David Lovejoy in Bowie in Warsaw. Photo: Michal Janicki.
The women of Warsaw tremble with the rumor of a strangler on the prowl. Behind their fear, unspoken secrets and traumas begin to surface. Set in the landscape of a true crime story from 1970s Poland, Bowie in Warsaw is an absurd comedy about the repression of self-expression and love in the Soviet era. Playwright Dorota Maslowska constructs a fantastical and baroque world to be one day visited by none other than David Bowie himself.
Bowie in Warsaw (2021), Poland/US. Presented by: Trap Door Theatre (Chicago) and Polish Institute in New York. US premiere.
Playwright: Dorota Maslowska. Directed by: Pawel Swiatek. Cast: Holly Cerney, Emily Lotspeich, Miguel Long, David Lovejoy, Laura Nelson, Emily Nichelson, Tia Pinson, Keith Surney, Bob Wilson.
Translation: Soren Gauger. Stage manager: Anna Klos. Scenic design: Merje Veske. Lighting design: Richard Norwood. Costume design: Rachel Sypniewski. Original music, sound design: Danny Rockett. Makeup, hair design: Syd Genco. Dramaturgy: Milan Pribisic. Dramaturgy intern: Emily Townley. Production intern: Tom McLees. Graphic design: Michal Janicki.
Running time: 95 min. Language: English.
The performance is followed by a talkback.
Following the success of the presentation of Slawomir Mrozek’s The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey at the 2022 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival, the Trap Door Theatre from Chicago returns to our stage with yet another play by a renowned Polish playwright, Dorota Maslowska.
This event is part of the 2023 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival: Anew. For more information, visit rehearsalfortruth.org.
Free and open to the public. Suggested donation $10. Seats are limited, on first-come, first-served basis. Online registration through Eventbrite is required.
Bowie in Warsaw is co-produced by the Trap Door Theatre and the Polish Cultural Institute New York, with generous sponsorship by Regina Bowgierd and John Kulczycki.
The 2023 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival: Anew, organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York, GOH Productions, Trap Door Theatre, Centre of Jewish Culture ŠTETL, Jan Mocek, Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, Palissimo Company, and Romanian Cultural Institute.
The program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The festival is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague, and Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.