PS 122's OCTOROON Breaks Ties with Director Gavin Quinn

Performance Space 122 has announced the following changes to the final presentation of the Spring 2010 season.

THE OCTOROON:
AN ADAPTATION OF THE OCTOROON BASED ON THE OCTOROON
Written and directed by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Saturday, June 19- Saturday, July 3
Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 6PM
Special Event: Thursday Night Social on June 24 following the performance

Press Performances begin Thursday, June 24 @ 8pm

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, LLC and Pan Pan theatre company have reached the decision to discontinue their collaboration on The Octoroon: An Adaptation of The Octoroon Based on The Octoroon, originally slated to begin performances June 16. PS122 is disappointed with the outcome but supports the mutual decision of all parties not to continue as originally envisaged, and remains committed to working with both parties on future projects. A production of a new version of the play will now run from Saturday, June 19 at 8PM through Saturday, July 3.

Performance Space 122 is proud to present Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, one of NYC's most incendiary new playwrights, for what is sure to be a Molotov cocktail of contemporary theatre performance: THE OCTOROON: AN ADAPTATION OF THE OCTOROON BASED ON THE OCTOROON is an adaptation of 19th century Irish playwright Dion Boucicault's infamous melodrama.

After immigrating to the United States, Boucicault's The Octoroon premiered at one of New York City's premier theaters in 1859, while the country was on the brink of the Civil War. The Octoroon became immensely popular and created one of the earliest occurrences in American popular theatre where the use of a popular entertainment such as the melodrama, created dialogue and controversy about contemporary societal issues; abolition, African Americans, and slavery in America.

THE OCTOROON: AN ADAPTATION OF THE OCTOROON BASED ON THE OCTOROON is a bombastic, super-theatrical, full-scale investigation of that classic intersection of theatre and identity politics. This 21st century adaptation seeks to understand why New York audiences can't seem to get enough of plays about racism and America.

PS122's presentation of THE OCTOROON: AN ADAPTATION OF THE OCTOROON BASED ON THE OCTOROON marks the first full production of one of Mr. Jacobs-Jenkins' plays.

Artistic Director Vallejo Gantner says, "We're thrilled to have Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' latest exploration of race and theatre in America. It continues PS122's venerable history of working with polemic, deeply experimental new writing that challenges our ways of thinking, disturbing and have divided critics and audiences. I have loved, hated, been horrified, perplexed and compelled by everything of his I have seen - frequently all at the same moment. Beneath the face paint there is a riveting intelligence that, like Young Jean Lee, Thomas Bradshaw and many others, that gazes unafraid upon its own biases, absurdities and contradictions."

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a former playwriting fellow at the New York Theatre Workshop, an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and the Public Theater's Emerging Writing Group, and a member of the ArsNova Playgroup. He is the recipient of the 2009 Princess Grace Award for Playwriting and the 2009 Dorothy Strelsin Playwriting Fellowship. His full-length plays include Appropriate, The Change, and Neighbors, was presented in February 2010 as part of the Public Theater's PublicLab.

Performance Space 122 is one of New York's ultimate destinations for cutting-edge theatre, dance, music, live art and multi-media. PS122 is dedicated to supporting and presenting artists who explore innovative form and provocative content and who rigorously challenge the boundaries of contemporary performance; PS122 is committed to a steadfast search for pioneering artists from a diversity of cultures, nations and beliefs. www.ps122.org

Support for THE OCTOROON: AN ADAPTATION OF THE OCTOROON BASED ON THE OCTOROON has been provided by a Commission Grant from the Jerome Foundation, and the Axe-Houghton Foundation.

What's black and white and red all over? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM7GQxLtU-k
Trailer by Hannah Carpenter

THE OCTOROON: AN ADAPTATION OF THE OCTOROON BASED ON THE OCTOROON runs Saturday, June 19 - Saturday, July 3 on the following schedule:
Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 6PM.
SPECIAL EVENT: Thursday Night Social on June 24 following the performance

Tickets $18, $15 (students/seniors), $11 (with the PS122 Passport)
Available at www.ps122.org , 212-352-3101 and at the Box Office.
Performance Space 122 is located at 150 First Avenue at E. 9th St., NYC, NY 10009.

Need more Off-Broadway Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...