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THE CONSTRUCTIVISTS ANNOUNCE THEIR 2022-23 SEASON
COMPRISED OF TWO WISCONSIN PREMIERES
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 – (Milwaukee) The Constructivists are very excited to announce their upcoming 2022-23 Season, their fifth overall, which will open with THE TOTALITARIANS by PETER SINN NACHTRIEB running Saturday, October 15, through Saturday, October 29, 2022, and end with I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD by HALLEY FEIFFER, opening Saturday, April 29, 2023 and running until Saturday, May 13, 2023. Both productions are Wisconsin Premieres and will be directed by Artistic Director JAIMELYN GRAY. The Constructivists will also be performing in a new venue next season, moving to the Interchange Theater Co-Op (formally the 10th Street Theatre), 628 N. 10th St, Milwaukee, WI 53233. And the season will also include their UNDER CONSTRUCTION PLAY DEVELOPMENT SERIES in the winter of 2023.
“Last season was a great success critically and we hope the news of our work will bring more Milwaukeeans out next season despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Artistic Director Jaimelyn Gray. “We will continue our commitment of promoting dark catharsis and as always hope the two plays of our fifth season will bring more newcomers to the theatre. And our move to the Interchange continues our goal of building partnerships with other Milwaukee arts organizations.”
THE TOTALITARIANS by PETER SINN NACHRIEB
THE TOTALITARIANS is a 2015 dark comedy set in Nebraska – a state which may just be on the brink of revolution. Penny, a compulsive and compulsively watchable candidate for state office enlists the help of Francine, a silver-tongued operative. Francine’s husband Jeffrey, a doctor, is lying to his dying patients—one of whom opens his eyes to Penny’s nefarious plans for the Cornhusker State. The play is a raucous dark comedy about the state of modern political discourse, modern relationships, and how easy it is to believe truths without facts. THE TOTALITARIANS was commissioned by National New Play Network through the Full Stage/USA Program at New Dramatists with a lead grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a San Francisco-based playwright who often writes about misfits, biology, apocalypse, and people struggling against large systems. His work has been seen off-Broadway and across the world including at Ars Nova, Woolly Mammoth, Seattle Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Southern Rep, Barrington Stage Company, Kitchen Dog, Merrimack Repertory and in the Bay Area at Z Space, A.C.T., Encore Theatre, Killing My Lobster, Marin Theatre Company, Impact Theatre, and The Bay Area Playwrights Festival. His plays have received numerous awards including the Will Glickman Prize, The Stavis Award, The ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award, among others.
Peter is an alumna of New Dramatists and was the Mellon/HowlRound Playwright in Residence at Z Space in San Francisco 2013-18. He holds a degree in Theater and Biology from Brown and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.
I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD by HALLEY FEIFFER
I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD is a 2015 dark dramedy set in New York City. Ella is a precocious and fiercely competitive actress whose sole aim in life is making her famous playwright father, David, proud. Over the course of a boozy evening, Ella and David deliberate over whether to read the reviews of her Off-Broadway debut…and things unravel from there. Halley Feiffer’s dark, probing and very funny play pulls the audience into the middle of a deeply complicated relationship and sheds new light on the eternal struggles of parents and children to find common ground. “…viciously funny…[In] Halley Feiffer’s brutally effective I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD…David and Ella are figures of alternating fear and pity: artistic arsonists stranded by their bridge-burning fire of ambition…Feiffer takes a tough look at the forces that can bring us to our knees.” —Time Out NY.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Halley Feiffer is a playwright, TV writer and actor. Plays include I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD (World Premiere Atlantic Theater Company, OCC Nom.), MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW (World Premiere Williamstown Theater Festival and MCC Theater, Drama Desk and Drama League Noms), THE PAIN OF MY BELLIGERENCE (World Premiere Playwrights Horizons), A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY (World Premiere MCC Theater) and HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND THEN KILL THEM (World Premiere Rattlestick Playwrights Theater). Her plays have been produced around the country and in the UK, and are published by Dramatists Play Service and Overlook Press. She is currently writing the book for the Broadway-bound stage adaptation of Thelma & Louise, with Neko Case composing.
Under Construction Playwriting Series
The Constructivists will once again put the focus on new plays with its Under Construction Play Development Series next winter, and are currently taking submissions from local Playwrights of Color, and Female and Non-Binary Playwrights in search of the next great dark comedy/drama.
COVID Protocols
The Constructivists will continue to put the safety and health of their artists and patrons first in the coming season. They will keep monitoring recommendations from health professionals and require masks and vaccine and testing protocols when necessary.
Dates and Production Information
THE TOTALITARIANS
By Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Directed by Jaimelyn Gray
Saturday, October 15 – Saturday, October 29, 2022
Fridays-Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sunday Matinees at 4pm
Interchange Theater Co-Op, 628 N 10th St, Milwaukee, WI 53233
I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD
By Halley Feiffer
Directed by Jaimelyn Gray
Saturday, April 29 – Saturday, May 13, 2023
Fridays-Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sunday Matinees at 4pm
Interchange Theater Co-Op, 628 N 10th St, Milwaukee, WI 53233
Ticket Information
Tickets will be available through theconstructivists.org. They are $20 in advance. If you have questions about purchases, please call The Constructivists info line at 414.858.6874. Discounts will be available for Artists, Students, Seniors, and Groups. Contact The Constructivists for more information.
Auditions
Auditions for the productions will be held as soon as possible. Please contact casting@theconstructivists.org and check the website for updates. The Constructivists invite and encourage all persons to audition, particularly Persons of Color, all Gender Identities, and Persons who identify with a Disability. We are also working with the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) to be an organization fully supportive of Parent and Caregiver Artists.
About The Constructivists
It is a vast understatement now to say the human connection live theatre provides is needed more than ever. The Constructivists are committed to creating viscerally driven theatre, exposing and exploring the complexity of human nature and the perils it creates in an effort to challenge, enlighten, educate, and entertain a diverse mature audience. The Constructivists believe passionate theatre is the necessary catalyst for change.
The Constructivists were named the Best New Theatre by Milwaukee Magazine in 2018.
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