NY: “OUR CLASS” New York Premiere

Our Class, the award-winning play by Tadeusz Słobodzianek and directed by Igor Golyak (The Orchard; Just Tell No One; State vs. Natasha Banina) begins performances tomorrow, January 12 at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Opening night is set for January 18 and the limited engagement runs through February 4, 2024 at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Fisher Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, New York City, NY. Visit www.ourclassplay.com

The cast features an ensemble of artists hailing from New York, Los Angeles, Ukraine, and Russia, bridging the worlds of New York and international theater, film, and television. The cast is Gus Birney(The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window) as Dora, Andrey Burkovskiy (Call DiCaprio!) as Menachem, Jack DiFalco (Torch Song) as Zygmunt, José Espinosa (Take Me Out) as Rysiek, Tess Goldwyn (New Amsterdam) as Zocha, Will Manning (As Reaper in the Summer Gain) as Heniek, Stephen Ochsner (Chicks) as Jakub Katz, Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof) as Rachelka/Marianna, Richard Topol (Indecent; The Normal Heart) as Abram, and Ilia Volok (Gemini Man, The Gaaga) as Władek.

Our Class is based on real events, and follows 10 classmates — five Jewish and five Catholic — as they grow up as playmates, friends and neighbors, then turn on one another with life and death consequences. Inspired by real life events surrounding a horrific 1941 pogrom in the small village of Jedwabne, Poland, the play follows their lives from childhood through eight decades in a contemporary new production, directed by Jewish, Ukrainian-born director Igor Golyak.

“The cast…the whole team…this is more than just a play for us. The story hits close to home. Our incredible group of actors are bringing their full selves to the project – many are Jewish, some have Polish roots, others are from the former Soviet Union and now live here in the US and grapple with the creation of new lives here.

It’s an honor to work with them,” says Igor Golyak. “We all recognize the characters and the circumstances in Our Class – it’s a play about how neighbors turn on neighbors, as we experience today in the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and it’s about antisemitism, what we are capable of, and who we can become in the face of war and aggression. We are living this every day in today’s world – it is unfortunately not a story of the past, but a cycle that keeps repeating. I can’t think of a more timely play, or a more generous or gifted group of actors with which to collaborate on this powerful, deeply human project.”

The piece comes at a time when the world is facing an increase in antisemitism across the globe and is witnessing horrific wars in Ukraine and Israel. Our Class brings the audience on a journey with ten young people — classmates — as they move from love and friendship during wartime into unthinkable acts of antisemitism, hatred and violence. It is an exploration of humanity, an effort to comprehend who we are. What would we do, and what will we do, in this situation? Who do we become in the face of past and current aggression? What are we capable of and ultimately how can we live in the face of these realities?

The creative team, like the cast, brings together artists from New York and across the world, including scenic designer Jan Pappelbaum of the Schaubheune, сostume design by Anka Lupes, lighting design by Adam Silverman, music by Oscar® winner Anna Drubich (Navalny), sound design by Ben Williams, projections design by Eric Dunlap, hair & makeup design by Timur Sadykov, and dramaturgy by Rachel Moss. Kyra Bowie is the production stage manager. Helmed by Golyak, this cross-cultural collaboration between actors, designers, producers, artists and technicians is an effort to untangle traumas of the past and wrestle with these same questions of today. Our Class is co-executive produced by MART’s Sofia Kapkova and Arlekin’s Sara Stackhouse.

“One year ago, when I decided that I wanted to produce this new production of the play Our Class in New York, I couldn’t have imagined how enormously relevant this story would be today, with the world witnessing horrific antisemitic acts globally,” says Sofia Kapkova. “Back then, I was thinking about the parallels between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Our Class’s main motif of neighbors turning on each other. Yet, as we stand here today, we confront the grim reality of not one but two brutal conflicts, aiming to understand how to address the current aggression while striving to prevent the emergence of new crises in the future.”

Our Class will be accompanied by a series of in person author’s talks, special events and multimedia initiatives designed to engage communities, young people, and audiences in exploration and dialogue about the human consequences of war, antisemitism, immigrant experience, identity, empathy, and our shared humanity.

Tickets are on sale now on the official website, and run $59-$129. Our Class plays Tuesdays at 7:00pm, Wednesdays at 7:00pm, Thursdays at 7:00pm, Fridays at 7:00pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 7:30pm, and Sundays at 2pm.

CREDITS
Written by Tadeusz Słobodzianek
Adaptation by Norman Allen
Directed by Igor Golyak
Scenic Design by Jan Pappelbaum
Costume Design by Anka Lupes
Lighting Design by Adam Silverman
Music Composed by Anna Drubich
Sound Design by Ben Williams
Projection Design by Eric Dunlap
Hair & Makeup Design by Timur Sadykov
Dramaturgy by Rachel Moss
Production Stage Manager, Kyra Bowie
Production Manager, Neal Wilkinson
General Manager, Martin Platt
Executive Producers, Sofia Kapkova & Sara Stackhouse

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Arlekin Players Theatre

Arlekin Players Theatre was founded by Ukrainian-born artistic director Igor Golyak in 2009 and launched its (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab in 2020. Most recently, Arlekin produced The Orchard featuring Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov both off-Broadway in New York and in Boston, The Gaaga, US premiere, by Ukrainian playwright Sasha Denisova, and Just Tell No One at Lincoln Center with Bill Irwin, Jessica Hecht and David Krumholz in partnership with the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project. Arlekin received worldwide acclaim, including two New York Times Critics Picks, for their virtual projects during the pandemic, including WITNESS, State vs Natasha Banina, and chekhovOS /an experimental game/ featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov as Anton Chekhov. Arlekin has received numerous awards including multiple Elliot Norton Awards from the Boston Theater Critics Association, including The Stone, The Seagull, The Orchard, and a Special Citation for innovation during the pandemic. A company of immigrants, Arlekin has toured internationally, and performs works that explore identity, culture, antisemitism, home, belonging, tradition, and finding common humanity and themes that unite us. The company makes its home in Needham, MA.

MART Foundation

MART Foundation is an American nonprofit organization that produces and supports contemporary performing arts programs globally. With a special focus on co-productions, MART co-produced the re-staging of Sharon Eyal’s Sar’ for New York-based Gibney Company, Kirill Serebrennikov’s Outside with The Avignon Festival, and a digital version of the Song of Songs (SOS) cantata for the Baryshnikov Art Center. MART presented several music concerts at Carnegie Hall, supported a new premieres program at the Israel Festival, and the tour of NDT 2 in Israel. Currently, MART is producing Akram Khan’s first full-length duet with renowned artists from the world of classical ballet. By curating an inventive and varied arts program, MART strives to showcase the very best of contemporary theater, music, and dance.