Tune into WNYC to hear our first radio broadcast: The Subway Killing that Divided America

Listen on February 8th at 2pm EST and February 11th at 8pm EST on WNYC 93.9 FM or on WNYC.org.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Wednesday night for the live studio recording of the first installment of our new series, where we perform articles to spark audience discussions about pressing issues in the news today.

Tune in on February 8^th at 2pm EST and February 11^th at 8pm EST on WNYC 93.9 FM or on WNYC.org to listen to the broadcast!

On Wednesday, we presented “How Daniel Penny Was Found Not Guilty in a Subway Killing That Divided New York,” published by Adam Iscoe in The New Yorker, to help frame a guided audience discussion about public safety and mental health, grounded in the perspectives of subway riders, MTA employees, mental health professionals, veterans, and first responders.

Thank you to the actors Amy Ryan (Only Murders in the Building, The Office), Chad Coleman (The Walking Dead, The Wire), Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket, The Lost World: Jurassic Park), and David Strathairn (Nomadland, Good Night, and Good Luck.), who gave a deeply moving performance of Adam’s article and attuned the audience to the complexity of the questions we came to address.

It was a joy to collaborate with our partners at WNYC: Emily Botein, Jason Saul, and Ryan Wilde, who created a dynamic radio broadcast that we are so excited to share!

We are grateful to Eric Weber, Chase Culpon, Liv Nazare, James Cronier, and Rachel Hacking at WNYC for all their work to bring Wednesday night’s event to fruition. We are thrilled to share these photos by Daleelah Saleh.

This series is directed and facilitated by Bryan Doerries, produced and technically directed by Marjolaine Goldsmith, with audience curation by Dominic Dupont, and also produced by Adam Iscoe.

This event was made possible by a generous grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, and was co-presented by Theater of War Productions and WNYC, with special thanks to The New Yorker.

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REMINDER: Join us for the premiere of A REFUTATION

A REFUTATION, will present acclaimed actors performing excerpts from two conflicting historic accounts of Philadelphia’s 1793 yellow fever epidemic as a catalyst for guided audience discussions about health inequities in America today, grounded in the perspectives of nurses, caregivers, and first responders.

These readings will feature pamphlets, letters, and rebuttals by Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Matthew Carey, and Benjamin Rush, performed by Chad Coleman (The Walking Dead, The Wire), Brían F. O'Byrne (Conclave, Million Dollar Baby), Michael Potts (The Wire, The Piano Lesson), and Peter Marks (former chief theater critic for The Washington Post).

These free, public, live, hybrid events will be broadcast from Washington, D.C. at Ebenezer United Methodist Church on Feb 21 (7:00pm-9:30pm EST) and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library on Feb 22 (2:00pm-4:30pm EST). Register to attend in person or on Zoom.

The primary text—a pamphlet by Absalom Jones (the first Black Episcopal priest) and Richard Allen (founder of the AME church) describing the Black community’s experience of the epidemic—was the first federally copyrighted text by African American authors. It was written in response to a highly popular, short history of the epidemic by the Irish American publisher Matthew Carey, which traded in racist tropes and asserted that Black nurses and first responders had swindled and extorted the white population of Philadelphia for which they cared. In their pamphlet, Jones and Allen vigorously refuted Carey’s claims and debunked the medical theory—widely held at the time—that African Americans were immune to yellow fever, by drawing a stark, unsparing picture of their service and suffering during the epidemic.

Presented by Theater of War Productions with generous support from The Greenwall Foundation in celebration of its 75th anniversary.

In partnership with the DC Public Library and Ebenezer United Methodist Church - Capitol Hill.

Directed, adapted, and facilitated by Bryan Doerries.