by Paula Vogel
directed by Susie Schutt PERFORMANCES ADDED
TO MEET DEMAND - MUST CLOSE MAY 7! |
"Truly magical and undeniably unforgettable."
- Broadway World "A powerful indictment of oppression and censorship."
- EDGE Providence "Wonderful...great performances across the board!"
- The Public's Radio "Masterly crafted!"
- Warwick Beacon |
"The 'true story of a little Jewish play' by playwright Paula Vogel is given a masterful production at Wilbury Theatre Group in their reconfigured space at Waterfire Arts Center. There is so much in this play, and the play within the play, that will get you thinking about not only censorship, but anti-Semitism and prejudice as well.”
-Warwick Beacon
-Warwick Beacon
ABOUT
Indecent
by Paula Vogel
Indecent tells the true story behind Sholem Asch’s God Of Vengeance - a Yiddish play that transferred to Broadway in 1922 and was shut down by the police, six weeks after opening at the Apollo Theater on 42nd Street, for offensive content. God of Vengeance, written by Asch when he was in his 20’s, tells the story of a bourgeois brothel owner whose daughter falls in love with one of his prostitutes.
God of Vengeance, the evocative work of Jewish culture, was praised and criticized for taboo themes of censorship, immigration and anti-Semitism. Inspired by these true events and the controversy, and pulsing with music and theatricality, Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel’s Indecent tells the behind-the-scenes story of the courageous artists who risked their careers and lives to perform a work deemed “indecent.”
“Brimming with good faith” (New York Times) this Tony Award-winning intimate and enchanting play filled with music and dance is a testament to the transformative power of art that is timelier than ever before.
SPECIAL EVENT:
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ABOUT INDECENT
Join us Monday, May 1 at 6:00pm for a special community conversation about Indecent and the rise of anti-Semitism - presented by Wilbury Theatre Group in partnership with Providence's Temple Beth-El.
This production is presented with support from the Susan F. Gonsalves Charitable Fund, the Providence Tourism Council, and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.
God of Vengeance, the evocative work of Jewish culture, was praised and criticized for taboo themes of censorship, immigration and anti-Semitism. Inspired by these true events and the controversy, and pulsing with music and theatricality, Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel’s Indecent tells the behind-the-scenes story of the courageous artists who risked their careers and lives to perform a work deemed “indecent.”
“Brimming with good faith” (New York Times) this Tony Award-winning intimate and enchanting play filled with music and dance is a testament to the transformative power of art that is timelier than ever before.
SPECIAL EVENT:
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ABOUT INDECENT
Join us Monday, May 1 at 6:00pm for a special community conversation about Indecent and the rise of anti-Semitism - presented by Wilbury Theatre Group in partnership with Providence's Temple Beth-El.
This production is presented with support from the Susan F. Gonsalves Charitable Fund, the Providence Tourism Council, and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.
"A powerful indictment of oppression and censorship, as well as a tribute to the men and women who are willing to risk their lives for the chance to express their inner selves."
- EDGE Providence
- EDGE Providence
NEWS + MEDIA
"The intimate setting, profound message, commanding performances and hypnotic music make this production of 'Indecent' truly magical and undeniably unforgettable."
- Broadway World
“Masterly crafted....“The true story of a little Jewish play” by playwright Paula Vogel is given a masterful production at Wilbury Theatre Group in their reconfigured space at Waterfire Arts Center. There is so much in this play, and the play within the play, that will get you thinking about not only censorship, but anti-Semitism and prejudice as well.”
- Warwick Beacon
"Paula Vogel's Tony award-winning "Indecent," now being performed by Wilbury Theatre Group, asks fundamental questions about freedom, bigotry, sexual expression, and the responsibility of artists to their art and their communities...it's a powerful indictment of oppression and censorship, as well as a tribute to the men and women who are willing to risk their lives for the chance to express their inner selves."
- EDGE Providence
"The cast is wonderful...great performances across the board!"
- The Public's Radio
"It was indecent. It was shocking. It was pornographic. And a century ago, in 1923, its Broadway producer and cast were tried for obscenity. Now, this controversial play is back, in a way, as the Wilbury Theatre Group in Providence presents acclaimed playwright Paula Vogel’s “Indecent.” This is a play about a play, namely Yiddish writer Sholem Asch’s “God of Vengeance,” which created so much controversy 100 years ago..."
- The Providence Journal
"When the writer Sholem Asch wrote his play, “The God of Vengeance,” in 1906, he had no idea how much trouble his words would cause. Critics attacked the story for its central lesbian relationship. Fellow Jews detected antisemitic tropes. The script, first composed in Yiddish, caused linguistic friction among actors. During its Broadway debut, New York police shut down the production and arrested the cast on charges of obscenity. Decades after Asch finished typing his script, even the House Un-American Activities Committee seized its chance to push him around. Asch just couldn’t catch a break, right up to his death in 1957..."
- Jewish Rhode Island
“Indecent is a modern masterpiece of the American theatre and we are honored to be sharing this important work with Rhode Island audiences for the first time,” said Wilbury’s Artistic Director, Josh Short. “Not only is this play an incredible testament to the power of theatre to persist in even the most trying times, but in an environment where anti-Semitic incidents continue to be on the rise, it’s an essential reminder of the legacy of Jewish artists who believed fully in the enduring power of storytelling.”
- VIEW THE PRESS RELEASE
- Broadway World
“Masterly crafted....“The true story of a little Jewish play” by playwright Paula Vogel is given a masterful production at Wilbury Theatre Group in their reconfigured space at Waterfire Arts Center. There is so much in this play, and the play within the play, that will get you thinking about not only censorship, but anti-Semitism and prejudice as well.”
- Warwick Beacon
"Paula Vogel's Tony award-winning "Indecent," now being performed by Wilbury Theatre Group, asks fundamental questions about freedom, bigotry, sexual expression, and the responsibility of artists to their art and their communities...it's a powerful indictment of oppression and censorship, as well as a tribute to the men and women who are willing to risk their lives for the chance to express their inner selves."
- EDGE Providence
"The cast is wonderful...great performances across the board!"
- The Public's Radio
"It was indecent. It was shocking. It was pornographic. And a century ago, in 1923, its Broadway producer and cast were tried for obscenity. Now, this controversial play is back, in a way, as the Wilbury Theatre Group in Providence presents acclaimed playwright Paula Vogel’s “Indecent.” This is a play about a play, namely Yiddish writer Sholem Asch’s “God of Vengeance,” which created so much controversy 100 years ago..."
- The Providence Journal
"When the writer Sholem Asch wrote his play, “The God of Vengeance,” in 1906, he had no idea how much trouble his words would cause. Critics attacked the story for its central lesbian relationship. Fellow Jews detected antisemitic tropes. The script, first composed in Yiddish, caused linguistic friction among actors. During its Broadway debut, New York police shut down the production and arrested the cast on charges of obscenity. Decades after Asch finished typing his script, even the House Un-American Activities Committee seized its chance to push him around. Asch just couldn’t catch a break, right up to his death in 1957..."
- Jewish Rhode Island
“Indecent is a modern masterpiece of the American theatre and we are honored to be sharing this important work with Rhode Island audiences for the first time,” said Wilbury’s Artistic Director, Josh Short. “Not only is this play an incredible testament to the power of theatre to persist in even the most trying times, but in an environment where anti-Semitic incidents continue to be on the rise, it’s an essential reminder of the legacy of Jewish artists who believed fully in the enduring power of storytelling.”
- VIEW THE PRESS RELEASE
CAST + CREATIVE TEAM
Chris Stahl*
Aimee Doherty*
Scott Levine
Florence Wallis
|
Anna Slate
Dave Rabinow
Dylan Bowden
|
Patrick O'Konis
Stephanie Carlson*
Assel Sat
|
INDECENT
By Paula Vogel Directed by Susie Schutt Choreographer, Ali Kenner Brodsky Music Director, Milly Massey Costume Designer, Matt Oxley Light + Sound Designer, Andy Russ Set Designer, Jeremy Chiang Dialect Coach, Becky Gibel Asst. Director, Jeff Ginsberg Music by Lisa Gutkin & Aaron Halva Accordion, Dylan Bowden Clarinet, Assel Sat Violin, Florence Wallis Stage Manager, Emmy Varden* Asst. Stage Manager, Allison Marchetti Asst. Stage Manager, Lauren Kieler Wardrobe / Costume Asst., Arianna Davey Scenic Painting, Kevin Sciotto Technical Director, Dave Carney Technical Supervisor, Max Ponticelli Special Effects, Barnaby Evans Production Photographer, Erin X. Smithers Press / Media Inquiries: Niki Healy, Bright Publicity |
*Appears courtesy Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
“The cast is wonderful...
great performances across the board!”
- The Public's Radio
great performances across the board!”
- The Public's Radio
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
PAULA VOGEL is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose plays include INDECENT (Tony Award for Best Play), HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE (Broadway production set for spring 2020; Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lortel Prize, OBIE Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play), THE LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME, THE MINEOLA TWINS, THE BALTIMORE WALTZ, HOT’N’THROBBING, DESDEMONA, AND BABY MAKES SEVEN, THE OLDEST PROFESSION and A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS.
Internationally, her plays have been produced in in English in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and in translation in Italy, Germany, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland Slovenia, Canada, Portugal, France, Greece, Japanese, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and many other countries.
John Simon once remarked that Paula Vogel had more awards than a “black sofa collects lint.” Honors include induction in the American Theatre Hall of Fame, the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lily Award, the Thornton Wilder Prize, the Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the William Inge Award, the Elliott Norton Award, a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Award, a TCG Residency Award, a Guggenheim, a Pew Charitable Trust Award, and fellowships and residencies at Sundance Theatre Lab, Hedgebrook, The Rockefeller Center’s Bellagio Center, Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, and the Bunting.
Paula was playwright in residence at The Signature Theatre (2004-05 season), and Theatre Communications Group publishes six volumes of her work. Paula continues her playwriting intensives with community organizations, students, theater companies, subscribers and writers across the globe. She is the 2019 inaugural UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Distinguished Playwright-in-Residence and has recently taught at Sewanee, Shanghai Theatre Academy and Nanjing University, University of Texas at Austin, and the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis. From 1984 to 2008, Paula Vogel founded and ran the playwriting program at Brown University; during that time she started a theatre workshop for women in Maximum Security at the Adults Correction Institute in Cranston, Rhode Island. It continues to this day, sponsored by the Pembroke Center for Women at Brown University. From 2008-2012, she was the O’Neill Chair at Yale School of Drama.
PaulaVogelPlaywright.com
Internationally, her plays have been produced in in English in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and in translation in Italy, Germany, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland Slovenia, Canada, Portugal, France, Greece, Japanese, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and many other countries.
John Simon once remarked that Paula Vogel had more awards than a “black sofa collects lint.” Honors include induction in the American Theatre Hall of Fame, the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lily Award, the Thornton Wilder Prize, the Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the William Inge Award, the Elliott Norton Award, a Susan Smith Blackburn Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Award, a TCG Residency Award, a Guggenheim, a Pew Charitable Trust Award, and fellowships and residencies at Sundance Theatre Lab, Hedgebrook, The Rockefeller Center’s Bellagio Center, Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, and the Bunting.
Paula was playwright in residence at The Signature Theatre (2004-05 season), and Theatre Communications Group publishes six volumes of her work. Paula continues her playwriting intensives with community organizations, students, theater companies, subscribers and writers across the globe. She is the 2019 inaugural UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Distinguished Playwright-in-Residence and has recently taught at Sewanee, Shanghai Theatre Academy and Nanjing University, University of Texas at Austin, and the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis. From 1984 to 2008, Paula Vogel founded and ran the playwriting program at Brown University; during that time she started a theatre workshop for women in Maximum Security at the Adults Correction Institute in Cranston, Rhode Island. It continues to this day, sponsored by the Pembroke Center for Women at Brown University. From 2008-2012, she was the O’Neill Chair at Yale School of Drama.
PaulaVogelPlaywright.com
ABOUT
An award-winning*, not-for-profit professional theatre company, the Wilbury Theatre Group engages our community in thought-provoking conversation through new works, reimagined classics and adventurous playmaking. We are idealistic, ambitious, and stubborn in our resolve to create theatre that entertains, enlightens, and inspires.
*WINNER of the 2018 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (The Tony Awards).
*WINNER of the 2018 National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (The Tony Awards).
