Hailed as ‘Imaginative, intelligent, and strangely mesmerizing’ by the San Diego Union Tribune, Phina Pipia brings award-winning solo show to the San Juan Islands

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Submitted by event organizers.

A tuba lights the way, beds make music, paintings come to life and a radio delivers a message from the past in an award-winning production that combines illusion, music, puppetry and theater. When a grad student discovers that Leonardo Da Vinci and his collaborator, magician and mathematician Luca Pacioli, invented a time machine, she is zapped back to the Renaissance. It’s up to her to decode their notes and solve a 15th-century mystery so that she can return to the present.

Called “terrific” by the New York Times, Phina Pipia’s performances have captivated audiences around the world. Winner of Nigeria’s Lagos Fringe Award, San Diego International Fringe Festival’s Outstanding Solo Performance Award, the Vancouver Fringe Festival’s Joanna Maratta Award, the Critic’s Choice Award for Best Solo Musical at Orlando Fringe, Artist Pick and Venue Pick Awards at the Minnesota Fringe and named a Top Pick at the San Diego Fringe by PBS, “Ha Ha Da Vinci” invites audiences of all ages into a world where they can safely expect the delightfully unexpected.

In addition to the show, participants young and old get to participate in a hands-on magic workshop where they will learn a magic trick they can perform themselves, and discover the secret to the biggest magic trick of all: how to make your ideas a reality.

Tickets for “Ha Ha Da Vinci” can be purchased at https://www.phinapipia.com/.

Lopez Island:

Workshop runs: 5-6 p.m., Wednesday, April 29, at the Lopez Island Library.

Show runs: 7 p.m., Friday May 1, at the Lopez Center.

Orcas Island:

Workshop runs: 4 p.m., Saturday, May 2, Odd Fellows Hall.

Show runs: 4 p.m., Sunday, May 3, at the Odd Fellows Hall.

The real-life story behind how the show was made:

The daughter of a professional magician, Phina Pipia grew up in a house where the laws of physics were defied on a daily basis. “I sometimes joke that I have a permanent suspension of disbelief,” she says, “as a toddler, objects tossed into the air would stay aloft, coins closed in your hand would vanish … illusion was a part of everyday life, and as a result, I still believe that just about anything is possible.” “Ha Ha Da Vinci” is steeped in that sense of wonder.

When Pipia learned that magician Luca Pacioli authored the first book on sleight-of-hand magic during the Renaissance, and that he collaborated closely with Leonardo Da Vinci, she was hooked. “I was lit up with an electric sense of curiosity, driven to find out everything I could about what these two artists made together and how they came up with ideas,” says Pipia, “the more I learned, the more this show seemed to roll out at my feet like a magic carpet. I simply stepped aboard and went for a ride.”

The show was developed in residence at Centrum Foundation for the Arts in 2020 and in partnership with The Chameleon Theater in Washington state. After three years on the road, it was awarded a residency for further development at the physical theater hub, Celebration Barn Theater. In 2024, it was translated into Italian, and this past fall, it enjoyed its first five-week-long tour through Bologna, Milan and Catania. “Ha Ha Da Vinci” has been produced in Europe, Canada and the United States.