OUR CLASS To Be A Featured Production At Under The Radar Festival 2024

Our Class, the contemporary, award-winning play by Tadeusz Slobodzianek and directed by Ukrainian-born, Jewish director Igor Golyak will see a completely new production and its New York premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) beginning January 12 with opening night set for January 18 and running to February 4.

 

Our Class has now been added to the 19th edition of NYC's world famous and cutting-edge Under the Radar Festival, which takes place January 5 to January 21 with more than a dozen productions at renowned institutions across the city.

 

“Our Class is an incendiary work, no one leaves unmoved,” said Mark Russell, Under the Radar Festival Director. “Igor Golyak is one of the most innovative and visual young directors working today. His work has to be seen.”

 

Our Class is based on real events, and follows 10 classmates — five Jewish and five Catholic — as they grow up as playmates, friends and neighbors, then turn on one another with life and death consequences. Inspired by real life events surrounding a horrific 1941 pogrom in the small village of Jedwabne, Poland, the play is about friendship, antisemitism and betrayal, and follows their lives from childhood through eight decades in a contemporary new production, directed by Igor Golyak.

 

The international cast of Our Class features Gus Birney (The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window) as Dora, Andrey Burkovskiy  (Call DiCaprio!) as Menachem, Jack DiFalco (Torch Song) as Zygmunt, José Espinosa (Take Me Out) as Rysiek, Tess Goldwyn (New Amsterdam) as Zocha, Will Manning (As Reaper in the Summer Gain) as Heniek, Stephen Ochsner (Chicks) as Jakub Katz, Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof) as Rachelka/Marianna, Richard Topol (Indecent; The Normal Heart) as Abram, and Ilia Volok (Gemini Man, The Gaaga) as Władek.

 

At the beginning of November, the cast and creative team gathered for a special retreat in the

Berkshires mountains of Massachusetts. They worked on the script, delved into history and context with dramaturg Dr. Rachel Moss, experimented with music with composer Anna Drubich, and discussed the powerful connections between Our Class and our world and lives today. The entire weekend was documented on video - watch a short piece featuring Richard Topol, Alexandra Silber, Andrey Burkovskiy, Stephen Ochsner, and Igor Golyak as they prepare for the rehearsal process.

Click on thumbnail to watch video

Director: Denis Lavnik. DOP: Vladyslav Prykhodko

The piece comes at a time when the world is facing an increase in antisemitism across the globe and is witnessing horrific wars in Ukraine and Israel. Our Class is an exploration of humanity, an effort to comprehend who we are. What would we do, and what will we do, in this situation? Who do we become in the face of past and current aggression?

 

“I wish Our Class wasn't so relevant; unfortunately, the story is a bonfire that is alive and burning in our world right now,” said Igor Golyak. “This is more than just a play for all of us. We are trying to understand how ordinary young people - friends - can be capable of so much love, heartbreak and humor, and then do such horrific things to each other out of hatred. The play is a masterpiece because its truths are inescapable and illuminate something about the complexity of who we are, how we might heal or at least try to navigate this world with some meaning. I am beyond humbled that Under the Radar agrees, and has invited us to share Our Class in their fantastic festival this January."

 

Tickets are on sale now on the official website, and run $59-$129. Our Class plays Tuesdays at 7:00pm, Wednesdays at 7:00pm, Thursdays at 7:00pm, Fridays at 7:00pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 7:30pm, and Sundays at 2pm.

 

Directed by Igor Golyak

Written by Tadeusz Słobodzianek

Adapted by Norman Allen

Scenic Design by Jan Pappelbaum

Costume Design by Sasha Ageeva

Lighting Design by Adam Silverman

Sound Design by Ben Williams

Music Composed by Anna Drubich

Music Direction by Lisa Gutkin

Projections Design by Eric Dunlap

Chalk Drawings Design by Andreea Mincic

Choreography by Or Schraiber

Hair & Makeup Design by Timur Sadykov

Intimacy & Violence Design by Leana Gardella

Dramaturgy by Dr. Rachel Moss

General Manager, Martin Platt

Production Manager, Neal Wilkinson

Production Stage Manager, Kyra Bowie

Executive Producers, Sofia Kapkova & Sara Stackhouse

 

Arlekin Players Theatre

Arlekin Players Theatre was founded by Ukrainian-born artistic director Igor Golyak in 2009 and launched its (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab in 2020. Most recently, Arlekin produced The Orchard featuring Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov both off-Broadway in New York and in Boston, The Gaaga, US premiere, by Ukrainian playwright Sasha Denisova, and Just Tell No One at Lincoln Center with Bill Irwin, Jessica Hecht and David Krumholz in partnership with the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project. Arlekin received worldwide acclaim, including two New York Times Critics Picks, for their virtual projects during the pandemic, including WITNESS, State vs Natasha Banina, and chekhovOS /an experimental game/ featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov as Anton Chekhov. Arlekin has received numerous awards including multiple Elliot Norton Awards from the Boston Theater Critics Association, including The Stone, The Seagull, The Orchard, and a Special Citation for innovation during the pandemic. A company of immigrants, Arlekin has toured internationally, and performs works that explore identity, culture, antisemitism, home, belonging, tradition, and finding common humanity and themes that unite us. The company makes its home in Needham, MA.

www.ourclassplay.com

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