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U.S. PREMIERE
“Damn me, it’s hilarious.” – The Sunday Independent
ABOUT THE WORK
Blending together the savagely comic discourse of Adrienne Truscott (Wild Bore, Asking For It) with the slick dramaturgy of the internationally renowned theatre company Brokentalkers (The Examination, Have I No Mouth, The Blue Boy), MASTERCLASS is a parody like no other – uncovering truths about privilege, power and the hold they have over our so-called great artists and the positions and opportunities they are granted.
Taking shape as an interview, Masterclass doesn’t hold back. Performed by fed-up feminist Adrienne Truscott and all-around good guy Feidlim Cannon, Masterclass begins as a fun and familiar parody, but there is something more at play. Using the arts world as a metaphor, Masterclass is a literate and hilarious examination of gender and power.
Masterclass premiered at Project Arts Centre as part of Dublin Fringe Festival in 2021.
PRODUCTION WARNINGS
This production includes flashing lights, firearms, and the use of strong language.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Brokentalkers are a multi-award-winning Dublin based theatre company. For over a decade Brokentalkers have been making formally ambitious work that defies categorization and have built a reputation as one of Ireland’s most innovative and original theatre companies. They make work that responds to the contemporary world, using elements such as original writing, dance, classic texts, film, interviews, found materials and music to represent that world in performance. brokentalkers.ie/masterclass/
Adrienne Truscott’s work crosses lines and methodologies from dance, theatre, comedy and performance art; these iterations appear as drag club acts as well as evening-length pieces; dances to one-lady plays; group pieces to solos. Recent pieces include THIS and Wild Bore. She is one half of The Wau Wau Sisters, a boundary-busting cabaret & circus collaboration that has been laying stages to waste for 20 years, and her critically acclaimed Adrienne Truscott’s Asking For It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy and Little Else continues to tour (as both a solo and an expanded group show). This show is considered a critical impetus to the evolving discourse about intersections of rape culture, gender, and comedy. adriennetruscott.com/
CREATIVE CREDITS
Movement Director: Eddie Kay
Costume Design: Sarah Foley
Lighting Design: Dara Hoban
Set Design: Ellen Kirk
Sound Design: Jennifer O’Malley
RUN TIME
Approximately 60 minutes with no intermission
SUPPORT
Masterclass is made possible in part with support from Culture Ireland.
NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater; Collins Building Services; Harkness Foundation for Dance; Villa Albertine; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Goethe Institut; Austrian Consulate General New York; Marta Heflin Foundation; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Allies for Arts Access Fund support.