From the late Polish playwright Sławomir Mrożek (1930-2013), STRIPTEASE is political satire: a tale of two men, a thinker and an activist, both similarly dressed and with matching briefcases, trapped in what appears to be a prison. In what amounts to a vaudeville routine, they try to escape their circumstances by convincing each other he’s free, and eventually end up being slowly undressed by a large, mysterious Hand.
Dedicated to Czech political dissident and writer Václav Havel (1936-2011), who served as the last president of Czechoslovakia, Samuel Beckett’s CATASTROPHE consists of one scene in which a Director and his Assistant discuss a mute figure, the Protagonist, they are preparing for a performance. Performed by guest artist Tyrone Wilson, the Protagonist is a dehumanized character at the mercy of their direction and manipulation. His only independent gesture occurs at the very end of the play – an act of resistance in the face of oppression.