The Park Performance Series

Braman Arts presents a series of free outdoor theatrical performances in the summer at Tompkins Square Park, New York City. Presented in the evening under theatrical lighting, the performances transform familiar public spaces into intimate environments of light, shadow, movement, and imagination.

The series features Teatro del Momento, an evolving collection of avant-garde, experimental theatre works combining physical performance, visual imagery, puppetry, character, and absurdist humor to create compact theatrical worlds. Drawing on traditions of street theatre, commedia dell'arte, and contemporary experimental performance, the works explore unconventional approaches to storytelling and the relationship between performer, audience, and environment.

Each approximately 30-minute performance is conceived as a distinct theatrical experience. The informal setting allows audiences to gather, observe, and encounter unexpected moments of theatre within the everyday life of the park.

The series currently features two original works, Urbano's Circus and La Schiuma, with additional performances in development.

La Schiuma

La Schiuma (The Foam) is an experimental work of visual and physical theatre in which sculptural figures made from hundreds of small foam pieces become mysterious, animated beings. Moving through public spaces, these unusual characters transform familiar surroundings into landscapes of curiosity, humor, and imagination.

Blurring the boundaries between sculpture, puppetry, and performance, La Schiuma invites audiences to encounter a world where ordinary materials take on an extraordinary life.

Urbano’s Circus

Urbano’s Circus is an eccentric miniature circus populated by an unlikely company of puppets constructed from discarded objects, trash, and everyday materials. Under the direction of its unconventional ringmaster, these cast-off objects acquire personalities, ambitions, and a theatrical life of their own.

Drawing on traditions of street theatre, clowning, and commedia dell’arte, the production combines puppetry, physical comedy, improvisation, and audience interaction. With humor, absurdity, and a touch of anarchy, Urbano’s Circus transforms what society throws away into a celebration of imagination and theatrical invention.