The Exterminating Poet [Theatre/Puppetry]

Join guest artist Vinny Mraz for this work-in-progress sharing as the culmination of a New Work in the North Country residency at the Lounge where he is continuing development of his solo performance, The Exterminating Poet.

About the Project

Jack manages the office of an exterminator. Although surrounded by reminders of mortality (including his own) he searches for beauty in a world driven by longing and greed. He writes his poems and stares out the window of his car in the Lincoln Tunnel looking for some kind of light.

"The Exterminating Poet" is an assemblage of the poems of Jack Wiler. The poems, a collage of work from later in his career, reflect his imminent death as well as the hope to find love, meaning and truth in an otherwise materialistic world. Inspired by Spalding Gray and incorporating puppetry, pastiche and a reimagining of Jack's work, "The Exterminating Poet" is a solo performance and a collaboration between two artists who never met but are connected through a desire to wrestle with the promises of a bitter and beautiful world.

About the Artist

Vinny Mraz is a multidisciplinary theater-maker based in NYC. His work has been seen at En Garde Arts, the The Vineyard Theater, Golden Thread Productions, HERE Arts, La Mama, New Ohio, Object Movement Festival, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Su Casa program, The Tank, Dixon Place, Andy’s Summer Playhouse, Little Theater, and The Dallas Solo Festival. Recently Vinny worked with Jared Mezzochi and Sona Tatoyan on Azad (The Rabbit and the Wolf) on its world premiere with Golden Thread Productions. The SF Chronicle calls it “wondrous….with uproarious shadow puppetry”. The show was featured on KQED’s “Best of Theater 2025” list! He was a 2022 – 2023 NYSCA Individual Artist Grant recipient and Arts Council for Wyoming County mini-grant recipient for his play The Dairy Farmer Project.

As a teaching artist he has spent the last 10 years working with senior citizens in writing workshops, acting classes and developing original show revues in senior centers and public libraries. He is a teaching artist with Rehabilitation Through the Arts. He works with Lifetime Arts as a trainer where he leads workshops and seminars for artists and administrators on Creative Aging. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Theater at Manhattanville University. MFA, Sarah Lawrence College.