THE TOWN HALL AFFAIR
Watch videos from rehearsals for THE TOWN HALL AFFAIR »
The Wooster Group’s piece THE TOWN HALL AFFAIR is based on Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker’s film Town Bloody Hall, which documents a raucous 1971 debate on Women’s Liberation held at Town Hall in New York City. The debate participants included a panel of writers, provocateurs, and thinkers: cultural critic Diana Trilling, feminist author Germaine Greer, lesbian journalist Jill Johnston, and Norman Mailer acting as immoderate moderator.
In THE TOWN HALL AFFAIR the Group both re-inhabits the original film and derails it, redirecting Mailer’s pugnacious propensities onto himself and spinning out into Jill Johnston’s vision of a radical future.
Photo by Zbigniew Bzymek
Production Credits
THE TOWN HALL AFFAIR
Directed by Elizabeth LeCompte
Based on the film Town Bloody Hall, directed by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker
With Enver Chakartash, Ari Fliakos, Mia Fliakos, Gareth Hobbs, Greg Mehrten, Erin Mullin, Scott Shepherd, Maura Tierney (Paris 2016, New York & Los Angeles 2017, all 2018-19 performances), Lucy Taylor (Antwerp 2016, San Francisco 2017), and Kate Valk
Lighting: Jennifer Tipton and Ryan Seelig
Tour Lighting (Yokohama & Kyoto 2018, all 2019 performances): David Sexton
Sound: Eric Sluyter and Gareth Hobbs
Video and Projections: Robert Wuss
Tour Video and Projections (Yokohama & Kyoto 2018, all 2019 performances): Wladimiro Woyno
Additional Video: Zbigniew Bzymek
Assistant Directors: Enver Chakartash and Matthew Dipple (2017-2019)
Costumes: Enver Chakartash
Stage Manager: Erin Mullin
Technical Directors: Eric Dyer (2015-2017), Joseph Silovsky (2015-2017), Jacob Bigelow (2018-2019)
Video Cueing System Development (2018-2019): Andrew Maillet and Wladimiro Woyno
Production Manager: Bona Lee
Video DAILIES: Zbigniew Bzymek
Special thanks to Wendy vanden Heuvel
This piece was made possible by support from piece by piece productions and the National Endowment for the Arts Art Works program, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Production History
2015 June 9-July 1: Rehearsals at The Performing Garage
2016 January 5-21: Rehearsals at The Performing Garage
2016 March 6-May 10: Rehearsals at The Performing Garage
2016 May 11-27: Advance showings at The Performing Garage
2016 September 12-14: Rehearsals at The Performing Garage
2016 September 21-24: Performances at deSingel, Antwerp, Belgium
2016 October 6-8: Performances at Festival d’Automne à Paris, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France. This engagement was supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership
with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
2017 February 1-3: Rehearsals at The Performing Garage
2017 February 4-March 4: Performances at The Performing Garage
2017 March 22-April 1: Performances at REDCAT in Los Angeles, California
2017 April 6-16: Performances at Z Space in San Francisco, California
2018 January 7-13: Performances at the Sydney Festival, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
2018 June 21-24: Performances at the Barbican, London, United Kingdom
2018 September 29-October 1: Performances at KAAT (Kanagawa Arts Theatre), Yokohama, Japan
2018 October 12-14: Performances at Kyoto Art Theater Shunjuza as part of Kyoto Experiment 2018, Kyoto, Japan
Wooster Group performances and exchange activities in Yokohama and Kyoto were made possible in part by: a grant from the Asian Cultural Council to advance international understanding through cultural exchange in the arts; and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Howard Gilman Foundation.
2019 April 11-14: Performances at Festival Internationale Neue Dramatik (FIND), Schaubühne, Berlin, Germany
