OUT AT SEA

Santa Fe’s acclaimed physical theater ensemble, Theater Grottesco, presents Sławomir Mrożek’s Out at Sea in May 2026 at Teatro Paraguas. Directed by committee with Danielle Louise Reddick and other Grottesco ensemble members, this absurdist comedy plunges audiences into a darkly comic struggle for survival as three castaways drift between desperation and diplomacy on a makeshift raft. The ensemble features TG founding Artistic Director John Flax, Company Member Koppány Pusztai, and new to the ensemble, is award winning puppeteer Kalob Martinez. The play runs May 14 - 31, 2026 at Teatro Paraguas’ Second Space in Santa Fe, NM.

 

About Out at Sea: In Sławomir Mrożek’s Out at Sea (1962) , three men are stranded at sea, out of food and negotiating which of them should be eaten. What follows is a series of votes, speeches and procedural debates as they attempt to reach a “fair” decision. The play is a satirical look at power, persuasion and the fragile logic of civilized systems under pressure.

Sławomir Mrożek (1930–2013) was a prominent Polish playwright and writer widely regarded as a major voice of the Theater of the Absurd and post-absurdist drama in the world of Beckett, Genet and Ionesco. Born in Borzęcin, Poland, he began his career writing satirical sketches and short stories, including the acclaimed collections The Elephant and The Ugupu Bird, which humorously skewered bureaucracy and reflected the political tensions of postwar Poland.
 

His international breakthrough came with Tango, a landmark play examining order, rebellion and generational conflict as a mirror of broader social upheaval. Across his body of work, Mrożek fused surrealism with sharp realism, using irony and absurdity to critique authoritarian systems, conformity and human behavior. Today, Mrożek remains an influential figure in modern theater, celebrated for his incisive wit and enduring insight into the fragile structures that govern society.
 

About Theater Grottesco: Founded in Paris in 1983, Theater Grottesco is known internationally for visual and explosive physical productions. The Grottesco Ensemble rekindles interest in live performance by juxtaposing classical and modern theatrical styles with daring, poetic research of culture and imagination, giving voice to marginal elements of our contemporary society, and taking audiences to the brink of emotional wonder and soulful reflection. Theater Grottesco is celebrating its 30th year in Santa Fe and is a 2017 award winner of the National Theater Program. Find more information at www.theatergrottesco.org. 

The Cast and Creative Team:
JOHN FLAX  is a co-founder of Theater Grottesco. He has worked with the Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis and Paris, The Paris Circus, London’s Theatre Complicite, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Choreographer Della Davidson, the Sundance Playwriting Laboratory, the Out of Context Orchestra, the Sevda Balkan Choir and most recently in Godfrey Reggio’s latest film: Once Within a Time. Flax has taught at theaters and colleges internationally along with 8 years as a National Endowment for the Arts artist-in-the-schools. He is a graduate of the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris where he also studied with Phillipe Gaulier. He holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Prescott College and an ABD Ed.D in Anthropology and Philosophy.

KALOB MARTINEZ is an actor, puppeteer, fight choreographer, director, and voice artist from Houston, Texas. He earned his MFA in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut, where he created El Beto, a solo adaptation of Macbeth supported by the Jim Henson Foundation that reimagined Shakespeare through the lens of contemporary cartel culture. A founding member of Classical Theatre Company in Houston, he has worked with the Alley Theatre (Peter Pan, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Seagull and the World Premiere of Ether Dome.) and Houston Grand Opera as a performer and fight choreographer. Regional credits include Hartford Stage (The Comedy of Errors, dir. Darko Tresnjak) and Sandglass Theater’s Babylon: A Journey of Refugees. His voiceover work includes English-language anime dubs for Sony, Seraphim Digital and ADV Films (Halo: Legends, Guin Saga and Parasyte the maxim). His practice fuses classical rigor, physical storytelling, and puppetry to fracture and rebuild canonical texts for contemporary audiences.

KOPPANY PUSZTAI is a Hungarian-born actor working across stage and screen. A recipient of the Robert Redford-Milagro Scholarship, he earned his BFA in theater at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Since joining Theater Grottesco in 2018, he has contributed to seven devised works. Recent stage appearances include Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me with Tri-M Productions; Eden Prairie, 1971 at the New Mexico Actors Lab; A Year with Frog and Toad, Everybody and Fun Home at the Santa Fe Playhouse. On screen, Koppány recently made his Hallmark Channel debut in the feature film Love in the Clouds as Carlos, and has appeared in television series including the CW’s Roswell, New Mexico and Netflix’s Obliterated. Koppány is represented by the O’Agency and is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA.

DANIELLE LOUISE REDDICK (Director) is an actor, theater-maker, and somatic movement practitioner. While working as an off-off-Broadway performance artist in New York City, Danielle expanded her artistic skills to include percussion, puppetry, and sculpture. Following this, she spent four years touring as a company member with STOMP before moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In Santa Fe, Danielle became a certified fitness instructor and hypnotherapist, and also completed training in the Feldenkrais Method and the Nia Technique. After a decade of teaching group fitness, she developed her own somatic practice called SoHyp, with classes scheduled to resume in June. Danielle is a proud member of SAG/AFTRA and holds a BFA in theater from the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, as well as an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. Her recent stage credits include the role of “Cynthia” in the play SWEAT at the Santa Fe Playhouse, performing with the ensemble cast of JQA at the New Mexico Actor’s Lab, and being part of 2 Artists in Prison and Action at a Distance  with Theater Grottesco.

Accessibility: Theater Grottesco is committed to making its performances accessible to all members of the community. As part of this commitment, the company offers pay-what-you-are-able performances for a quarter of all showings – every Thursday.