About This Show
Four One-acts by Three Greats of the Modern Theater
A Hand Witch of the Second Stage by Peter Barnes
An innocent woman accused of witchcraft and slated for execution in Medieval France turns the tables on her inquisitors in an unexpected and hilarious plot twist. This 30-minute feast of the absurd by the author of The Ruling Class and Red Noses is a penetrating commentary on faith as a weapon and also a liberator.
One for the Road & Press Conference by Harold Pinter
Two plays by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter (The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, Ashes to Ashes) merge into an unforgettable hour of theater. In an unnamed police state a government official named Nicolas brutally interrogates a political dissident and his family, invoking God and country to justify his actions. Mesmerizing, devastating, and brilliantly controlled, One for the Road is a miniature masterpiece. In Press Conference the minister of culture fields the media’s questions, revealing his disdain for public dissent and desire for approval in the process. A short shock of a play that will haunt you long after you’ve left the theater.
Catastrophe by Samuel Beckett
An overbearing director and his agreeable assistant painstakingly arrange an elderly actor, who stands on a pedestal submitting to their direction. An allegory of totalitarianism and the struggle to oppose it, this 10-minute piece is engrossing, troubling and, ultimately, triumphant.