An homage to the style and spirit of the Great Age of Vaudeville with slapstick comedy, tight harmonies and celestial charades.

​Five versatile players breathe new life into classic old routines from a ventriloquist’s dummy to a magic act that goes awry, from novelty songs and a musical saw to waiters juggling meatballs, all with full live “foley” sound effects. Something for everyone, and family friendly.

​Featuring: Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon. 

​:Happenstance Theater brings old Vaudeville back with POCKET MOXIE! Checkout their website: https://vimeo.com/692283511

The Washington City Paper says, “Happenstance Theater’s ensemble comedy is a gut-busting kind of funny.” The Washington Post describes our work as “visually striking and whimsical without being precious" and calls Happenstance Theater "DC’s leading peddler of whimsy.” 

HAPPENSTANCE THEATER, founded in 2006, is a professional company committed to devising, producing and touring original, performer-created visual, poetic Theatre. Our ensemble has been developing work together since 2012. We are multi-talented performers who craft all aspects of our pieces from concept to realization. Under the Artistic co-Direction of Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell, we harvest imagery from the past and re-contextualize it in performances that address eternal themes of life, death, and the ephemeral. With the simplest means - movement, silence, theatrical clown, music, text, physical comedy and beauty - we seek to elevate the moment when the performers and audience meet, to lift the encounter beyond the daily and pedestrian into the realms of dreams, poetry, and art. Meaning is often discovered by happenstance. 

And be sure to watch the other video linked in this Smithsonian article…

In this mini-documentary the Smithsonian chats with the Artistic Co-Directors Sabrina Mandell and Mark Jaster of Happenstance Theater. They discuss how the company got started, the process of creating a show, and why it's important to connect with the audience. https://festival.si.edu/blog/essentialism-takes-the-stage-happenstance-theater-s-homage-to-the-circus?dm_t=0,0,0,0,0