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| Mike Daisey, photo by Ursa Waz |
The professional theater in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill specially commissioned the production as part of its PRC² series. PRC² features innovative, topical presentations coupled with engaging post-show discussions with the creative artists following each performance.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. nightly and 2 p.m. on Jan. 12 in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road. Ticket prices start at $15 and may be purchased at www.playmakersrep.org or by calling (919) 962-PLAY (7529). Tickets are also still available as part of PlayMakers subscription packages.
In “The Story of The Gun,” Daisey, no stranger to controversy, tackles his most provocative subject yet: America’s relationship with guns. Throwing easy answers and partisan bickering out the window, Daisey’s performance promises to cut through the political static with his trademark blend of hilarious comedy, brilliant observation and pitch-perfect timing.
“I programmed ‘The Story of The Gun’ this season for the same reason that I programmed ‘Assassins;’ to engage in a meaningful conversation with our community about guns and how deeply woven they are in our idea of ourselves as Americans,” says PlayMakers producing artistic director Joseph Haj. “We are a nation of roughly 300 million people and 300 million guns. I think that’s worthy of interrogation.”
The New York Times calls Mike Daisey “the master storyteller...one of the finest solo performers of his generation.” “A monologuist who always threatens to burst out of his chosen form—funny, literate and provocative,” says the Chicago Tribune. “A mesmerizing performer who spins words into comic and emotional gold,” agrees The Oakland Tribune.
“Mike is one of the most clear-eyed, artistically courageous and compelling artists around,” Haj added. “I knew, by commissioning him to wrestle with this issue, he’d create something that challenges our assumptions with scathing, hilarious and insightful observations from multiple points of view. To share the work of two master storytellers in Mike Daisey and Stephen Sondheim, each of them looking at the question of guns in our culture using their own unique talents, allows us to put together two plays that are both thought-provoking and hugely entertaining.”
PlayMakers will present Stephen Sondheim’s multiple Tony Award-winner “Assassins” April 2-20. The musical blends stunning lyrics and beautiful music with a panoramic story of our nation’s culture of celebrity and the violent means some will use to obtain it, embodied by America’s four successful and five would-be presidential assassins.
Rounding out this season’s PRC² lineup will be “Hold These Truths” by Jeanne Sakata (April 23-27). Next in PlayMakers’ Mainstage Season is Noel Coward comedy classic “Private Lives” (Jan. 22-Feb. 9.)
PlayMakers is based in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. The Drama League of New York has named PlayMakers one of the best regional theaters in America and INDY Week calls PlayMakers the best live theater company in the Triangle.
For more information about Mike Daisey: www.mikedaisey.blogspot.com .
