THE MAN WHO LAUGHS

WRITTEN BY KIRAN RIKHYE DIRECTED BY JON STANCATO

Freely inspired by Victor Hugo's novel, equal parts horror, comedy, and romance, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS is a "live silent film," performed in grayscale with live music, about a man whose face has been carved into a permanent smile and his desperate quest for the world to take him seriously. Hugo’s character of Gwynplaine, “the laughing man”, inspired the creation of Batman’s infamous nemesis, The Joker.

Stolen Chair’s production will fully immerse audiences in a 1920s silent movie house. With freshly popped popcorn in hand they’ll watch a humorous and heartrending story told in glorious grayscale through movement and projected title cards, with an original score performed live. Audience members are strongly encouraged to dress in 1920’s fashion, and $20 tickets will be available at the door for anyone arriving in costume. There will also be screenings of silent films, which inspired the play, following select performances. Details TBA.

The production will be directed by Jon Stancato (The Bachelors’ Tea Party) and will feature Raife Baker (Beyond Measurewith The Slant Theater Company), Dave Droxler (trained with Dan Kamin who worked with Johnny Dep on Benny & Joon and Robert Downey Jr. on Chaplin), Jon Froehlich (Cho H Cho with Mabou Mines), Molly O’Neill (Cabaret at Trinity Rep), Noah Schultz (Theatre is Dead and So Are You with Stolen Chair), and Rebecca Whitehurst. The creative team will include Music by Eugene Ma (Saviana Stanescu’s Aurolac Blues), Makeup by Jaclyn Schaefer (NYC Fashion Week), Costume Design by Julie Schworm (Theatre is Dead and So Are You), and Lighting Design by Daniel Winters (Kinderspiel).

About the Company: Stolen Chair Theatre Company

STOLEN CHAIR Named best “genre-bending theatre” by New York Press, Stolen Chair is a theatre laboratory dedicated to the creation of playfully intellectual, wickedly irreverent, and exuberantly athletic original works. Proudly plundering the pop culture of the past half millennium, Stolen Chair’s aesthetically promiscuous work recycles and reinvents old genres and stories to discover new ways to challenge and delight contemporary audiences. Pioneer of the Community Supported Theatre movement, Stolen Chair is supported, in part, by the Nancy Quinn Fund and by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Preview:   01/31/2013
Open:   02/02/2013
Close:   02/24/2013

Theater: Urban Stages
Address: 259 W 30th Street
New York, NY 10017

Cost:$30; $25 students; $20 in 1920’s costume or Call: Stolen Chair at 212-868-4444

Presented by: Stolen Chair Theatre Company Official Web Site: www.stolenchair.org