Starring the comic superstar star of the traditional European puppet theater, as a luckless “Fresh off the Boat” immigrant, bitten hard by a materialistic distortion of the American Dream, Kasper as a Banana, is a unique piece of contemporary “object theater.” Using found objects, food items and kitchen utensils, this high energy table-top production careens between visual slapstick and compelling “docu-theater” concerning the tragic fate of The Golden Adventure (a ship crammed with illegal immigrants from China which ran aground off New York City in 1993.) Rowdy and entertaining enough for kids, it nevertheless raises important issues of social displacement and powerlessness that are common to every immigrant community newly arrived on American shores.
Kasper as Banana debuted in 1993 and has since been performed at venues including Bread and Puppet Theater (VT), and Performance Space 122 (NYC).