WORLD PREMIERE OF DEFINITION OF MAN

Definition of Man

A sexier, more violent Waiting for Godot, “Definition of Man” is a post-modern decreation myth that, drawing from Kenneth Burke’s essay of the same name, investigates the human drive to communicate and the inevitable breakdown that results from the inherent incompleteness of language. This two-person piece of physical theater shifts from high-level intellectual discourse to abstracted speech to casual conversation, demonstrating the full range of possibilities and impossibilities we encounter as “the symbol-using animal.” Co-creators Jason Rosario and Nikki Muller workshopped the piece by combining personal narratives, academic texts and Russian partner movement to explore issues of identity, race, gender performance and communicative breakdown. “Definition of Man” advanced Muller, the playwright, to one of 24 semi-finalists out of 374 submissions in The Playwrights Realm’s 2016-2017 Writing Fellows Program.

In the abstracted setting of a burnt-out, post-apocalyptic ruin, its two characters, XX and XY, serve as a stand-in for all of humanity while grappling with their own personal struggles to maintain a sense of self in a world that has ceased to exist. In a tightly-paced narrative progression, they move and shift between verbal and physical intimacy, offering a unique opportunity to see texts often preserved in intellectual amber torn from their pages and infused with physicality and meaning, marrying traditional intellectualism with organic.

In this age of intolerance and tension, this piece holds a message of hope and healing at its core. The co-creators’ exploration of their shifting identities as a Hispanic American and daughter of an East German refugee respectively resonate, especially in the current national and international climate. The play challenges its audience to turn a critical eye toward their own lives and question their own assumptions about how they communicate and make sense of the world.

Definition of Man will have its world premiere at the Hollywood Fringe Festival this June. Show dates are:
FRIDAY 6/2, 9:30 PM
THURSDAY 6/8, 5:00 PM
SUNDAY 6/11, 10:30 PM
SATURDAY 6/24 ,1:30 PM
SUNDAY 6/25, 4:00 PM

Tickets are available now at: http://hff17.com/4439