Jeff Zinn Stars in AGONY & THE ECSTASY OF MIKE DAISEY, Now thru 8/7
Jeff Zinn Returns to the Harbor Stage for Three Day Special Event: THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF Mike Daisey. In his recent play, The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, monologuist Mike Daisey set out to investigate and expose the Chinese factories where the world’s beloved Apple products- our iPads, our iPhones, our shiniest, hippest new toys- are hand-fashioned by millions of unseen, underpaid workers.
Inspired by Daisey’s passionate delivery and first-hand accounts, NPR’s Ira Glass offered to air the piece on his nationally syndicated radio show, This American Life; the broadcast reached a reported 888,000 listeners and quickly became the most downloaded episode in the popular program’s history. But the phenomenon sparked a more critical examination of Daisey’s work; several other NPR correspondents began to question the validity of the piece’s “non-fictional” claims, and when it was revealed that aspects of the play had been exaggerated for dramatic effect, Daisey, Glass, and the very concept of truth became embroiled in a controversy that continues to unnerve the theatrical community.
This August, the Harbor Stage Company is proud to present a limited run engagement of Daisey’s text, re-shaped and sharply spun by acclaimed theater artist and Wellfleet legend Jeff Zinn. A mash-up of the original monologue and Zinn’s own take on the aftermath of the This American Life scandal, The Agony and The Ecstasy of...Mike Daisey, hilariously and courageously explores how journalism and art collide in our modern world.
Harbor Stage Company’s Artistic Director Robert Kropf says, “we’re thrilled to have Jeff onboard for what we see as a kind of homecoming. Jeff is a fierce, uncompromising artist whose vision has inspired us all– this feels like a continuation of our work together.” The Agony and the Ecstasy... will play tonight, August 5th and August 6th and 7th at 7:30pm, running consecutively with the Harbor Stage Company’s CHURCH (playing Wednesdays to Saturdays through August 11th).
The piece will be directed by Cape regular, Valerie Stanford (Wit, Thom Pain), and marks the Company’s first Dark Night event of their inaugural season. The group assumed the lease at the iconic theater on Wellfleet Harbor in May of this year, and opened to wide ? acclaim with their production of Hedda Gabler, a piece hailed as a “hypnotic, tour de force” that featured “razor-sharp acting”. Tickets for The Agony and the Ecstasy...are available for purchase at the Harbor Stage Box Office (508.349- 6800) or online at www.harborstage.org.
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