Promotional materials for the production
Photo courtesy of Janell Clingenpeel
BY JANELL CLINGENPEEL, BONAVENTURE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF THEATER
St. Bonaventure University’s Theatre Department is excited to open its ’24-’25 season with the play “After the Revolution,” by Amy Herzog. Directed by visiting guest artist Steve Crosby, the play is about an American family thrown into an intergenerational tailspin, forcing them to reconcile a thorny and delicate legacy of its recently deceased patriarch. Production dates are Nov. 6 through 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Garret Theater, on Bonaventure’s campus. The house opens at 7 with general admission seating.
Set in 1999, on the brink of the new millennium, we meet Emma Joseph, a recent law school graduate and activist who carries on her family’s proud Marxist tradition. Emma’s grandfather Joe was a prominent progressive who stood up against and fought through the McCarthyism era anti-Communist witch hunts of the 1940s and 1950s. As a result, his promising political career and life were destroyed. In honor of her grandfather and committed to just causes, Emma started a foundation with the purpose of advocating for death-row inmate African American activist Mumia Abu-Jamal. Many believed Abu-Jamal was a political prisoner “railroaded by a racist judge, jury and prosecution” due to his affiliation with the Black Panther Party. However, a dark family secret is revealed that threatens the future of the fund and profoundly impacts Joseph’s relationship with her family.
We are all too familiar with historical events referenced in the play, notably the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and national/international unrest. But the central theme is what directly, intimately touches us all: how history shapes our lives, informs our political beliefs, our convictions, our relationships. Painful misunderstandings arise between generations whose own personal experiences shape who they are, generating different and conflicting perceptions. How timely it is that we open our play just after election day.
For tickets, visit Ticketor.com/quickarts, call 716-375-2494, or visit the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts box office. Prices are $10 for adults, $8 for students with valid IDs, seniors and Bonaventure employees. Free student rush tickets will be available starting at 7 p.m. of the day of the performance, available through Ticketor.com/quickarts.
