"There's a determined empathy in Ms. Masciotti's work that enlivens the senses..."
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"You must go! ... A terrific production has written you a check, and you just need to take the L train out to Jefferson to cash it."
Helen Shaw, TimeOut New York
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"You must go! ... A terrific production has written you a check, and you just need to take the L train out to Jefferson to cash it."
Helen Shaw, TimeOut New York
About SOCIAL SECURITY
June, a retired pretzel factory worker, finds herself deaf after forty years with machines, widowed, and stranded in the urban muck of Reading, PA. She forges ahead gamely, aided by her robust will to find the good in life, and attended, for better or worse, by a few neighbors. Her landlord, once a community pillar, insinuates himself into what remains of her affairs with Machiavellian panache, while a younger neighbor from down the block selflessly chaperones her trips to the grocery store. But June, generous in her affections and unworldly-wise, seesaws between these two unlikely alliances, and her yearning for ordinary human companionship only drives her further into danger.
SOCIAL SECURITY Written by CHRISTINA MASCIOTTI Directed by PAUL LAZAR Scenic Designer SARA C. WALSH Lighting Designer SIMON HARDING Sound Designer BEN WILLIAMS Costume Designer JACOB A. CLIMER Stage Manager DEREK SPALDO Technical Director TJ SAMPSON Production Assistant JAMES ZEBOOKER Production Interns ANNA CROUCH, ANNABELLA DE REO, and GENE LEE Line Producer EVA C SCANLAN |
Elizabeth Dement, T. Ryder Smith, and Cynthia Hopkins in SOCIAL SECURITY.
Photo by Maria Baranova. |
Photo (c) Maria Baranova
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MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT:
CHRISTINA MASCIOTTI Christina Masciotti’s work has been presented by The PublicTheater’s Under the Radar Festival; Arts Emerson’s TNT Festival; LaStarria 90’s Desorientacion Series (Santiago, Chile); Theater Bonn (Germany), the VIE Scena Contemporanea Festival (Modena, Italy); and as part of PS 122’s New York Express Tour: Theater Garonne (Toulouse, France), T2G (Gennevilliers,France), Le Maillon (Strasbourg, France), and ZKM (Zagreb, Croatia). Her most recent production Adult was a TONY Critic’s Pick, and selected monologues from the play are being published in Smith and Kraus’ anthology: The Best Women’s Stage Monologues of 2014, and Applause Theater and Cinema Books’ anthology: Best Contemporary Monologues for Women 18-35. Her earlier play Vision Disturbance was named one of the Best Plays of 2010 by Time Out New York, described as “brilliant…and unforgettable” by The New Yorker, and “a showcase for Ms. Masciotti’s gift for writing” by The New York Times. The scripts for both Vision Disturbance and Adult have been selected for inclusion in the permanent archives of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. ABOUT THE BUSHWICK STARR The Bushwick Starr is an Obie Award winning not-for-profit theater in Brooklyn that presents an annual Season of new work in theater, dance, and puppetry. The Bushwick Starr is a vital neighborhood arts center and a cultural destination for exciting and engaging performance, striving to bring ambitious artists and ambitious audiences together.www.thebushwickstarr.org |
Christina Masciotti is supported by a grant from the Jerome Foundation.