Open to Public / Long form Journalism Series
The Subway Killing that Divided America Theater of War Productions Presented by WNYC
Free Event
Wed, Feb 05.2025
Tune in on February 8th at 2pm EST and February 11th at 8pm EST on WNYC 93.9 FM or on WNYC.org to listen to the broadcast!
Please join us in person on February 5, from 8pm to 9:15pm, at WNYC for the live recording and launch of Theater of War Productions’ new long-form journalism series. Our first installment will feature acclaimed actors performing a dramatic reading of a recent article 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, police officers, mental health professionals, veterans, and first responders. The event will be recorded with a live studio audience and broadcast the following week on WNYC.
Featuring performances by 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.).
Co-presented by Theater of War Productions and WNYC, with special thanks to The New Yorker.
Supported by a generous grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.
Directed and facilitated by Bryan Doerries.
Seating is limited. Registration does not guarantee a seat.
Cast Members
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Amy Ryan
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Chad Coleman
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David Strathairn
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Arliss Howard
Event Partners
Explore Projects
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Domestic ViolenceMedeaMedea timelessly depicts how scorned passion can lead to revenge and, sometimes, unthinkable violence. This project, which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in June 2016, delves into under-discussed mental health issues that affect women and their families.
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Domestic ViolencePatient and Impatient GriseldaTheater of War Productions and Margaret Atwood return to the Toronto International Festival of Authors with an exciting new collaboration exploring power and control, domestic violence, and family dynamics by way of two versions of the same story, one written by Giovanni Boccaccio in 1348 during the bubonic plague and the other by Atwood in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Bocaccio’s version, a woman named Griselda remains in an abusive and controlling relationship, showing great patience and forbearance in the face of her husband’s sadism and cruelty. In Atwood’s version, Griselda takes matters in her own hands and, with the help of her sister, turns the tables on her husband.
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).
Co-presented by Theater of War Productions and Toronto International Festival of Authors.
This hybrid presentation took place in person at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre Theatre and on Zoom Webinar on September 30, 2023.