In honor of the three-year anniversary of our first online event, we are proud to release the recording of The Oedipus Project! Watch the full recording through the link in our bio. The premiere took place on Zoom at 7pm EDT on May 7, 2020 and featured Oscar Isaac, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Marjolaine Goldsmith, Glenn Davis, and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams performing Sophocles' Oedipus the King from their homes as a catalyst for a powerful, facilitated conversation about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon diverse communities throughout the United States and the world. Sophocles’ play is a timeless story of arrogant leadership, ignored prophecy, and a pestilence that ravages the city of Thebes. At the time it was first performed, in 429 BC, the Athenian audience would have been reeling in the wake of a plague and its economic, political, and social aftermath. Seen through this lens, Oedipus the King seems as relevant now as it was in its own time.

The premiere of The Oedipus Project was attended by more than 15,000 people from more than 40 countries, who—at the height of the global lockdown—were hungry for community and connection. In the three years that have followed, Theater of War Productions has presented more than 100 virtual events, reaching more than 300,000 people from more than 100 countries, spanning all seven continents. This paradigm-shifting use of technology, strategized by Marjolaine Goldsmith, in service of direct, unmediated dialogue—across borders and boundaries—has been nothing short of revolutionary for the company and its ability to touch people all over the world, lift them out of isolation, and bring them into healing dialogue.

In honor of Climate Week NYC 2023 we presented The Oedipus Project under the iconic Blue Whale in the Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History. Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

An intergenerational audience convened in the Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History in honor of Climate Week NYC to discuss intergenerational curses, ignored prophecy, and the human capacity for denial in Sophocles' Oedipus The King. Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

The full cast of The Oedipus Project, presented under the iconic Blue Whale in the Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History featured, from left to right, Marjolaine Goldsmith, Ato Blankson-Wood, Liza Colón-Zayas, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Oscar Isaac, Amy Ryan, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Zayas, and David Patrick Kelly. Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

American Museum of Natural History President Sean Decatur introduces The Oedipus Project in honor of Climate Week NYC 2023. Photo by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Watch the Oedipus Project: Climate Crisis trailer.

The Oedipus Project presents acclaimed actors reading scenes from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King on Zoom as a catalyst for powerful, constructive, global conversations about climate change, ecological disaster, and environmental justice. Sophocles’ ancient play, first performed in 429 BC, just after a plague that killed nearly one-third of the Athenian population, is a story of arrogant leadership, ignored prophecy, intergenerational curses, willful blindness, and a pestilence and ecological collapse that ravages the archaic city of Thebes. Seen through this lens, Oedipus the King appears to have been a powerful tool for helping Athenians communalize trauma and loss, while interrogating their own complicit role in the suffering, not just of those around them but of generations to come.

This event was presented as part of the Nobel Prize Summit: Our Planet, Our Future, hosted by the Nobel Foundation and organized by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in partnership with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research/Stockholm Resilience Centre/Beijer Institute. Thousands of audience members tuned in from 82 countries to participate in a global discussion.

This event featured performances by Bill Murray (Lost in Translation), Corey Hawkins (Straigt Outta Compton), Frances McDormand (Nomadland), Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), Frankie Faison (The Wire), David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Company Manager of Theater of War Productions), and Jumaane Williams (New York City Public Advocate), and a Chorus of Nobel Prize-winning scientists, including Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn and Dr. Harold Varmus.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Oscar Isaac, Frances McDormand, and David Strathairn in The Oedipus Project premiere on 5/7/20. Read the profile in The New Yorker by Elif Batuman on Theater of War Productions and The Oedipus Project Premiere.

Watch the trailer for The Oedipus Project at the Nobel Prize Summit: Our Planet, Our Future.

Watch the trailer for The Oedipus Project at the Nobel Prize Summit: Our Planet, Our Future.

Read the article on CNN.com

Marjolaine Goldsmith, playing the Priest, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams playing the Chorus, Oscar Isaac playing Oedipus, and John Turturro playing Creon. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and theater director Bryan Doerries reflect on The Oedipus Project and the arts in the current COVID-19 climate. Read the article in The Brooklyn Rail.

Bryan Doerries facilitates the discussions with panelists:

Paulette Soltani, Political Director, VOCAL-NY is recognized for her work across New York City in affordable housing and homelessness. She has been an outspoken critic of the way homeless individuals are treated - or not - and most recently how vulnerable they are during this pandemic. VOCAL-NY is a statewide membership organization that focuses on low-income people affected by various social ills.

Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director of the Asian-American Federation. The organization was established in 1989 and represents a network of community service agencies including health and human services, education and economic development. Jo-Ann has been outspoken about discrimination faced by the Asian American community in the face of COVID 19. As you know the Asian American community (here in NY) have some of the lowest infection and death rates from the disease. Jo-Ann has been appointed to the State task force on re-opening New York.

Dr. Robert Gore, has been treating COVID-19 patients as an emergency room attending physician at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County and SUNY Downstate Medical Center (where he is also a faculty member). He is the founder of the Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI) which earned him recognition as a CNN Hero, entry into the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program, and other awards. He founded the SUNY Downstate Medical Center Minority Medical Student Emergency Medicine (MMSEM) Summer Fellowship - a mentoring program for underrepresented minorities in medicine. He has also worked in disaster zones in Haiti. Dr Gore was raised in Brooklyn, he and his wife reside in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of the borough.

Anthony Almojera, Vice President of the EMS Officers Union. 42 years old and Born and raised in Brooklyn New York. Have lived Montana and California in early 20s and traveled to 90 countries. Majored in theatre and political science in Brooklyn college. A NYC paramedic working with FDNY EMS since 2004 and currently a lieutenant with EMS and work out of EMS station 40 in sunset park Brooklyn.

Audience members Frernanda, Hui Li.

Frances McDormand plays Jocasta

Jeffrey Wright plays Tiresias

Frankie Faison plays the Shepherd

David Strathairn plays Messenger 1

Glenn Davis plays Messenger 2

Oscar Isaac plays Oedipus

Behind-the-scenes of Oscar Isaac's desk set up during The Oeidpus Project Premiere. Photo by Elvira Lind.

Behind-the-scenes photo of Oscar Isaac playing Oedipus during The Oedipus Project Premiere. Photo by Elvira Lind.

Oscar Isaac make up test for The Oedipus Project Premiere. Photo by Elvira Lind. Makeup by Oscar’s uncle Guillermo.

Nyasha Hatendi plays the Chorus, Damian Lewis plays Oedipus, and Marjolaine Goldsmith plays Tiresias in The Oeidpus Project for an international audience spanning 46 countries.

Nyasha Hatendi plays the Chorus, Damian Lewis plays Oedipus, Nick Holder plays the Messenger, and Brían F. O'Byrne plays the Shepherd in The Oeidpus Project for an international audience spanning 46 countries.

Nyasha Hatendi plays the Chorus, Damian Lewis plays Oedipus, Jason Isaacs plays Creon, and Lesley Sharp plays Jocasta in The Oeidpus Project for an international audience spanning 46 countries.

Nyasha Hatendi plays the Chorus, Damian Lewis plays Oedipus, Nick Holder plays the Messenger, Brían F. O'Byrne plays the Shepherd and Cathryn Hunter plays The Priest, in The Oeidpus Project for an international audience spanning 46 countries.

An evening of readings and a dialogue among distinguished poets and young poets of tomorrow— a chorus of diverse voices exploring the transformative power of words at the intersection of disability and climate justice.

Presented by Theater of War Productions, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach at the Burton Blatt Institute, Nine Mile Art Corp, Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature, and The International Writing Program.

Supported by the Academy of American Poets with funds from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Co-facilitated by Bryan Doerries and Diane R. Wiener.

Featuring poems and performances by: Ona Gritz, Stephen Kuusisto, Ekiwah Adler-Belendez, Taylor Brorby, Camisha Jones, Maddy Dietz (Class of 2020 National Student Poet), Christian Butterfield (Class of 2019 National Student Poet), Alondra Uribe (Class of 2019 National Student Poet), David James "DJ" Savarese, and Christopher Costello.

This special collaboration between Theater of War Productions and the PBS series Poetry in America presented readings by the actors Bill Murray (Lost in Translation) and Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit) of Robert Hayden's 1960s sonnet “Those Winter Sundays,” as a catalyst for a powerful, guided discussion about the everyday struggle of surviving, thriving, and connecting during this incredibly difficult winter. The event also featured a recorded reading of Hayden's poem by President Joe Biden, helping frame crucial dialogue between diverse communities about economic hardship, family dynamics, parenting, domestic violence, racism, and American identity during this divided and fractured time. Using the poem to build bridges and create a vocabulary for talking about the challenges before us and within our homes, Those Winter Sundays aims to foster compassion, understanding, healing, and resilience.

Facilitated by Bryan Doerries and Elisa New.

Featuring the following panelists:
Karen Bailey, Teacher, Flint, MI
Anthony Almojera, EMS Officer FDNY
Manasi Garg, National Student Poet, Saratoga, CA
Al-Tabar Hudgins, RISE Project Uptown Coordinator, NYC
Nathalie Arzu, RISE Project Uptown Program Manger

Poetry For the Pandemic: November 12, 2020

Bill Murray reads:

When Poetry Visits: Ars Poetica by Laura Rothenberg

Tracie Thoms reads:

The 19th Amendment and my Mama by Mahogany L. Browne
&

America will Be by Johsua Bennett After Langston Hughes

Bill Murray reads:

Transubstantiation by Molly McCully Brown

Isabella Ramirez and Juan Felipe Herrera, US Poet Laureate 2015–2017 Read the article in The Emory Wheel.

Isabella Ramirez reads:

Let me Tell You What a Poem Brings by Juan Felipe Herrera for Charles Fishman

&

Exiles by Juan Felipe Herrera

Juan Felipe Herrera reads:

Mama by Isabella Ramirez

Anthony Wiles and Joshua Bennet read each other's poems.

Joshua Bennett reads:

we went Home to Crystal by Anthony Wiles

Anthony John Wiles, Jr reads:

Mike Brown is a Type of Christ by Joshua Bennett

Manasi Garg and Mahogany L. Browne read each other's poems.

Manasi Garg reads:

litany by Mahogany L. Browne

Mahogany L. Browne reads:

Conversations at the Kitchen Table by Manasi Garg

Patricia Smith and Maddy Dietz read each other's poems.

Patricia Smith reads:

BRACKEN by Madelyn Dietz

Madelyn Dietz reads:

10-Year-Old Shot Three Times, but She’s Fine by Patricia Smith

Molly McCully Brown and Ethan Wang read each other's poems.

Ethan Wang reads:

What There is To Give by Molly McCully Brown

Molly McCully Brown reads:

walk through the suburbs by Ethan Wang

An intergenerational discussion about poetry during the pandemic.

Theater of War Productions and the world-wide environmental movement Extinction Rebellion joined forces to present scenes from Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People in Times Square on the Red Steps on June 12, featuring acclaimed actors and a “chorus” of climate activists, scientists, journalists, elected officials, and concerned citizens performing the role of the crowd in Ibsen’s 1882 play as a catalyst for a powerful, global conversation about climate change and the challenges of communicating the current environmental stakes before it’s too late. This free, live, hybrid event took place for an in-person audience on the Red Steps, as well as for a large global audience on Zoom.

Featuring performances by Bill Murray (Rushmore), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black), Zach Grenier (The Good Fight), Peter Francis James (Oz), Jay O. Sanders (True Detective), Jumaane Williams (NYC Public Advocate), Peter Marks (former Chief Theater Critic, The Washington Post), and Nate Smith (Extinction Rebellion). Adapted, directed, and facilitated by Bryan Doerries. Produced and technically directed by Marjolaine Goldsmith.

Co-presented by The Sixth Festival.

This special event featured a “chorus” of climate activists, scientists, journalists, elected officials, and concerned citizens performing the role of the crowd in Ibsen’s 1882 play, and performances by Bill Murray, Kathryn Erbe, Taylor Schilling, Zach Grenier, Peter Francis James, Jay O. Sanders, Jumaane Williams (NYC Public Advocate), Peter Marks (former Chief Theater Critic, The Washington Post), and Nate Smith (Extinction Rebellion). Directed, adapted, and facilitated by Bryan Doerries.

Peter Francis James, Bill Murray, and Jay O. Sanders.

This special event featured a “chorus” of climate activists, scientists, journalists, elected officials, and concerned citizens performing the role of the crowd in Ibsen’s 1882 play, and performances by Bill Murray, Kathryn Erbe, Taylor Schilling, Zach Grenier, Peter Francis James, Jay O. Sanders, Jumaane Williams (NYC Public Advocate), Peter Marks (former Chief Theater Critic, The Washington Post), and Nate Smith (Extinction Rebellion). Directed, adapted, and facilitated by Bryan Doerries.

A “chorus” of climate activists, scientists, journalists, elected officials, and concerned citizens performing the role of the crowd in Ibsen’s 1882 play.

We were amazed by the hundreds of people who joined us in person and the 1500 on zoom who all attuned their attention to Ibsen's play it's resonance with the climate crisis in one of the liveliest places on earth!

You can read about Nate Smith's collaboration with Theater of War Productions in The New York Times: New York Today "From Protester to Joining Bill Murray in ‘Enemy of the People’"

Extinction Rebellion unfurled an enormous banner that read "Learn to Swim" after An Enemy of The People: Extinction Rebellion finished on the Red Steps in Times Square. You can listen to an interview with Bryan Doerries and Marjolaine Goldsmith on XRNOW! We were honored to be featured on Extinction Rebellion Radio!

“In Greek tragedy, everyone believes they’re right and pursues it,” he said. “These are stories about people who learn too late, usually by milliseconds, and in that time destroy themselves and generations to come. But here, everyone, except for Stockmann, who isn’t socially aware of how he’s perceived, seems to know they’re wrong and are pursuing it anyway with full consciousness.” Read the full piece in the LA Times by Charles McNulty.

David Strathairn plays Doctor Stockmann at An Enemy of The People: A Public Health Project at The National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C.

A packed house at The National Academy of Sciences! The audience eagerly participated in the scenes with the chorus of public health leaders, scientists, journalists, EMTs, and Nurses.

Brían F. O'Byrne plays Aslaksen in Ibsen's An Enemy of The People.

Brían F. O'Byrne plays Aslaksen in Ibsen's An Enemy of The People.

The Audience took cues from the chorus of public health leaders, scientists, journalists, EMTs, and Nurses and participated in act IV of Ibsen's An Enemy of The People.

We were glad to bring the audience at The National Academy of Sciences in dialogue with a global audience on Zoom tuning in from 19 countries: United States, Peru, Australia, Indonesia, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Spain, New Zealand, Guatemala, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Argentina, Hong Kong SAR, United Arab Emirates, Chile, Israel.

Peter Marks (The Washington Post's chief theater critic from 2002 to 2023) enthusiastically participated in the chorus of An Enemy of The People.

Cynda Rushton PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics in the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and the School of Nursing, participated as a Chorus member in An Enemy of The People.

Victor Dzau, President of the United States National Academy of Medicine of the United States National Academy of Sciences, participated in the chorus of An Enemy of The People.

Gloria Addo-Ayensu, MD, MPH, Director of Health for Fairfax County, in chorus rehearsal for An Enemy of The People.

Michael Patrick Sullivan, Paramedic, FDNY EMS, South Bronx plays Chorus Member 1.

Jeffrey Kahn, PhD, MPH, Andreas C. Dracopoulos Director; Robert Henry Levi and Ryda Hecht Levi Professor of Bioethics and Public Policy, played the drunk in An Enemy of The People.

Kathryn Erbe, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Jay O. Sanders, Peter Francis James

Anthony Almojera (Lieutenant Paramedic, FDNY EMS, Vice President of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union, Local 3621), Natalie Bobila ( Francis Collins (former director of the NIH), and Grelia Steele (Global Continuity and Crisis Manager, Guidehouse), served on the panel.

Marjolaine Goldsmith, Kathryn Erbe, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Jay O. Sanders, Peter Francis James, Brian F. O'Byrne

The cast of the premiere of An Enemy of The People: A Public Health Project featured performances by David Strathairn (Nomadland), Frankie Faison (The Wire), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Peter Francis James (Oz), Jay O. Sanders (True Detective), Brían F. O'Byrne (The Wonder), Francis Collins (Former Director, National Institutes of Health), Monica Feit (Executive Director, Health and Medicine Division, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), Jeffrey Kahn (Director, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics), Keshia Pollack Porter (Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Victor Dzau (President, National Academy of Medicine), Vivian Pinn (Senior Scientist Emerita at the NIH Fogarty International Center), Ruth Faden (Berman Institute Founder; Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics), Grelia Steele (Global Continuity and Crisis Manager, Guidehouse), Peter Marks(former chief theater critic, The Washington Post), Gloria Addo-Ayensu (Director of Health, Fairfax County Health Department), Graham Sack (Filmmaker, Dracopoulos-Bloomberg iDeas Lab Fellow), Nancy Kass (Deputy Director for Public Health, Berman Institute of Bioethics), Joshua M. Sharfstein (Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Company Manager, Theater of War Productions), Cynda Rushton (Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics, John Hopkins School of Nursing), Anthony Almojera (Lieutenant Paramedic, FDNY EMS, Vice President of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union, Local 3621), Michael Patrick Sullivan (Paramedic, FDNY EMS, South Bronx) and Emily Packard Dawson (Program Officer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine).

This event will be captioned in English on Zoom.

This special event was presented on August 9, 2020 as part of "The Virtual Experience" 6th Annual Michael Brown Memorial Weekend in honor of the life of Michael Brown Jr., and foreground the perspectives of families who have lost their loved ones to police brutality and community violence. We were honored to have Gwen Carr (Eric Garner’s mother), Valerie Bell (Sean Bell’s mother), Marion Gray-Hopkins (Gary Hopkins Jr’s mother), and Uncle Bobby X (Oscar Grant’s uncle) kick off the discussion with their gut responses to the performance, and Cori Bush introduce the event.

This event featured performances by Oscar Isaac, Tracie Thoms, Ato Blankson-Wood, Willie Woodmore, Marjolaine Goldsmith, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, De-Rance Blaylock, Duane Martin Foster, Marcelle Davies Lashley, John Leggette, and Gheremi Clay, and the Antigone in Ferguson Choir.

In this time of violence, outrage, division, and grief, Theater of War Productions is honored to share this virtual offering, performed by the Antigone in Ferguson Choir, directed by composer Phil Woodmore @phil_woodmore, and led by the amazing De-Rance Blaylock @deepopstar, graduate of Normandy High School and teacher of Michael Brown. The singers and musicians featured in this video include educators, students, activists, social workers, members of the faith community, and police officers from St. Louis and New York City who have made the commitment to sing together in order to start powerful, uncomfortable, transformative discussions about race and gender-based violence.

The song, “I’m Covered,” written by Phil Woodmore for the project Antigone in Ferguson, is a healing hymn that comes at the end of the play as a collective response to the violence, outrage, division, and grief that precedes it. "Every night that we sing 'I’m Covered' at the end of the play,” said Ms. Blaylock, “it’s my way of covering my student Michael Brown.” We hope that in watching this video, you feel covered, if not by a higher power, then by the humanity, spirit, and hope at the center of the song.

We offer “I’m Covered” for interpretation and discussion, with the hope that it will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

In solidarity,

Theater of War Productions

Special thanks to our partners the Brooklyn Public Library @bplpresentsand the Stavros Niarchos Foundation @snforg.

Experience a powerful fusion of Sophocles’ classic tragedy, Antigone, with live music from a contemporary gospel choir and highly personal community discussion. This multifaceted production explores themes of tragedy, trauma and social justice, and shows us that a 2500-year-old play is still relevant today. The all-star ensemble of actors includes Samira Wiley, Chris Noth and Tamara Tunie. Watch the video.

Read the article.

Read the article

Read the article.

Michael Brown Sr. served on the panel during the discussion of Antigone in Ferguson. Read the article.

Read the article.

Listen to the radio piece.

Antigone in Ferguson presented at the Onassis Foundation's Festival Antigone Now

On August 9 2020, we had the privilege of presenting Antigone in Ferguson as part of the 6th Annual Michael Brown Memorial Weekend in honor of the life of Michael Brown Jr., hosted by Chosen for Change with opening remarks by Cori Bush, and panelists: Gwen Carr, Valerie Bell, Uncle Bobby X, and Marion Gray-Hopkins, thousands of audience members tuned in from 48 countries.

On August 9 2020, we had the privilege of presenting Antigone in Ferguson as part of the 6th Annual Michael Brown Memorial Weekend in honor of the life of Michael Brown Jr., hosted by Chosen for Change with opening remarks by Cori Bush, and panelists: Gwen Carr, Valerie Bell, Uncle Bobby X, and Marion Gray-Hopkins, thousands of audience members tuned in from 48 countries.

The music composed and conducted by Phil Woodmore, is sung by 5 soloists and a choir composed of Activists, teachers, law enforcement officers, members of the faith community, and students, from St. Louis and New York City. Our sound technician Matt Craig, found a way to feature the music and vocalists on zoom so we could have a live performance of the music in the live event!

Throughout 2020, under a grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, we have presented Theater of War Frontline to the following frontline communities: The Johns Hopkins Hospital, NYC Uniformed EMS Officers Union, American College of Emergency Physicians, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, Mount Sinai Health System, Doctors Without Borders, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler, Lenox Hill Hospital, NYU Langone Health, and Montefiore Medical Center.

Frances McDormand, Frankie Faison, and Marjolaine Goldsmith in Theater of War Frontline: Mount Sinai on November 19, 2020. Read the article in The Washington Post.

Read the feature about Theater of War Frontline in Forbes. Amy Ryan, Anthony Almojera, and Chad Coleman in Theater of War Frontline EMS on July 30 2020.

Read the feature in The Lancet

Frances McDormand plays Hercules in The Women of Trachis presented to the Baltimore and Johns Hopkins medical community in June 2020 with The Berman Institute of Bioethics in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Frankie Faison plays the Chorus in Philoctetes and The Women of Trachis, presented to the Baltimore and Johns Hopkins medical community in June 2020 with The Berman Institute of Bioethics in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

David Strathairn plays Philoctetes presented to the Baltimore and Johns Hopkins medical community in June 2020 with The Berman Institute of Bioethics in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Hyllus in The Women of Trachis presented to the Baltimore and Johns Hopkins medical community in June 2020 with The Berman Institute of Bioethics in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Panel in Theater of War Frontline with Johns Hopkins Bermen Institute of Bioethics. This panel includes a nurse, a respiratory therapist, a medical student, and an ER doctor.

Theater of War for Medical Communities was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle

Presenting Sophocles' Women of Trachis during Theater of War Frontline at Lincoln Medical Center.

Presenting Sophocles' Philoctetes during Theater of War for Frontline Medical Providers at Lincoln Medical Center.

Frances McDormand, Nyasha Hatendi, and Frankie Faison in Theater of War Frontline: Doctors Without Borders/MSF.

Read the article on Boston.com

Read the article on bostonherald.com

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

It was a star-studded performance at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Legendary Actor James Earl Jones partnered with Grandparents Around the World and Theater of War to bring Shakespeare's King Lear to the Bronx with a team of famed actors -- as a way to build bridges through communication among the various age groups reflected in communities.

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Juliana Francis Kelly, Andrea Patterson, Obi Abili, Linda Powell, James Earl Jones, and his son, Flynn Jones.

photo by Beowulf Sheehan

photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Obi Abili plays the fool, Marjolaine Goldsmith plays Cordelia.

photo by Gregg Richards

photo by Gregg Richards

photo by Gregg Richards

photo by Gregg Richards

Tesa Arozqueta, Director of Outreach for the Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence speaks from the audience of the King Lear Project.

photo by Gregg Richards

We were so honored that in advance of our performance of The King Lear Project, the Wyckoff Senior Center Art Class collectively worked on a painting inspired by the play. To open the event, the Wyckoff choir performed "Lean on Me".

This culminating hybrid event of The Nurse Antigone Series was broadcast from The Greene Space in New York City with a digital audience on Zoom on May 18th, 2023.

Featuring performances by Kathryne Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Ato Blankson-Wood (When They See Us), David Strathairn (Nomadland), Adepero Oduye (12 Years a Slave), Anthony Edwards (Top Gun), New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Craig Manbauman (Nurse, Poet, U.S. Air Force Veteran), Charlaine Lasse (BSN, RN, RNC-NIC, Vascular Access Team, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center), and Sandy Cayo (Board Certified Nurse Practitioner, Assistant Professor, Yale School of Nursing).

Kathryn Erbe plays Antigone and Anthony Edwards Plays Creon.

Ato Blankson-Wood plays Haemon, Jumaane Williams plays The Messenger

We were honored to welcome many nurses to The Green Space, physically and digitally, to engage in a profound hybrid discussion.

Watch the Nurse Antigone Trailer with clips from the launch performance of the twelve-part series. Featuring performances by Tracie Thoms, Margaret Atwood, Bill Camp, and Taylor Schilling, and remarks by nurses Ruth Kinsella, Kara Curry, Charlaine Lasse, and Craig Manbauman.

“Confronting Grief, With Margaret Atwood, in ’The Nurse Antigone’” by Alisha Haridasani Gupta

A dramatic reading by Theater of War Productions will include the author and practicing nurses who have held the front line of the pandemic.

“Front-line nurses star in online staging of play ‘Antigone’” by Mark Kennedy

Taylor Schilling plays Ismene and Tracie Thoms plays Antigone in The Nurse Antigone Launch.

The Inaugural Nurse Chorus: Charlaine Lasse (Registered Nurse, IV Therapy, Neonatal Intensive Care), Amy Smith (Nurse Practitioner, Northwell Health, Hofstra University), Aliki Argiropoulos (Nurse Clinician II, Blood and Marrow Transplant, Oncology Critical Care, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Johns Hopkins Hospital).

NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams plays The Messenger in The Nurse Antigone Launch.

Ato Blankson Wood plays Haemon in The Nurse Antigone Launch

Tracie Thoms plays Antigone in The Nurse Antigone Launch.

Taylor Schilling plays Eurydice in The Nurse Antigone Launch.

Panelists in the Nurse Antigone Launch, discussion co-facilitated by Cynda Rushton and Bryan Doerries.

Margaret Atwood plays Tiresias in The Nurse Antigone Launch.

Bill Camp plays Creon in The Nurse Antigone Launch.

Watch the full recording of The Susie King Taylor Project premiere, which starred Tracie Thoms and was broadcast globally with The Susie King Taylor Center for Jubilee as the central ground site. This premiere was co-presented as part of The Nurse Antigone initiative by Theater of War Productions, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, the Resilient Nurses Initiative - Maryland, and DAV (Disabled American Veterans).

Theater of War: Philoctetes took place in front of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial—featuring David Strathairn, Ato Blankson-Wood, Chad Coleman, and a chorus of veterans—to commemorate its 10th anniversary in Washington D.C.

We were honored to present three projects—Theater of War: Ajax, Rum and Vodka, and Tape—in Alumni Hall at the United Naval Academy on October 13th and 14th. Our thanks go the thousands of Midshipmen who participated and offered their keen insights into the plays, engaging in powerful discussions about mental health, suicide prevention, alcohol/substance abuse, addiction, consent, and power dynamics.Our thanks go the thousands of Midshipmen who participated and offered their keen insights into the plays, engaging in powerful discussions about mental health, suicide prevention, alcohol/substance abuse, addiction, consent, and power dynamics.

This special presentation was co-presented by Theater of War Productions, Humana, Reveille Grounds, VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), and DAV (Disabled American Veterans), as part of Global Loneliness Awareness Week.

This event took place on June 12, 2023 and featured performances by Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black, Dear Edward), Keith David (Platoon, Armageddon, Nope), Naomi Mathis (Air Force Veteran, DAV Associate National Legislative Director), Dan West (Adjutant General, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States; Marine Veteran), and David Hanauer (Ensemble Manager of Olive Branch & Laurel Crown, Marine Veteran).

Watch the full recording Theater of War: Philoctetes featuring Willem Dafoe, Jason Isaacs, Nyasha Hatendi and a chorus of Veterans. This event was co-presented by Bravehound, a Scottish charity that supports former servicemen, women and their families by providing service dogs and training to Veterans.

Watch the Theater of War Trailer

Zach Grenier, Glenn Davis, and Marjolaine Goldsmith are introduced by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. See article.

Jeffrey Wright, Marjolaine Goldsmith, Reg E. Cathey, and David Strathairn present Theater of War on the fifteenth anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks. This performance was featured in The New Yorker.

Read the full article.

Read the full article.

Reg E. Cathey, Kathryn Erbe, and Michael Stuhlbarg perform Sophocles' Philoctetes, followed by a conversation with the audience, Bryan Doerries and Maurice Decaul.

Listen to the radio piece.

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Harpers Magazine profiles Theater of War. Read the article.

Read the article.

Theater of War Productions collaborated with Columbia University in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Core Curriculum. We presented Ajax to an audience comprised of Columbia Students and New York City Veterans struggling with homelessness and addiction to contextualize and interrogate the text that has been taught for 100 years. Read about the performance in the Columbia Spectator

Lois Smith plays Hecuba and Chad Coleman plays Talthybius.

Chad Coleman and Lois Smith with a chorus of Villanova students.

Nyasha Hatendi played Hector in Homer's Iliad.

This performance featured Debra Winger, Chad Coleman, Josh Hamilton, Marjolaine Goldsmith and a chorus of Kenyon students.

Jeffrey Wright played Talthybius along side the courageous chorus of Palestinian, Israeli, Lebanese, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Columbia University Students who came together to read the choral passages of Euripides' The Trojan Women and gave their candid insights to the play.

Elizabeth Marvel plays Andromache alongside Glenn Davis, Lois Smith, Jeffrey Wright and a chorus of Columbia Students who's lives have been impacted by war.

A Conflict-Theatre Troupe Visits a Land of Strife (Columbia University)

Theater of War Productions tries to create a dialogue about Israel and Palestine through the Iliad and “The Trojan Women.” by Eric Lach

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Image curtesy USNA by Kolkowski.

Image curtesy USNA by Kolkowski.

Our immense gratitude goes to CDR Jason Duff for his vision, leadership, partnership, and for bringing us back to Annapolis with a trio of projects: Rum and Vodka, Theater of War: Ajax, and Tape. Image curtesy USNA by Kolkowski.

Image curtesy USNA by Kolkowski.

Image curtesy USNA by Kolkowski.

Image curtesy USNA by Kolkowski.

Image curtesy USNA by Robertson.

Image curtesy USNA by Robertson.

Image curtesy USNA by Robertson.

Image curtesy USNA by Robertson.

Image curtesy USNA by Robertson.

Image curtesy USNA by Robertson.

Watch the full recording of The Suppliants Project: Ukraine featuring performances by Oscar Isaac, Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn, and our chorus of Ukrainians! This special event had an international audience from 62 countries.

Amanpour and Company featured an interview with Bryan Doerries, David Strathairn, and Lyudmila Yaninka on CNN. They spoke with host Sara Snider about The Suppliants Project: Ukraine and the impact of this special collaboration. Learn about Lyudmila’s humanitarian aid work, and hear 12-year-old actor Kira Meshcherska speak from Kyiv about her experiences during the war. Watch the interview.

The premiere began with a procession of the chorus and Danaus, played by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the band, inclusive of drummers, turtle, and conch players.

The premiere began with a procession of the chorus and Danaus, played by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the band, inclusive of drummers, turtle, and conch players.

The premiere began with a procession of the chorus and Danaus, played by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the band, inclusive of drummers, turtle, and conch players.

The premiere began with a procession of the chorus and Danaus, played by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the band, inclusive of drummers, turtle, and conch players.

The premiere began with a procession of the chorus and Danaus, played by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the band, inclusive of drummers, turtle, and conch players.

The premiere began with a procession of the chorus and Danaus, played by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the band, inclusive of drummers, turtle, and conch players.

Souraya Ghalayini serves on the panel along side Liliana Alvarez, Sam Montione, and Jacqueline Miszuk at the premiere of The Suppliants Project.

Liliana Alvarez serves on the panel of The Suppliants Project.

Obi Abili performs in The Suppliants Project premiere

Chad Coleman delivers Dr. King's Sermon "The Drum Major Instinct"

De-Andrea Blaylock Solar co-facilitates the audience discussion with Bryan Doerries.

Soloist De-Rance Blaylock delivers a soul stirring performance as a lead soloist in The Drum Major instinct

The Phil Woodmore Singers and the New Sunny Mount MBC Mass Choir lead by Dr. Philip A. Woodmore.

Thank you to Dr. Philip A. Woodmore for his charismatic leadership and his brilliant conducting! Phil composed and arranged the music for this special project and brings together a composite choir of people from many walks of life.

New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church graciously hosted a special performance of The Drum Major Instinct as part of the Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy presented by Race Forward, and Americans for the Arts.

Race Forward, and Americans for the Arts for invited Theater of War productions to take part in the Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy. We presented The Drum Major Instinct, featuring performances by Chad Coleman (The Wire, The Walking Dead), The Phil Woodmore Singers and the New Sunny Mount MBC Mass Choir, and soloists De-Rance Blaylock, Duane Foster, and John Leggett. Thank you to the audience members who joined us in person and the hundreds more from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Germany, France who joined us on Zoom. The audience in-person and on zoom participated in an expansive conversation that was catalyzed by Dr. King’s sermon and Phil Woodmore’s music. The room was full of compassion, openness, and kindness!

Theater of War Productions is honored to share this virtual offering, performed by the Antigone in Ferguson Choir, directed by composer Dr. Philip Woodmore, and led by John Leggette. The singers and musicians featured in this video include educators, students, activists, social workers, members of the faith community, and police officers from St. Louis, Missouri; Richmond, Virginia; and New York City who have made the commitment to sing together in order to start powerful, uncomfortable, transformative discussions about systemic oppression.

The song, “Be Steadfast,” written by Dr. Philip Woodmore for the project The Drum Major Instinct, is a powerful call to action at the end of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermon that serves as a collective response to King’s interrogation of racism, capitalism, militarism, white supremacy, and injustice. Dr. Edwina Moss, personal secretary and friend to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., responded to our project at a performance in Baltimore, Maryland in 2018, saying, "Be uncomfortable. It's all right to be uncomfortable. But if we're on this planet, and if we don't open the conversation, we will perish on this planet.”

We offer “Be Steadfast” for interpretation and discussion, with the hope that it will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

Listen to the full piece.

The Huffington Post reports on the Premiere of The Drum Major Instinct. Read the article.

Council-member Jumaane Williams performs in the premiere of The Drum Major Instinct at BRIC. Read the article.

Watch the full event from October 15th.

We are proud to release the full recording of Antigone in Savannah, co-presented by Theater of War Productions, The On Being Project, and the Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation, & Healing. Thank you for the many inquiries, we look forward to experiencing the lasting impact of this profoundly healing exchange. Thank you to The Hearthland Foundation for their support of Antigone in Savannah. Support for our digital programming is provided, in part, by the Mellon Foundation. Thank you to our editor John White at Off-White Media

Kara Young plays Antigone.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Creon, king of Thebes.

Our deepest gratitude the Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation, & Healing, co-led by Sistah Patt Gunn and Sistah Roz Rouse, who welcomed and led us with grace and an open heart. We encourage everyone to explore www.centerforjubilee.com & www.undergroundtoursofsavannah.comto find ways to engage in their work and donate to their mission to serve as a Grassroots Public Policy organization ​that empowers individuals, nonprofit organizations, governmental institutions, schools, colleges and churches in creating tools for positive change in communities throughout the State of Georgia.

Rev. Dr. Leonard Small, Pastor Litway Baptist Church, plays Tiresias.

Soloist De-Rance Blaylock sings "I'm Covered."

Rosalyn Rouse played Guard and Messenger and is part of Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation, & Healing.

Chorus member Latricia Allen is a Captain in St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Soloists Marcelle Davies Lashley and Daniel McRath at the end of their duet in "Oh Love Invincible"

Composer and conductor Dr. Philip A. Woodmore leads the choir.

Panelist Beverly Trotter - youth worker, Savannah Youth City, Inc responding in the beginning of the discussion, "Right now I am still filled with the Holy Ghost or whatever happened tonight. It happened. It is our responsibility to invoke a conversation"

Panelist Clay Hodges - local rapper, -Be Good To U Foundation.

Soloist Marcelle Davies Lashley on Tambourine

Krista Tippett played Eurydice. You can learn more about this collaboration with The On Being Project.

Soloist Duane Martin Foster, former teacher of Michael Brown, sings "Purify"

Soloist De-Rance Blaylock, former teacher of Michael Brown.

Watch the full recording of the premiere of A REFUTATION featuring performances 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).

Michael Potts plays Richard Allen. Photo by Paul Morigi for The Greenwall Foundation.

Chad Coleman plays Absalom Jones. Photo by Paul Morigi for The Greenwall Foundation.

Brían F. O'Byrne plays Matthew Carey. Photo by Paul Morigi for The Greenwall Foundation.

Ebenezer United Methodist Church - Capitol Hill. Photo by Paul Morigi for The Greenwall Foundation.

Panelists from Washington D.C. Fire Department. respond to the text. Photo by Paul Morigi for The Greenwall Foundation.

Panelists from Washington, D.C. respond to the text. Photo by Paul Morigi for The Greenwall Foundation.

Audience members share their insights during the discussion.

Audience members share their insights during the discussion.

Image curtesy of USNA by Peton.

Image curtesy of USNA by Peton.

Image curtesy of USNA by Peton.

Image curtesy of USNA by Peton.

Image curtesy of USNA by Peton.

Tracie Thoms, David Denman, and Nyasha Hatendi star in TAPE, presented with our partners at the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, who hosted and co-facilitated this event in honor of NYC Go Purple Day. On “NYC Go Purple Day” (October 21st) local buildings and landmarks across the city light up in purple, and New Yorkers are encouraged to wear purple to show support for survivors.

Read about the premiere of The Madness of Hercules in The New York Times

Read the article.

NY1 reports on Hercules in Brownsville

News 12 reports on Hercules in East New York at the Pink Houses. Watch the news segment.

SILIVE reports on Hercules in Staten Island. Read the article.

BK reader reports on Hercules in Brownsville. Read the article.

The Rockaway Wave reports on Hercules in Arverne. Read the article.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on Hercules in The Bayview. Read the article.

The Domestic Violence Project was featured on bangordailynews.com

Medea in Staten Island was featured on silive.com

This free, public event featured a live, dramatic reading of the “Patient Griselda” story from Boccaccio's Decameron by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Fleishman is in Trouble), Maev Beaty (Beau is Afraid, Mouthpiece), and Araya Mengesha (Tiny Pretty Things, Nobody). Then, in response, Margaret Atwood performed “Impatient Grisleda,” a story that is narrated to a group of humans in quarantine by an alien that looks like an octopus. The readings of both texts was followed by immediate responses by community panelists and culminated in a guided audience discussion, facilitated by Bryan Doerries (Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions).

Read the article on NYTimes.com

Read the article on businesswire.com

Read the article on abajournal.com

On December 6th, we presented the Book of Job Project, focused on the Knox County, Ohio community, as part of Theater of War Productions’ year-long virtual residency at Kenyon College. We were pleased to open this program up to the public to create the conditions for dialogue and connection during this time of isolation and division. Featuring performances by Bill Murray, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Marjolaine Goldsmtih, Kathryn Erbe, Nyasha Hatendi, and Mayor of Knox County, OH, Matt Starr.

Bill Murray played Job on December 6th 2020 for The Book of Job Project, focused in Knox County, OH. Read about the event in AP News.

This special event was a collaboration with Exodus Transitional Community aimed at engaging a socially distanced audience of adults and youth affected by the justice system. We were proud to open this innovative program to the public, to bear witness to the insights of the Exodus Transitional Community.

Book of Job was first presented in Joplin, MO in 2012, on the anniversary of the the tornado that devastated the Joplin community.

Theater of War Productions presented Book of Job in West End Temple in the Rockaways, marking the first time congregants stepped foot in the sanctuary after it was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. See article in The Forward.

Read the article.

Read the article.

Read the article on Harpers.com