane (puppet designer) is a theater maker, actor and puppet artist. Original Work: Chimpanzee (HERE, Barbican Centre); Fly Away (co-created with Derek Fordjour, Petzel Gallery); TiQ’s Nosferatu, a 3D Symphony of Horror (created with Joshua Gelb and Normandy Sherwood / NYU Skirball). Performance: This is Our Youth (Broadway); Fidelis (The Public); Robin Frohardt’s The Plastic Bag Store and The Pigeoning (HERE); Petrushka (Giants Are Small). Puppet Design: PigPen’s The Tale of Despereaux (Old Globe, Berkeley Rep with Lydia Fine); Three Sisters (Two River with Emma Wiseman); Hood (Asolo Rep). Puppeteer/puppet director for Alex Da Corte’s ROY G BIV. Krymov Lab NYC.

Max Mooney

Max Mooney (stage manager) is a Queer playwright, director, stage manager, producer, dramaturg and theatre educator who works primarily in New York City and the greater Philadelphia area. Max graduated from NYU Tisch’s Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, studying directing and playwriting. Currently, Max is the Director of Programming at Sanguine Theater in Brooklyn and the Associate Producer at Concrete Temple Theatre.

Thijs Beuming

Thijs Beuming (production manager) is a New York-based multidisciplinary scientist and artist. When he is not making theater, he works with computer science to facilitate the discovery of new therapeutics. He is co-founder and managing director of Visual Echo. He has worked on SpaceBridge from the winter of 2022.

Sara Stackhouse

Sara Stackhouse (consulting producer) is producing director of Arlekin Players Theatre. Executive producer of Our Class, The Orchard, Just Tell No One, The Merchant of Venice, The Dybbuk (all directed by Igor Golyak), and The Gaaga by Sasha Denisova. Producer of virtual sensations WITNESS, chekhovOS, and The State vs Natasha Banina, receiving New York Times Critics Picks. She is founder of The Mama Project, an intercultural project for women in South Africa. She was project manager for cellist Yo-Yo Ma, executive producer of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, then chair of theater at Boston Conservatory. “Inspiration Award” from Boston’s Social Innovation Forum.

Anamaría Willars

Anamaría Willars (assistant director) is a Mexican actress, writer, director, and singer-songwriter based in New York City. She obtained an MFA in Contemporary Theater and Performance with a minor in Media Studies at The New School. Anamaria holds a BFA in Theater Performance from Mexico, where she performed, devised, and assistant-produced and directed numerous theatrical works and was a member of the Representative Theater Group. She also holds a certificate from NYU Tisch Drama and in 2023, was awarded a Fellowship from Let’s Be Spoken. Anamaria’s work often explores sociopolitical issues and the coexistence of vulnerability and joy.

Colin Hirsch Wilson

Colin Hirsch Wilson (assistant director) is an NYC based Theater Creator, focusing on bringing Joy, Wonder, Sci-Fi and Fantasy to the stage. He brings his experiences with Shakespeare and Musical Theater, his time as an arts educator, and love of Dungeons and Dragons to every project. Colin’s goal is to create theater with a sense of adventure that provokes audiences to further commit to the causes they believe in. He has earned a dual BA in theater and education from Manhattanville College, and an MFA in directing from the NewSchool. Directing credits include; Forest Defense, UrineTown the musical, and Romeo and Juliet.

Irisdelia Garcia

Irisdelia Garcia (assistant coordinator) is an interdisciplinary Nuyorican artist and educator. Affiliations and residencies include La Pocha Nostra, Pink Fang, EMERGENYC, The Wax Factory, GALLIM, MANCC, The New School, and Amherst College. She holds a BA in English (summa) from Amherst College, a certificate of Multicultural Theatre from The Five College Consortium, and an MFA in Contemporary Theatre and Performance from The New School with a minor in Community Development. Garcia is now pursuing an MS.Ed. in Educational Theatre at the City College of New York. Current teaching appointments include Lincoln Center Theatre, Theater Development Fund, and Pink Fang.

Ian Miller

Ian Miller (Five Below song composer) is a New York-based music director, pianist, and singer-songwriter. Broadway: Into the Woods, West Side Story, The Music Man, Wicked. Music Director: Caucasian Chalk Circle (Juilliard Drama), Felix Starro (Ma-Yi Theater Company), Little Shop of Horrors (Virginia Theatre Festival). Orchestrator: On This Side of the World (East West Players). Ian is on faculty in the Juilliard Dance Division, and is also the music director of the AHRC “Our Broadway” program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the NYC area. His album of original music, Threshold, is available on all streaming platforms.

Robbie Simpson

Robbie Simpson (musical theatre consultant) is a Manhattan-based director, producer, and actor whose work spans New York City, London, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Chicago, Aspen, and over 75 cities across North America. Robbie is the Director of Creative Development for Midnight Theatricals. Previous positions include Interim Artistic Director of Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Associate Director for the Broadway National Tours of Chicago and A Christmas Story, and Associate Artistic Director of the Cape Playhouse. Robbie is currently the Director of Musical Theater at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, an adjunct professor at NYU, and holds an MFA from the University of San Diego and a BFA from Syracuse University.

Geoff Kanick

Geoff Kanick (magic consultant) is a magician and theatre maker originally from Tacoma, Washington, and now based in NYC. Geoff creates immersive, poetic work that locates the awe-inspiring in the everyday. Select credits: The Conjurors’ Club (Creator/Performer, American Repertory Theater), Drama Desk Award-winning Queen Of The Night (Original Cast/Resident Creative Team, Paramount Hotel), and Das Rheingold (Assoc. Director/Magic Design, Virginia Opera). Geoff is an alum of SDCF’s Observership Program, The Orchard Project Greenhouse, and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Geoff serves as Founding Co-Artistic Director of LubDub Theatre Co. GeoffKanick.com

Christa Kimlicko Jones

Christa Kimlicko Jones (Stella Adler acting and voice trainer) Selected NYC acting credits: Edie Saves the Birds, A Name for a Ghost to Mutter, The Soldier Dreams (Theatre East). The Cherry Orchard, Awake and Sing!, The Seagull, The Whale, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya (Harold Clurman Lab Theatre). Umbrella, Harvest (Alchemy Theatre Company). Teaches at Stella Adler Studio of Acting, NYC. Director, Teen Conservatory & Young Artists Programs/Stella Adler. Associate Artistic Director/Theatre East. Member: V.A.S.T.A., League of Professional Theatre Women, AEA. MFA Acting/University of Texas at Austin. Thank you, Irina! Love & Light. ChristaKJones.com

Pau Zabaleta Llauger

Pau Zabaleta Llauger (devising assistant) is an independent performing artist from Barcelona. He graduated in the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona ‘06 and DAMU in Prague ‘07. Before moving to NYC to study an MFA in Contemporary Theater and Performance he created and performed in shows around Europe, Russia and Mexico. He is interested in creating beautiful universes on stage, visual poetry and dark humor. He is also interested in theater dance, movement and objects theater and delving into film making. He has achieved one of his dreams, living and making theater in NY!

Lars Montanaro

Lars Montanaro (devising assistant and props assistant) is a multi-disciplinary artist from the California mountains. He is a founding member of Chicken Big, an experimental comedy troupe (UCB, iO, Annoyance, Asylum NYC, Brooklyn Comedy Collective), and worked as the director of The Poetry Brothel NYC, an immersive poettheatrical experience. His work has been featured at La MaMa ETC, PhysFest NYC, SF Sketchfest, Chicago iOFest, Oberlin College, The New School & NYU, and he has recently performed and developed projects with HERE Arts Center, En Garde Arts & The Center at West Park. He loves the SpaceBridge kids. Find him at larsmontanaro.com

Rodrigo Pocidônio

Rodrigo Pocidônio (devising assistant) is a Brazilian director, playwright and performer based in NYC. He operates in the expanded field of contemporary theatre and performance in its intersections with new media art and cinema. He is currently enrolled in the Contemporary Theatre and Performance MFA program at The New School.