“Elevator Repair Service is astonishing.” — The Times (London)
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
They triumphantly tackled Faulkner, Fitzgerald, and Shakespeare with their celebrated productions of The Sound and the Fury, Gatz, and Measure for Measure. Now in their newest project, Elevator Repair Service takes on The Seagull, Anton Chekhov’s classic drama of artists in life and love. Blurring the line between the play itself and an informal chat with the audience, ERS’s venturous approach to the text twists truth into lies and fact into fiction as actors become characters who become actors who become characters. All the while, the play remains a permanently modern exploration of the conflicting pursuits of art, love, and happiness.
Run time: about 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE DIGITAL PROGRAM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Elevator Repair Service (ERS) is a New York City-based company that creates original works for live theatre with an ongoing ensemble. The company’s shows are created from a wide range of texts that include found transcripts of trials and debates, literature, classical dramas, and new plays. Founded in 1991, ERS has authored an extensive body of work that includes upwards of 20 original theatrical productions. These have earned the company a loyal following and made it one of New York’s most highly acclaimed experimental theatre companies. ERS productions share a commitment to risk-taking and reinvention, blending unusual texts with innovations in theatrical form. The finished works feature the company’s signature dynamic performance style coupled with a rigorous commitment to psychologically complex performances. ERS has received numerous awards and distinctions. elevator.org
CHEAT SHEET
• We love an adaptation! – and Elevator Repair Service are masters at taking something familiar and making it fresh, strange and exciting. There’s no better way to welcome audiences back to NYU Skirball, in the strange new light of Covid-era performance, than revisiting a classic with ERS.
• ERS is returning to the Skirball stage three years after their triumphant run of Gatz – this time, with a world premiere.
• Who doesn’t want a chance to have an “informal chat” with the artists? – after months of social distancing, audience participation is going to feel so good.
NYU COVID-19 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS:
- Audience members must be 12 years of age or older to enter the theater.
- Audience members must show a valid government-issued photo ID.
- All audience members must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive a COVID-19 booster shot (if eligible for the booster based on CDC criteria). Documentation must include name, birthday, dates of doses & vaccine manufacturer. Documentation must be in English.
- All audience members will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated and boosted (if eligible), with an FDA-authorized or WHO-listed vaccine.
- All audience members must wear a well-fitted mask at all times.
Allowable masks: disposable masks (surgical or medical procedure masks), KN95 masks, KF94 masks, N95 masks are allowable.
Part of Festival of New York.
NYU DEPARTMENT CO-SPONSORS
College of Arts and Science’s program in Dramatic Literature, Department of Russian & Slavic Studies, Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, Tisch Drama, Tisch Performance Studies
SUPPORT
Seagull received substantial development support from and was presented by LUMBERYARD Center for Film and Performing Arts.
NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by Howard Gilman Foundation, Collins Building Services, Consolidated Edison, Harkness Foundation for Dance, DuBose & Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and Marta Heflin Foundation, as well as our valued donors through memberships and commissioning fund support.
