Join The Catastrophic Theatre for the World Premiere of MISS LARAJ’S HOUSE OF DYSTOPIAN FUTURES by Candice D’Meza. Directed by Candice D’Meza and T Lavois Thiebaud. In a world where civilization and the environment that birthed it has been decimated by myriad human-made cruelties, the question remains: will humans ever learn? In this post-apocalyptic riff on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” Fred’s long since gone and Nature itself is now the main character. Enter Miss LaRaj—our wise and wisecracking MUTHA of the New World Order. Talking trees, judgmental rocks, all natural forces sing and move, attempting to guide humankind back to true symbiosis. And what better way to learn than from a kids’ show? What are humans anyway if not the petulant children of this planet? What if we used our imaginations? “D’Meza [is] one of the most interesting writer-director-actors living and working in Houston’s theater community.” – Houston CityBook D’Meza’s last collaboration with Catastrophic was 2023’s world premiere of A Maroon’s Guide to Time and Space, which The Houston Chronicle called “a marvel of Afrofuturism” and The Houston Press hailed as “a reclaiming of ancestral time.” MISS LARAJ’S HOUSE OF DYSTOPIAN FUTURES is conceived by Candice D’Meza and co-directed by D’Meza and T Lavois Thiebaud. The production’s powerhouse design team is spearheaded by Afsaneh Aayani (set) and James Templeton (video). The cast features Dillon DeWitt, Indigo Dewdrop Ghonima, Jet Tettey, Brandon McCormick, Magdalen Vaughn, and Abraham Zeus Zapata, with voice and a digital appearance by D’Meza herself. About Candice D’Meza Candice D’Meza is an African American-Haitian Queer Mother of three and Spiritist whose artistic body of work spans theatre, performance, various literary genres, activism, dance, critical pedagogy, ritual, social practice, and documentary, experimental, and short films. D’Meza uses the textures of grief, the world building of science fiction, Afrofuturism, and fantasy, along with the spiritual technologies of African and Diasporic African cosmologies to create work has been featured, published, performed, screened, and archived at institutions across the nation.
