Four Larks makes original “visually enthralling” work “at the intersection of theatre, music, visual art, and dance” cited by the LA Times as “the future of live performance.” Created by director / composer Mat Sweeney alongside creative producer Sebastian Peters-Lazaro. Currently working from downtown LA / on Tongva land.

ProjectsWatch & Listen

“The first time you witness a production by Four Larks is a little like stumbling upon a brigadoon-like village; one that has somehow existed in isolation from the mainstream yet has developed a complete set of traditions, rituals and aesthetics on its own…These are fully-fledged operas growing from the detritus of contemporary culture.” -REALTIME


JUNKYARD OPERA

Our junkyard operas fuse immersive design, chamber-pop, and physical theatre. Big ideas made manifest in live space and song. We rummage through the junkyard of real and imagined histories to create new performance works in unexpected spaces. 

We believe that our current truths are stitched into our foundational stories. Our work is to continue wrangling and interrogating them. We are continually working towards an anti-racist and ecologically ethical practice, in both process and production, form and content.

COLLABORATION

We operate variously as an experimental music ensemble, physical theatre lab, and sustainable design firm. Apart from our independently produced work, Mat & Sebastian both also partner with other artists, composers, and institutions to create aesthetic experiences, activate space, and translate ideas across forms. Recently, we worked with the Getty to create an immersive opera from an antiquities exhibition, and with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra to turn a new-music program into a series of interactive installations. Throughout the late 2010’s we created and curated a DIY gallery & performance space out of an old flower shop in downtown LA. We’ve just completed our first visual album.

COMMUNITY

Four Larks is an expanding constellation of creative collaborators. Our evolving mission and methodology is profoundly impacted by the artists and audiences that keep us in orbit, as we’ve moved from NaarmMelbourne, Australia to our current home in downtown Los Angeles. Please see our project credits to connect with our collaborators, and contact us to get involved in future projects.


SUPPORT DURING PANDEMIC

Four Larks is artist operated, and predominantly dependent on ticket sales. The current pause on live performance struck a brutal blow to our community of collaborators. While we wait for the time we can safely share space, please consider making a donation to help us return to live performance.

Donate 

“seriously imaginative, wondrously immersive”
LOS ANGELES TIMES

“you walk away with the sense that you’ve seen something extraordinary. you’re held in ecstatic thrall from start to finish”
HUFFINGTON POST

Four Larks hurtles over the boundaries between genres to create immersive, transformative events”
KCRW

“a sensual, intellectual, and vastly entertaining feast”
LA WEEKLY

“LA’s iconoclastic experimental opera company”
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“the artistry verges on scientific mastery”
STAGE RAW

“a company whose comprehensively reconstructed notion of the immersive Gesamtkunstwerk has produced some of the most inspiring and original art I’ve ever seen.”
TIMEOUT

“a hypnotic progression of sights, sounds, and ideas”
LOS ANGELES BLADE

“these are more than shows, they’re experiences.”
OPENING THE CURTAIN

“the future of contemporary performance”
LOS ANGELES TIMES

AWARDS

2024 National Theatre Project (Current Finalist), 2024 Fulbright Arts Scholar, 2021 Ovation Awards (Best Play, Direction, Ensemble, Choreography, Costume Design, Sound Design, Scenic Design, Projection Design, Lighting Design & Best Featured Actor- Max Baumgarten), CTG Sherwood Award 2020No Proscenium (Best of 2019), 2016 Ovation Awards (Best Ensemble & Best Music), LA Weekly (Best of LA), Los Angeles Theatre Awards – Stage Raw (Best Design), LA Times (Critics Choice), Fabrik (Best Theatre of 2016), KCRW (Best of 2015 & Best of 2014), Bitter Lemons (Best of 2015, Favorite Plays of 2014), TimeOut Melbourne (Best of 2012), The Age (Best of 2011), TheatreNotes (Best of 2010), Melbourne Green Room Awards (Best Music, Best Design, Best Ensemble, Best Production), East Bay Express (Best of 2009). Find a more extensive list on our individual project pages:

Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Katabasis
Katabasis
The Temptation of St Antony
The Temptation of St Antony
Hymns (in development)
Hymns (in development)
threnodies (in development)
Threnodies (in development)
Undine (in development)
Undine
Homeric Hymns (Visual Album)
Homeric Hymns (Visual Album)
Basic Flowers
Basic Flowers (space)
LACO : SESSION : no.4
LACO :: SESSION no.4
LACO : SESSION : no.3
LACO :: SESSION no.3
LACO : SESSION : no.2
LACO :: SESSION no.2
LACO : SESSION : no.1
LACO :: SESSION no.1
LBF
La Bibliothèque Fantastique (series)
Orpheus
Orpheus
The Plage Dances
The Plague Dances
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
The Fate of Franklin & His Gallant Crew
The Fate of Franklin & His Gallant Crew
The Master & Margarita
The Master & Margarita
The Invitation
The Invitation

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