Jaster and Mandell describe what they do this way: “We harvest imagery from the past and re-contextualize in performances that address eternal themes of life, death, and the ephemeral. A Happenstance show might feel like what might happen when Aristophanes, a medieval monk, Shakespeare, and Buster Keaton exclaim in a Mickey-and-Judy-moment: “Hey, kids! Let’s put on a show!” As hard as it is to pin down what Happenstance does, it draws on the full range of theater, music, dance, puppetry, drama, and comedy, which recalls - dare we say - prehistoric impulses, while feeling fresh and of the moment. Since that first fruitful collaboration, Mandell and Jaster have devised and produced dozens of inventive pieces that are part fractured fairytale, part clown-car-crazy, and ingeniously imaginative takes on the convergence of ancient theatrical techniques and contemporary approaches. Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell in ‘Prufbox’(2006), ‘Seven Ages of Mime’ (2007), and ‘On the Nose.’ Photos by Tom Kochel, Danisha Crosby, and Bobby Kintz. And it taught them the value of both devised theater and portable sets and costumes, most often crafted from found objects. With just the two of them, they were able to tour that work easily and nimbly, from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery to the Essex Museum in Massachusetts, to venues throughout the East Coast and beyond. “Prufbox” premiered at the DC Fringe Festival, which meant it had to be a lean and mean production with a load-in and load-out of no more than 15 minutes. Alfred Prufrock” and the shadow boxes of artist Joseph Cornell. Their first full-fledged collaboration derived from a short work Mandell called “Box Ceremony,” which she described as about “a woman who hesitates, a sort of mermaid character… it was fascinating.” It made Jaster think of the t.s. And two weeks later we opened our first show together!” “Our wedding was a big production at our house in Rockville - there were 200 people. “We decided to get married,” Mandell chimed in. Even better, he declared, “We fell in love. Their artistic partnership, Mandell said, “made us realize the unbelievable potential of our collaborative dialogue.” Jaster said he replied, nonchalantly, “That sounds interesting. “He’s legendary … he’s never gonna partner with me …’” “And I was like, ‘This is Mark Jaster!” Mandell excitedly interrupted. “Sabrina was looking for collaborators for her new piece,” Jaster recalled. But I had never studied clown, and I knew that there was craft and depth to the art of clowning.” He turned to DiSanto for a clown workshop. “I was a deviser, making up my own pieces, of course, as is the mime tradition. Jaster had been long working in the region as a solo mime.

I realized that it employed all of my skillsets.” I want to be producing and making theater!’” Her next step was a full-on devised theatrical production: “The whole experience was excruciatingly difficult, but also invigorating. Mandell was studying physical theater with DiSanto, and that work became a show. The company Mandell created, Happenstance Theater, had its origin in 2005 by, well, happenstance. Jaster’s been a soloist, playwright, collaborator, and performer on myriad stages throughout the Washington, DC, metropolitan region and around the country. Jaster, who drew inspiration from careful study of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harpo Marx, also studied LeCoq pedagogy of theatrical clowning with Dody DiSanto, a movement theater specialist - as well as founder and former owner of the 9:30 Club in the District.

The multi-instrumentalist, actor, mime, and movement artist trained with 20th-century master mime Marcel Marceau, along with Marceau’s teacher, Etienne Decroux. Her artistic and life partner, Mark Jaster, has lived a clown’s life, of sorts. Sabrina Mandell and Mark Jaster as Rose and Ralph in ‘BrouHaHa’ (2015). The daughter of artists, she was born in Nova Scotia, raised in Montreal, and after a brief bout at university, she has written and performed her own poetry, studied art history, become a painter, sailed up and down the East Coast as a first mate on traditionally rigged schooners, and started a theater company. Sabrina Mandell has lived an adventurous and varied life. As the third party to this tête-à-tête - nodding, responding enthusiastically, and laughing at the feel-good, self-deprecation - I fell quietly in awe at the love these two have for their art and for each other. And when one does go on at length, the other looks on, listens attentively, and nods in agreement. The pair finish each other’s sentences, almost always with an exclamation point. Chatting with Sabrina Mandell and Mark Jaster is great fun.

Happenstance theater