OFFICIAL WINNER OF THE HOLLYWOOD ENCORE PRODUCERS’ AWARD
OFFICIAL NOMINEE: 2 CENTS’ IMMERSIVE WORLDS AWARD
SHORT LIST FOR THE THEATRE THEATER PLAYWRIGHT AWARD
There is now another chance to see the show at Hudson Theatres: Mainstage. Join us for this Encore performance as we celebrate a successful production: Saturday, July 8th at 5:30pm.
Teaching is performance, but it usually takes place in a classroom so people don’t notice. MS499: Advertising and the Social Construction of Gender takes this concept to a new level. In this play, the theatre itself becomes a classroom in which the audience/students learn about the influence of advertising on gender roles and power dynamics. But this is no ordinary classroom. It is infused with magical realism and madcap humor as fictional housewives from vintage ads appear in the classroom unannounced. The stage soon becomes populated with assorted characters from the 1950s who provide perspectives on the influence of race, class, sexuality, and ethnicity on the social construction of gender. The entire theatre is engaged in a dramatic celebration of intersectionality as students interspersed throughout the audience come to terms with the blurred boundaries between such categories as female and male, oppressor and oppressed, truth and fiction, teaching and performance, education and entertainment – not to mention laughter and learning. What starts as a thought-provoking seminar in media studies is transformed into an alternative universe where normal rules of reality are temporarily suspended. It is perhaps the realization of every student’s fantasy — serious academic discourse is suddenly overtaken by comic uncertainty. Inspired by the “housewife humor” found on fridge magnets, coffee mugs, and internet memes, this performance is more than a play, it is a learning experience.
THIS PROJECT WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRANT FROM THE AGENCY FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT (ACE) AT WOODBURY UNIVERSITY.
Production Team
