Conceived and curated by Edward Einhorn
Game design: Edward Einhorn and Gyda Arber

An economic vaudeville, a multi-disciplinary experiment to discover whether economic ideas can be represented through performance.  Every night is a new set of acts, set in a framework of economic games.

ORIGINALLY PERFORMED:

March 20 - April 11, 2015
HERE Arts Center
145 6th Ave

Conceived and curated by Edward Einhorn
Game design: Edward Einhorn and Gyda Arber
Assistant producer: Patrice Miller
Stage manager: Berit Johnson
Set design: Christopher Heilman
Lighting design: Jeff Nash
Video design: Gil Sperling
Costume consultant and design: Natalie Loveland
Sound engineering and design: Travis Wright
Concessions manager: Corinne Woods
Assistants: Lindsay Carter, Angelica Sumner
Intern: Taylor Steele

Hosted by Mick O'Brien

Partcipants: Hannah Allen, Tessa Allen, Gyda Arber, Kevin Augustine, Tatiana Baccari, Fred Backus, Ric Becker, Lynn Berg, Magic Brian, Chris Chapell, Audrey Crabtree, Nic Cory, Maria Dessena, Michael Fanelli, Avner Finberg, David Hanson, Jennifer Harder, Daniela Hart, Laura Hartle, Ian W. Hill, Marty Isenberg, Dorothy James, Charlie Kanev, Tanya Khordoc, Liz Kimball, Jonathan Kline, Ted Malawer, Daniel McKleinfeld, Patrice Miller, Tricia Milnamow  Jenny Lee Mitchell, Ken Monahan, Jody Oberfelder, Eric Oleson, Felipe Ossa, Carolyn Raship, Joey Revier, Dina Rose Rivera, Jonathan Roberts, Russ Roberts, Mac Rogers, Melissa Roth, Trav SD, Stephen Sposito, Moira Stone, Barry Weil, Jenny Rachel Weiner, Stephanie Willing, Corinne Woods. Emily Clare Zempel, Steve Zimmer

Money Lab is an economic vaudeville, a multi-disciplinary experiment to discover whether economic ideas can be represented through performance. It uses a mixture of theater, dance, video, cabaret, opera, puppetry, clowning  and games in order to explore everything from the gold standard, to the 2008 stock market collapse, to the theories of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Arthur Laffer, and Elinor Ostrom, to the intersections of economics and art. Developed with the help of a crew of artists  and economists, this project will culminate month long run at HERE Arts Center.

Among the elements presented during the evening will be audience participatory games based on economic behavioral experiments, including auctions, The Dictator Game, and The Ultimatum Game, developed with the help of Game Play curator Gyda Arber and economist Rosemarie Nagel;

Rotating Acts:

The Alchemist, or Spinning Shit into Gold – Ten Directions 
A bouffon act. Graspy McTakeItAll finds a book of Alchemy and discovers how the value of gold—and shit—is determined.
Written and directed by Lynn Berg and Audrey Crabtree.  With Audrey Crabtree.

The Art of Getting Money, by PT Barnum – Trav SD
Barnum explains his theories on entrepreneurship.
Directed by Carolyn Raship, with Trav SD

Adam Smith and Wonder Bread – Russ Roberts
Economist Russ Roberts plays Adam Smith, who finds wonder in the way the invisible hand kneads 21st century bread.

Dead Cat Bounce – Patrice Miller
A dance to the jargon of 2008 collapse
With Laura Hartle, Stephanie Willing, and Dina Rose Rivera.

The Fed – Steve Zimmer
Storyteller and former economist Steve Zimmer provides story about the Fed

Free Dance – Jody Oberfelder
An interactive dance about the nature of free

The God Projekt: Tithing – Lone Wolf Tribe 
A puppet play dealing with the idea of religious tithing
Written and directed by Kevin Augustine and Edward Einhorn
(a satellite scene of the larger show, The God Projekt)
With Kevin Augustine, Edward Einhorn, Charlie Kanev, & Dorothy Loechel, Voice: Jason Harris

Greenspan, the Antique Man – Michael Fanelli
Alan Greenspan defines the difference between money and worth
Directed by Eric Oleson

I’m Bullish – Jonathon Roberts and Emily Clare Zempel
Tap dancing production number about stock market theory.
With Jennifer Harder, Joey Revier

Journey to Yap – Edward Einhorn and Chris Chappell
An interactive audio drama about a journey to a place where stones are money
Sound: Chris Chappell, Voice: Ian W. Hill

Laffer’s Last Laugh - Dave Hanson
The Amazing Laffer, economist extraordinaire, explains trickle down.
With Fred Backus

Layaway - Trica Milnamow
Tricia Milnamow, storyteller, recounts her experiences with layaways

The Lebanon Story – Ken Monahan
A personal story about an economic deal in Lebanon

Letters to Engels – Avner Finberg & Edward Einhorn
A short solo opera. Marx sings three of his letters to Engels.
With Jonathan Kline, Maria Dessena (piano)

Love und Greed (An Economic Collapse Cabaret) – Mad Jenny und Ensemble
An international array of songs written in difficult financial times
With Jenny Lee Mitchell, Ric Becker (trombone), Maria Dessena (piano), Marty Isenberg (bass)

Magic act – Magic  Brian
A five card monte, of sorts, frameworked by questions about gambling and the stock market

Meat Market - Tatiana Baccari, Hannah Allen
A dance theater examination of commoditization, competition, desire, manipulation, and the female body.
With Tessa Allen and Tatiana Baccari 

The Money Atheist – Edward Einhorn
Monologue on the origin of money, in a futuristic world of the Money Church.
With Moira Stone

Rational Choice – Mac Rogers
A monologue from Mac Rogers about a financial/romantic interaction, looking at how human emotions can hide behind the façade of numbers.
Directed by Patrice Miller, with Melissa Roth

Tragedy of the Commons – Ted Malawer
A sketch about a retirement home in Miami, Sheryl Crow, and the economic theories of Garett Hardin and Elinor Ostrom
Directed by Stephen Sposito, With Nic Cory, Liz Kimball, Jenny Rachel Wiener

Ultimate Stimulus – Felipe Ossa
A satirical talk by renegade economist Amanda McCloud, who advocates concubinage as a solution to economic inequality.
Directed by Daniela Hart,

The Wizard of Ounces – Evolve Company
A toy theater puppet piece about the gold standard and the Wizard of Oz
Directed and performed by Tanya Khordoc & Barry Weil

Upon entering, audience members will be required to purchase five dollars worth of tokens that they will used in the games during the evening.  Red and blue tokens will representing the conflicting economies of food vs. flowers, aka basic needs vs. beauty/art.  The results of the games will change the value of the tokens during the course of the evening, and the fluctuating exchange rates will be posted throughout.  One central question of the evening is: how do we value art, and can it be measured on an economic scale.

READ THE RESULTS OF OUR MONEY LAB SURVEY!

Read the article in HowlRound

Read the Director’s Note

Listen to a sample of Money Lab on Clocktower Radio

Originally workshopped at:

August 7 - 10, 2013
The Brick
575 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY

Conceived by Edward Einhorn

Hosted by Clive Dobbs.  
Performers include Emily Alpren, Kayla Eisenberg, Laura Hartle, Ian Hill, Jenna Purcell, Ruri Saito, Stephanie Willing, and Michael Whitney.  
Lights by Ian W. Hill.  
Costumes by Jana Fronczek.  
Stage managed by Berit Johnson.  
Assisted by Amy Melissa Bentley and Corinne Woods.