New York stages are becoming unapologetically agitprop this fall. With the midterm elections just a couple of weeks out, theatermakers are betting that audiences want to stir the pot. Or at least watch someone else stir it.
Off-Broadway, ANON takes on a QAnon conspiracy theorist and the gay couple she pushes to the brink, while Slam Frank asks what the narrative might look like if Anne Frank were a Latina rapper. At the United Solo Theatre Festival, solo artists take on everything from folk protest songs to a fictional senator’s sex scandal to the American health care system.
1 Minute Critic canvassed the lineup for some of the most provocative new works to appear. Consider it a voter guide for the stage. No registration required.
It wants better content.
‘Wide Awoke (And PROUD Of It)!’
Friday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m.
Broadway alum D.C. Anderson scales down the production value (no hanging chandelier like in his years in The Phantom of the Opera). Still, it amps up the importance of civic engagement with an evening of folk music his father called “save the world songs.”
Inspired by historian Heather Cox Richardson, who challenges each of us to reconsider what political engagement looks like, Anderson crashed through his writer’s block to assemble a song list that reflects an America where democracy evolves from an ideology to action.
Why now: protest songs are having a moment — Bette Midler just won the Woody Guthrie Prize, proof that a well-placed melody can still rattle a few cages. Anderson’s “save the world songs” arrive right on cue.
‘Run Out of Town: How a Small Town Dealt with Right-Wing Extremism’
Saturday, Oct. 24, 2 p.m.
Kirk McGee writes and stars in this satirical take on a well-intentioned tour guide at The Honorable Herbert Peabody Library and Legacy Center. The fictional unraveling depicts a senator’s sex scandal (sound familiar?) and our central character’s own moral reckoning.
McGee notes that the story is “inspired by real events” but offers “no direct commentary on the political landscape.” Instead, he unpacks our obsession with celebrity and how we choose to acknowledge the power imbalance.
Why now: Power, access, and a $100,000 Amex bill — For a refresher on how influence gets traded in Washington, see Kimberly Guilfoyle’s swift exit from Athens.
‘Run Out of Town: How a Small Town Dealt with Right-Wing Extremism’
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 8:30 p.m.
Some say truth is stranger than fiction, but Toni Hart has lived it. Growing up in a small Minnesota town with a right-wing, antisemitic father, Hart witnessed what could happen when a community bands together.
Fearing his beliefs would escalate into a mass shooting, locals waged a nonviolent vigilante campaign to force him out of town. The author of Gun Culture USA: Where It Comes From and Why It Won’t Go Away, Hart offers an unvarnished look at her father, what it took to escape his possessive grip, and the life she built beyond the shadows of his hateful rhetoric.
Why now: Most stories about extremism start after the shooting. This one ends before it. — In an era of “thoughts and prayers,” here’s a town that chose to do something, without firing a shot.
‘No Body Cares: America’s Favorite Healthcare System’
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2 p.m.
What happens when death itself can’t afford to die? In No Body Cares, Michael F. Toomey takes on mortality, capitalism, and the American health care system. Toomey developed the piece with The Humanist Project, a clown and devised theater company where he is artistic director.
Toomey, a neurodivergent performer and teacher who’s been a member of Shakespeare & Company for over 20 years, knows firsthand how narrowly America defines ‘healthy’ and who gets access.
Why now: Six million Americans could lose health care coverage. — Toomey’s sharp clowning lands the morning after Election Day, just in time to ask who our health care system is really built for.
Fast facts: United Solo Theatre Festival
- Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, New York City
- Performances through November 22
Featured illustration: AI-assisted, art direction by 1 Minute Critic.
