TheatreSquared's RUSSIAN TROLL FARM: A WORKPLACE COMEDY Makes NY Times Best of 2020 List

TheatreSquared's digital production of Sarah Gancher's Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy has been selected by The New York Times as one of the best plays of 2020.

They wrote of the production, ""Russian Troll Farm," by Sarah Gancher, showed that digital-native productions could make the medium maximally expressive - in this case by exploring the world of online Russian election disrupters using an online aesthetic. It took two directors (Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson) and three companies (TheaterWorks Hartford, Theater Squared in Arkansas and the Brooklyn-based Civilians) to pull it off, but it was a key step forward and a wicked-smart ride."

TheatreSquared Executive Director Martin Miller and Artistic Director Bob Ford said of the honor, "The recognition is a credit to the remarkable artists who worked on the featured production of Sarah Gancher's Russian Troll Farm along with our collaborators, Theaterworks Hartford and New York's The Civilians."

Created in association with TheaterWorks Hartford and Brooklyn-based Civilians this "site-specific work for the internet" was inspired by the actual transcripts from the Russian government-backed Internet Research Agency in the run-up to the 2016 election. Zoom theatre has never looked like this.

Billed as a unique live theatre experience with "digital magic," the highly collaborative project is a cross between theatre, film, and multimedia design. Led by directors Jared Mezzocchi (Co-Director, Multimedia Designer) and Elizabeth Williamson (Co-Director, Dramaturg), the live performances test the limits of digital performance and are the capstone of an intensive period of socially isolated, virtually connected, new play development.

At the infamous (real-life!) Internet Research Agency, professional internet trolls work for days at a time to influence American popular opinion, creating the illusion of consensus-or conflict. Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy imagines the daily lives of these workers as they invent characters, stage conflicts, and create conspiracies. What happens to their grasp on the truth when the whole job is lying?

Russian Troll Farm has been extended through December 31. Learn more and purchase tickets here.