Titus Welliver Joins EPSTEIN ORATORIO at La MaMa
The staged readings will take place at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre and benefit the Public Integrity Project.
La MaMa ETC has announced that joining Kathleen Chalfant in the cast of Karen Malpede’s Epstein Oratorio are Phoebe Chaplin, Christen Clifford, Stella Everett, Robert Farrior, Tu Morrow, Delilah Napier, Barney O’Hanlon, Lena Pepe, Roger Raines, and Titus Welliver. The two-night-only staged readings, directed by Alex Keegan, take place Thursday, October 1 and Friday, October 2, 2026, at 7pm at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East 4 Street.
The readings, which are produced by Karen Brooks, Michal Gamily, Julianne Hoffenberg, and Evangeline Morphos, benefit the Public Integrity Project, which is currently suing the U.S. Attorney General for the release of the Epstein Files (https://publicintegrityproject.org/the-latest/public-integrity-project-sues-acting-attorney-general-for-failing-to-produce-epstein-files). The stage manager for the event is Lisa Stafford.
A poetic and darkly comic exposé of the ‘Jeffrey Epstein class,’ Epstein Oratorio unfolds against the myth of Demeter and Persephone. Hades presides over both the modern and mythic worlds while a male chorus speaks in language drawn directly from the Epstein files and mainstream media coverage. The victims’ stories are based on real accounts. By weaving fiction and myth, the play confronts the trauma of sexual violence and imagines the possibility of change.
For over 30 years Kathleen Chalfant has been one of the most respected actresses on the New York stage. She is the recipient of Drama Desk, Outer Critics’ Circle, Obie, Lucille Lortel, and Drama League Awards for her groundbreaking performance in off-Broadway’s Wit, and of a Tony nomination for her work in the landmark play Angels in America. In 2025 she received Best Actress honors from the National Society of Film Critics for her performance in the film Familiar Touch.
Titus Welliver starred as the title character in the Amazon series Bosch and Bosch: Legacy. He is also known for his roles in the series Deadwood, The Good Wife, Lost, Brooklyn South, and Sons of Anarchy, and has appeared in the Ben Affleck films Gone Baby Gone, The Town, Live by Night, and the Oscar-winning Argo.
Karen Malpede is the author of 22 produced and published plays, and co-founder with her late husband, actor/producer George Bartenieff, of Theater Three Collaborative, an Obie Award winner for its I Will Bear Witness, the diaries of Victor Klemperer. She is the author most recently of the new memoir, Last Radiance: Radical Lives, Bright Deaths. Epstein Oratorio is Malpede’s fourth major collaboration with Kathleen Chalfant.
The readings of Epstein Oratorio will be followed by brief talkbacks with Substack journalists Wajahat Ali and Ellie Leonard, who have done extensive research and written commentary on the Epstein files. The play, published by Tough Poets Review, will be available for sale at the event.
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