Sensitive Guys

Is it enough just to be “working on your sh*t?” In the safe spaces of a small liberal arts college, the student-led Men’s Peer Education Group and women’s Survivor Support Group work together on an ambitious plan to eradicate all sexual violence everywhere in just five years. They've got it all together -- until an incident throws their ideals into question. In this world premiere, InterAct Core Playwright alum MJ Kaufman’s biting social satire casts female identifying and gender non-conforming people as both male and female students trying to understand what it really means to stand up against the patriarchy.

This production was Barrymore recommended.

Playwright:

MJ Kaufman

Director:

Evren Odcikin

Evren Odcikin is a director, adapter, and producer based in San Francisco. He has directed productions and workshops at New York Theatre Workshop, Geva Theatre Center, South Coast Repertory, Berkeley Repertory Theater, InterAct Theatre Company, Cleveland Public Theatre, The Lark, Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Kennedy Center, TheatreSquared, Magic Theatre, SF Playhouse, Golden Thread Productions, Crowded Fire, Cutting Ball, New Conservatory Theatre Center, TheatreFirst, Playwrights Foundation, and National New Plays Network National Showcase, collaborating with such writers as Kevin Artigue, Melis Aker, Guillermo Calderón, Eugenie Chan, Christopher Chen, Gabriel Jason Dean, Yussef El Guindi, Prince Gomolvilas, Lauren Gunderson, David Jacobi, MJ Kaufman, Hannah Khalil, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Michael Lew, Mona Mansour, Rehana Lew Mirza, Nick Nanna Mwaluko, Baruch Porras-Hernandez, Marisela Treviño Orta, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Betty Shamieh, Caridad Svich, Jordan Tannahill, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, and Lauren Yee, amongst many others. His productions have been Barrymore and Theatre Bay Area Awards Recommended; appeared on "Best of the Year" lists in San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, Bay Area Reporter, and SF Bay Times; named as a Critic's Pick for Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle; and were nominated for numerous Theatre Bay Area and Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards. Evren is a founder of Maia Directors, a consulting group for artists and organizations engaging with Middle Eastern stories and beyond. From 2015-2018, Evren served as the Director of New Plays at Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East. At Golden Thread, he produced the mainstage productions of Hassan Abdulrazzak's Love, Bombs & Apples, Yussef El Guindi's Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat, Torange Yeghiazarian's 444 Days, and the ReOrient 2017 Festival of Short Plays. He also programmed and produced all new play development activities, including the annual New Threads staged reading series. He is now a resident artist with the company. Evren was a 2015 National Directors Fellow for the O'Neill, NNPN, Kennedy Center, and SDCF, and received a 2013 TITAN Award for Directors from Theatre Bay Area. He was named a "Theatre Worker You Should Know" by American Theatre Magazine in 2016, and selected as an Emerging Theatre Leader by Theatre Communications Group for the American Express Leadership Bootcamp in 2012. Evren has served on selection panels for Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award, NNPN National Showcase of New Plays, National Endowment for the Arts, Theatre Communications Group, Theatre Bay Area, and The Zellerbach Family Foundation. He is an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Lighting Designer:

Maria Shaplin

Costume Designer:

Katherine Fritz

Venue :

InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia

InterAct is a theatre for today's world, dedicated to commissioning, developing, and producing new and contemporary plays that explore the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. Through both its artistic and educational programs, InterAct utilizes theatre as a tool to promote civic discourse and stimulate dialogue around the most pressing and complex issues we face in contemporary society. InterAct values ARTISTIC RISK, which we express by maintaining a robust commitment to producing new plays. Through its world premiere productions, Young Voices Monologue Festival, active involvement in play development, 20/20 Commissions, Core Playwrights program, leadership role with the National New Play Network and Philadelphia New Play Initiative, InterAct has established itself as the region’s leading proponent of new plays. InterAct values CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, which we express by tackling plays of societal relevance, and fostering positive social discourse around the important, complex, sometimes controversial stories, issues and ideas contained in those plays. Through our Speaker Sunday and Coffee Conversation post-performance talk backs, our free public convenings and symposia, and our partnerships with community and academic organizations, InterAct consistently offers its constituents opportunities to deepen their engagement with the thematic content in its plays. InterAct values DIVERSITY, which we express by being extremely mindful in our play selection, our artistic and administrative hiring practices, our venue design and long-term efforts to develop non-traditional theatergoing audiences. InterAct Theatre was named Best Established Theatre in 2015 by Philadelphia Magazine.

Category:

Featured

Search form

Reviews