ORA FRUCHTER
ORA'S THEATRE PROJECTS
Doppelskope
Doppelskope is the brainchild (and heartchild) of Ora Fruchter and Stoph Scheer. When we met in a clown class in 2009, Ora was a detail-oriented visual theatre artist and Stoph was a frenetic physical performer, but we both wanted to make open-hearted new theatre that approached life’s darkest problems through comedy. When we started working together, our aesthetic hybrid evolved to fit our unique skill sets, including puppetry, clown, improvisation, magical illusions, music, circus and philosophy.
Doppelskope creates highly visual and interactive performances that explore topics from existential dread to ecological crises. We believe that the stories we tell about the world can change the world. We believe audience interaction empowers audiences to realize they can affect the world as they affect our plays. We believe in the intelligence of children and the whimsy of adults. Our shows celebrate life and inspire connection, discovery and community. We're influenced by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kaufman, Monty Python and Jim Henson, but our voice is all our own.
We named ourselves Doppelskope, a misspelled portmanteau of “doppelganger telescope” (imagine a telescope so powerful you can see the back of your own head). “Doppel” means “double” in German, so Doppelskope also means double-scope, or “two viewpoints” - a reminder of how important collaboration is to us.
Our early adult-oriented shows - including An Existential Sing-Along, Shrink: Puppet Therapy, and The Apocalypse Show - were developed through constant performance in variety settings, which allowed us to continuously experiment and discover what works best for us. Our recent projects - Gruff! in 2014, Grimm! in 2015 and Growl! in 2016 - are larger scale, family-friendly musical comedies, with music by our resident composer Toby Singer.
Learn more and watch videos at www.doppelskope.com
Listen to songs from Gruff! on Bandcamp
Listen to songs from Grimm! on Bandcamp
Short Works
Highlights from Ora's short puppet works and collaborations.
The Famous Violinist
with music by Yoshie Fruchter
presented at Puppet BloK at Dixon Place and at Voice 4 Vision Puppet Art Attacks Slam at Theater for the New City
The Adventures of Hugh Cobalt: Private Eye
Created by David Michael Friend & Ora Fruchter
Written and Directed by Ora Fruchter
Design and Puppets by David Michael Friend
A hard boiled radio adventure is brought to life by the "the Little Men in the radio."
Puppet Playlist (Sinking Ship Productions)
Puppet Playlist is a regular evening series of puppetry and music by some of New York’s most interesting puppeteers and singer-songwriters. Each show has a theme inspired by a musician or band. Each show features original puppet acts, alternating with live covers, based on the theme musician or band. Ora has created and performed in several pieces for Puppet Playlist, including:
Puppet Playlist Destroys Your Childhood
Days of the Week
Drawing by Colleen Napolitano, based on a photo by Zach Kronisch (Jellybeans)
Photo by Ken Ek (Grimm! story machine)
Photos by Eric Michael Pearson (Violinist, Caveman) and