Inspired by his 1845 trip to Ireland. AN ELOQUENT FUGITIVE SLAVE FLEES TO IRELAND is a fictionized account of Frederick Douglass’ voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on the steamship Cambria. Exploring themes of racism, sexism, and freedom, AN ELOQUENT FUGITIVE SLAVE FLEES TO IRELAND uses dialogue sprinkled with rap to give enhanced contemporary resonance to a largely unknown page of Frederick Douglass’ life.
Genre: Historical / Period
Wet
Four survivors of a storm-sunken pirate ship—the legendary Isabella, Neptune’s bastard daughter; pirates Jenny (a runaway whore) and Sally (an electrified girl); and the Viscountess Marlene (a drag queen)—seize a half-wrecked ship crewed only by Captain Joppa and two sailors, young Jack and ex-slave Horatio. Joppa is determined to get back to the war. Isabella has other plans. Amidst time lurches, shifting loyalties, hearts lost and secrets revealed, the seven souls find themselves without wind or current on a slowly sinking ship, until an unexpected event offers either hope or doom.
According to the Chorus
In the basement quick change room of a Broadway theater in the mid-1980s, the chorus girls are at war with their dressers. Will the new dresser, with her own sad past and uncertain future, be able to navigate this minefield?
ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS is a funny, nostalgic behind-the-scenes look at a pivotal period in the history of Broadway where women’s issues and the AIDS crisis play out through the everyday lives of Equity performers and union dressers.
Four Children
Four teenagers who lived thru genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Sarajevo and the Holocaust tell their stories in the diaries they kept, curated to to convey the tragic similarities between them. Diary entries are read by the actors, accompanied by solo cello.
Adapted from When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him (Cambodia), The Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak (Poland), My Childhood Under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary by Nadja Halilbegovich (Sarajevo) and To the Desert: Pages from My Diary by Vahram Dadrian (Armenia).
The Three Sisters Brontë
Set against the bleak and windy Yorkshire moors in the 1800s, THREE SISTERS BRONTË follows the lives of the Brontë sisters as they struggle to find creative prosperity while navigating the harsh realities of male society. Faced with limited opportunities for scholarly women, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne live in the rich worlds of their imaginations, dreaming of life in London, until they are forced to face the truth that nothing is certain, and their destinies are best served when held firmly in their own hands. As their brother Branwell descends into madness and their father grows blind, the three sisters must find a way to make their own living in an era when men of means asked “the woman question”: what does society do with educated unmarried women? Inspired by THREE SISTERS by Anton Chekhov, who reportedly read THE LIFE OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË a few years earlier before his play opened, THREE SISTERS BRONTË explores the parallels in the lives of the real life Brontës and the fictional Prozorovs.
Cyrano De Bergerac
CYRANO DE BERGERAC is brand-new adaptation in verse of the famous crowd-pleasing tale of love, honor, and panache, by way of a warrior-poet with a huge nose and a huge complex about it.
Washington Square
This adaptation of Henry James’ WASHINGTON SQUARE centers on Catherine Sloper, a wealthy young woman raised in a house of grief by a father bitterly dead to love. Surrounded by a society and family who perceive her as plain and soft spoken, Catherine remains steadfastly committed to her forward-thinking optimism. When Morris Townsend, a young, mysterious suitor, makes a bid for her heart, Catherine is torn between following her instincts and heeding the warnings of her father and meddling aunt.
While the novel is set in the fashionable downtown of late 19th century New York City, Sharp’s radical interpretation strips away the excess of the time period to deeply focus on Catherine’s journey to becoming her own person. This sparse, actor-focused design heightens the psychological underpinnings of the story, building tension as the play hurtles towards its inevitable conclusion.
Warsaw
72 year-old Krystyna fights for life in a hospital as four people wait and reveal the reasons why her survival is vital to them. Rachel is a driven young doctor whose brother Jonathan died in the Trade Center; financier David is Rachel’s adoring ex-fiancé, rejected in the fall-out from Jonathan’s death; Nicolas is the truck-driver who, distracted, wrecked Krystyna’s car; and Klaus is a hospital volunteer who believes Krystyna is someone he loved long ago in Poland. But even if she survives, is it too late for love? What purpose or meaning remains for any of them? Will Krystyna have their answers?
Jane Eyre
“Women feel just as men feel. They need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do.”
Charlotte Brontë’s timeless romance, JANE EYRE, is a Gothic story of resilience, in which a penniless orphan is determined to craft a fulfilling life for herself, against all odds. When Jane is hired as a governess at Thornfield Hall, she falls passionately in love with her brooding employer, only to discover that he—and his home—are surrounded by dark secrets. When the secrets are revealed, how will Jane preserve her chances for happiness?
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Fallen Soufflé
It’s the day before Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and her son, the playboy Prince of Wales, arrives at 221B Baker Street pursued by Anarchist assassins. The greatest chef in the world, Auguste Escoffier, also arrives, his career about to be shattered by blackmail and scandal. This action-filled tale of royal debauchery, priceless gems, and gourmet food will provide Dr. Watson with the material for Sherlock Holmes’ most bizarre and tastiest case.