A Barn Play

Northern Manhattan’s own Up Theater Company presents a different kind of animal farm in the world premiere of Lizzie Donahue’s A Barn Play. This timely and darkly comic fable explores the power of creating art amidst oppression when a cast of farm animals rehearses their show. Directed by Melissa Moschitto, founding artistic director of the Anthropologists.

Owl (Rik Walter) attempts to rehearse his new play with a lively and opinionated ensemble of farm animals: Chicken (April J. Barber), Pig (Sarah Kiefer), Dog (Arisael Rivera), Cow (Mariette Strauss), Sheep (China Pharr), and Cat (Stephanie Cha). Tensions flare when a crisis befalls the animals and the ensemble rejects Owl’s arty attempt for one of their own devising — one that sheds light on our own relationships with animals, children, and art. This provocative dark comedy asks, “At a time of crisis, who will stand up and be the pig, and who will be the owl?”