We make old stories new.

Animal Engine is the collaboration of theatre artists Carrie Brown and Karim Muasher. Together they create original plays that reimagine works of literature.

“The storytelling is nimble and playful, yet it also has a satisfyingly wide arc. The actors get full marks for sharply and swiftly etching so many characters; every person, animal or thing is crystal clear. This show will be hard to beat for a one-two punch of lightly worn skill and charm.”
-The Washington Post on Petunia and Chicken

Updates

Henrietta Solway tours Nebraska

Animal Engine’s latest work Henrietta Solway will go on tour to Nebraska, February 24 - March 3. Commissioned by the National Willa Cather Center, Henrietta Solway is inspired by the short stories, serialized novels, and personal letters of Nebraska native and Pulitzer Prize winning author Willa Cather (1873-1947). In addition to performances at the Lied Center of Nebraska in Lincoln, the show will also tour to 3 cities across the state as a part of the Lied Center’s Arts Across Nebraska. This will include performances in Red Cloud, NE where Cather grew up, on the very same stage where she performed in her youth.

Co-Artistic Director premieres new show Dearly Departed

In May 2022, Animal Engine Co-Artistic Director Karim Muasher was awarded the First of May Award, a development grant for full-length variety arts productions, by the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. Dearly Departed will be a 45 minute solo clown show for young audiences created and performed by Karim, and directed by Mark Gindick of Ringling Bros, Cirque Du Soleil, and Big Apple Circus. Set at the funeral, and inspired by Karim’s personal experience of losing his mother at a young age, the show will aim to open up a conversation between young people and the adults in their lives about grief.

Well it's done! We know of nothing harder, artistically, than birthing a new show. DEARLY DEPARTED premiered last Friday! Created and performed by Co-Artistic Director Karim Muasher! (with assistance from Co-Artistic Director Carrie Brown) A big tha
Our latest work DEARLY DEPARTED is a solo physical comedy starring @karimmuasher as a widower trying (and failing) to deliver a eulogy. Premiering Friday April 28th at 7:30pm at @thecloudcity on a double bill with storyteller @ianyesok Ticket link
Premiering this month, our latest work is a solo show starring Co-Artistic Director Karim Muasher. DEARLY DEPARTED is a physical comedy about a discombobulated widower delivering a eulogy. One mistake leads to another, taking him on an epic adventur
We're' working on a new show! Thanks to a grant from the Bindlestiff Family Circus, we're developing a new solo show starring Co-Artistic Director Karim Muasher as a discombobulated widower trying to deliver a eulogy. DEARLY DEPARTED is a physical c
The final day of the "Henrietta Solway" Arts Across Nebraska tour brought us to the Merryman Performing Arts Center in Kearney, NE for two back-to-back matinees at 9:45am and 1pm. We're so incredibly grateful to the entire team, including o
Day 2 of the "Henrietta Solway" Arts Across Nebraska tour brought us to the Fox Theatre in the wonderful town of McCook, NE. It was delightful and exhausting, with some of our favorite audiences yet. There's nothing like performing in a the
Photos from our performances and community engagements at the Red Cloud Opera House, where we performed our Willa Cather inspired play "Henrietta Solway" on the very same stage where Willa once performed, thanks to the Lied Center's Arts Ac
We've spent the last several days performing our original play "Henrietta Solway" at the Lied Center's Carson Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska. What a joy it has been! Inspired by the short stories, serialized novels, and life of Nebraska nativ