POST THEATRE COMPANY: LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY
POST THEATRE COMPANY: LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY
Personal transformation is a focus of director Jason Jacobs’ interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy…The 16-character cast is played in this production by just seven actors, some of whom play cross-gender roles.”
Seven Days
It's a journey into the forest. It's a forest of discovery, a forest of liberation."
AS YOU LIKE IT
From the opening invocation of “all the world is a stage” to the final prologue, which seals the compact of cast and audience, the production illuminates the reality of theatrical space, the transformative power of the actor, and role of the viewer’s imagination to create the theatrical event. Starting as the victim of oppression, Shakespeare's Rosalind embraces theatrical strategies to face her challenges: through improvisation and performance, she discovers her strength and power. Leaving a troubled everyday world to venture into the unknown, Rosalind becomes actor, director, stage manager, and spectator. The production celebrates the power of the actor at her/his most joyous best, and suggests that real liberation is not about disguise, but how we bring ourselves – body, hear, and soul, to play our part in the world.
BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL
Book by Keythe Farley & Brian Flemming
Music & lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe
BIG LOVE
CABARET
Kander / Ebb / Masteroff
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
John Cameron Mitchell
As a director who thrives on the energetic exchange of live performance, it’s been too long; I’m thrilled to return to live theatre-making with this ensemble on this show and to welcome you into the world we’ve created.
I came of age during another plague, the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ‘90s, which shaped my identify as a queer artst. I got to see Hedwig transform from an edgy, immersive downtown show in the late ‘90s, then to an art house film, and more recently to a polished Broadway entertainment. The ingenious creation of author John Cameron Mitchell and composer Stephen Trask, Hedwig transcends geography and time, earning her place as an iconic character in the queer theater canon. We meet her within the space of a bitter/sweet rock-show, and her powerful songs give voice to the experiences of so many LGBTQ folx: struggling with our own wicked little towns and striving all our lives to know that we’re whole.
Classic plays (and musicals) invite interpretation, and this production is shaped by a new generation of young artists who are tearing down the walls of traditional gender strictures. Our rehearsals have been an inquiry into how this multifaceted role can be embodied by a diverse ensemble--and how this story continues to resonate, more than 20 years since its inception. I hope our Hedwig celebrates the diversity of gender expression in this community. Whatever your own personal journey, I thank you for being here tonight and wish you an exciting theatrical ride! (Program Note -- November 2021)
MACHINAL
Sophie Treadwel
The theme of this season at Post Theatre Company is “Once Upon a Time Travel”, and Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal (Mah-SHEE-nal) takes us a back to the thrilling and turbulent decade known as the “Roaring ‘20s.” In the winter of 2017, I feel like our American time machine has just been hijacked by a gang of rogue men, determined to hurl us all backwards at least 50 years. Now more than ever, it seems crucial to look at our history, in order to understand where we’ve been and how we arrived at this moment.
In 1928, Treadwell confronted Broadway audiences with her indictment of a society that perpetuates machine-like oppression against its female population. The play follows a kind of Everywoman through a life journey that is anything but free. Using theatrical expressionism, Treadwell pointed at abuses of power in the workplace, home, and the law. She exposed sexual harassment, earning inequality, and women’s lack of choice to control their bodies and the direction of their lives
90 years later, I’m saddened to hear these students say they feel nothing has changed. Indeed, while we rehearsed this revival, we’ve been fighting to save Planned Parenthood, an organization founded 100 years ago on the belief that women should have the information and care they need to live strong, healthy lives and fulfill their dreams.* The man driving our political machine snarls epithets like “nasty woman” and brags about behavior widely considered to be sexual assault. It’s easy to overlook the progress that has been made when, everyday, we feel renewed forces of misogyny, racism, and homophobia pushing upon us.
What gives me hope in collaborating with these young actors is the bravery and generosity each of them brought to work on Treadwell’s play. In order to build their connection to the past, the cast looked at their own family histories, in addition to researching the 1920s. This exploration helped us process what Machinal might say to you, our audience, tonight. The young actors on this stage are using their bodies and imaginations to enact our collective past, but they also represent our future. I hope their generation will have the courage and commitment to take back control of the machine and help steer us on a more progressive course.
MARAT / SADE
by Peter Weiss
The year is 1808: France is a powerful empire ruled by Napoleon. Outside of Paris, in the mental asylum of Charenton, the Marquis de Sade has been inprisoned for seven years because of his outrageous writings ... Tonight, Sade presents a play, performed by the institution's patients, dramatyixing the assassination revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat during the French Revolution.
He is glad to have you with us.
THE TEMPEST
Arclight Theatre