The Lab to Present Workshop Production of DACHAU FOR QUEERS at Theatre Exile

The Lab will present a workshop production of Dachau for Queers September 25–28, 2025, at Theatre Exile, 1340-48 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Written by Daniel Neer and directed by Ted Gorodetzky, the play explores the little-known history of California’s state-run psychiatric institutions for gay men in the mid-20th century, blending historical reality with surreal, darkly comic fantasy.

Set in 1970s San Francisco, the story follows runaway Jonah Goodson, confined to California’s notorious Atascadero Psychiatric Hospital, where “homosexuality” was treated as an illness. Trapped in a maze of barbaric “therapies,” Jonah encounters unexpected guides—real or imagined—on a journey that is at times brutal, at times absurd, and ultimately deeply human. The cast features Tristan Jenis, Lois Sach*, Hannah Anderson, Ted Gorodetzky*, and Avery Leach (*appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association).