AUTOPORTRAIT Zachary Small
About This Show
In order to survive the post-truth era, AUTOPORTRAIT imagines what it would look like if we learned to float between truth and fiction as well as our enemies do — if we learned to deploy our own narratives for the greater good. The play weaves together unlikely portraits of drag queens, government officials, and East Village performance artists all trapped within a closed loop of lies and narrow thinking, eager to rebel. Beyond this destructive path is an alternative — not one of ‘alternative facts,’ but of the sublime, queer beauty of choice. AUTOPORTRAIT marshals in this new era of creative expression and individual power just beyond the horizon.
about the artists
Zachary Small (Playwright) is a New York-based theater maker who has premiered work at venues including Dixon Place and Irondale Theater. Previously, he dramaturged Mabou Mines’ Imagining the Imaginary Invalid at La MaMa ETC (NYTimes Critics’ Pick). As an an actor, he has performed in the lead role of Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic (Off-Broadway) and as Mephistopheles in Faust 2.0 (Mabou Mines). He is also an art critic for various publications, including Artsy, Art in America Magazine, Art21 Magazine, BOMB Magazine, Hyperallergic, and American Theatre Magazine. Graduate of Columbia University (Art History and Political Science). Reach him at zsmall93[at]gmail[dot]com
Alex Hare (Director) is a director/theatremaker focused on democratizing the creative process to create community-building theatre. Co-artistic director of the theatre collective The Brewing Department, Alex has developed and premiered work at HERE Arts Center, Cherry Lane Theatre, Dramatists Guild, NYCFringe, Dixon Place, and Feinstein’s/54 Below. He is a frequent assistant for film/theatre director Bill Condon, including on Side Show (Broadway, Kennedy Center) and his upcoming Disney film remake of Beauty and the Beast. Other credits: School of Rock (Winter Garden Theatre), Straight (Acorn Theatre), and Application Pending (Westside Theatre). Alex studied English Literature and American Studies at Columbia University.
Allison Benko (Dramaturg) is a New York-based theatre artist. Directing: A Doll’s House: A New Opera (Central Square Theatre; The Tank NYC), Secret Death of Puppets (New York Public Library; Standard ToyKraft), Every Christmas Story (Gloucester Stage), Twelfth Night (Powderhouse Park), and She Loves Me (Tufts University). Writing: The Arthur Miller Centennial (Gloucester Stage) and contributed lyrics to A Doll’s House: A New Opera. Assistant direction: Oslo (Lincoln Center, dir. Bartlett Sher), Sabina (the cell, dir. Kira Simring) and numerous productions at Gloucester Stage. Puppetry: Tholpavakoothu Centre in Kerala, India. Education: Lincoln Center Director’s Lab 2017, Tufts University 2015, BADA 2013.
Wednesday, July 26 at 7:30pm
General Admission
$15 in advance
$18 at the door
Stu./Sen./idNYC
$12
85 minutes
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Credits
Directed by
Alex Hare
Written by
Zachary Small
Dramaturg
Alison Benko
Illustration by
Stephen Davan
Set Designer:
You-Shin Chen
Costume Designer:
Iliana Paris
Sound Designer:
Marc Stuart Jablonski
Lighting Designer:
Erin Jones
CAST:
C Bain
Matthew Brown
Kristin Fulton
Tommy Heleringer*
Cristina Pitter
*Actors appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
