ASM Presents:
MANO A MANO
an operatic monodrama
Plucked from the tradition of the medieval storytelling bard, MANO A MANO is an operatic monodrama about toxic masculinity, needling Anglo-Saxon epics with personal anecdote, pseudo-history, Antonio Banderas movies, tangents about the Romans, boxing, and stories about New Jersey.
You know, your run-of-the-mill, Thursday night fare.
Writer/performer Paul Pinto embodies all the characters across a five-octave range of timbres: sweet, throaty and viscerally guttural. Posing the question "what if Sir Gawain and Beowulf were fighting over killing the same dragon?" he answers with ninety minutes of virtuosic chants, rants, song and spectacle, as he bobs and weaves between passages of puckishly quick verbiage and aching melancholia. Director Kristin Marting stages it in the round with the audience immersed in the action, surrounded by a mix of wild saxophone and percussion improvisation.
You know, our kind of show. Your kind of show.
CREDITS
Written, Composed and Performed by Paul Pinto
Developed with and Directed by Kristin Marting
Lighting and Projection Design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
Sound Design and Mixing by Philip White
Associate Lighting Design by Alex deNevers
Performed with Erin Rogers, Zach Herchen, and Dennis Sullivan
Line Produced by Amanda+James
Production Managed by Erica Schnitzer
Technical Directed by Ben Elling
Stage Managed by Katie Scibelli
The New York Times calls Pinto "CAPTIVATINGLY UNHINGED" – in all caps, no less. So don't miss it.
Thursday, February 12 - Sunday, February 22, 2026
Ellen Stewart Theater
at La MaMa
66 E 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
First ten tickets of each show are $10
$35 general admission
Dates, tickets, times are available here
Support from Anti-Social Music is provided through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and through public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.