OBIE Award-Winning Metropolitan Playhouse
Proudly Presents
INJUNCTION GRANTED
A Living Newspaper By The Federal Theater Project
Brought to Life in a Delectably Dizzying New Production
Featuring Music, Acrobatics, 200 Characters and a Brand New Coda!
Directed by Alex Roe
Performances Begin May 29, 2015
NEW YORK, NY, May 15, 2015 – OBIE Award-winning theater company Metropolitan Playhouse will present Injunction Granted, one of the Federal Theater Project’s 1930s-era experimental living newspapers. Performances begin Friday, May 29, 2015.
It’s labor versus capital in this circus-like living newspaper from the Federal Theater Project. A cast of six portrays more than 200 characters in Metropolitan’s delectably dizzying production, the third in the company’s jubilant celebrations of these social dramas created by the WPA. Created in the spirit of Metropolitan’s productions of Power (2009) and One Third of a Nation (2011) — this time with music, acrobatics and clowning — Injunction Granted features a special coda written just for the Metropolitan production.
In its initial performances, Injunction Granted angered members of the federal government thanks to its unabashed support of worker organizations and its lampooning of the business magnates of the day. So enraged by the leftist content, the government ultimately ended its funding of the FTP, leading to its demise.
The cast of Injunction Granted features Nathaniel Claridad, Scottie Davis, Lorinne Lampert, Cliff Miler, Kendall Rileigh and Perri Yaniv.
Injunction Granted is directed by Metropolitan Playhouse Artistic Director Alex Roe. The production features original music composed by Michael Kosch. Costume design is by Rachael Kosch. Lighting design is by Christopher Weston.
Kendall Rileigh is the acrobatics consultant. Projection and sound design are by Michael Hardart.Heather Olmstead is the stage manager. Dramatury is by Jonathan Soffer. John Capo Public Relationsis the press agent.
The production will run from May 29 through June 28 with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3pm, with additional 3pm performances on June 17, June 20, June 24 and June 27 and an additional 7:30pm “Pay What You Will” performance on June 1.
Tickets ($25 general admission; $20 seniors/students; $10 children under eighteen; $15 previews) are available by visiting www.MetropolitanPlayhouse.org or by calling (800) 838-3006.
About Metropolitan Playhouse
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Alex Roe since 2001, the twenty-three-year-old company has grown into an institution recognized for both artistic excellence and cultural significance. Guiding the company’s growth has been a clear vision of the rich portrait that theater paints of the culture that creates it. Reflecting society’s values, aspirations, and character, theater offers, as does no other art, a doubly rich perspective. On the one hand, it is a window into the character of the time of its creation. On the other, it is always contemporary, because every performance of a play is a new creation for its own time. Connecting us with our past in the light of our present, America’s theater gives invaluable insight into our cultural identity.
The Playhouse presents fully staged productions and workshop presentations from August through June. Through this work, the company has revitalized and re-examined many forgotten gems in the plays and literature of America’s past. Metropolitan has also developed many new plays that address America’s eclectic history and culture. Focusing on what is it to be American, what our culture is in the world, and what we may see in the future, Metropolitan stages both old and new works for the modern stage to get to the heart of their lasting impact and import.
The core of Metropolitan seasons are four mainstage plays, chosen individually for their dramatic worth, intellectual sophistication, social significance, and emotional depth. Through this programming, the theater creates excellent productions that challenge and entertain our audiences, as well as a deeper exploration of our culture and identity as one theme is seen through different perspectives. These plays are typically rarely-produced American plays from the past; new plays inspired by cultural trends or historical periods of moment in our country’s past; and occasionally, plays from other cultures that resonate particularly with American culture or canonical works. Each season is organized around a seasonal theme that unifies the whole season and relates it to the current cultural moment. Past themes have included “Heroes,” “Outsiders,” and “Faith.”