Cast and Creative Team Announced  FOR THREE SCENES IN THE LIFE OF A TROTSKYIST At The Tank

The Tank has announced the cast and creative team for the  World Premiere of Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist, written by Andy Boyd (Occupy Prescott) and directed by Jake Beckhard (What Else is True?), one of the Spring 2024 Core Productions for their  20th Anniversary season. Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist will begin performances on February  22 and run through March 17 at The Tank's 56 Seat Theater (312 West 36th Street).  

The cast for Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist will include Michael Jay Henry (Bad Education),  Jeff Gonzalez (“Big Sky”), Charlie Hurtt (terrace play), Evan Maltby (Out Man in Santiago), and Ben  Schrager (1001 Nights: A Love Story About Loving Stories). 

Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist will feature scenic and prop design by M Picciuto, costume design by Madeline Rosaler, and lighting and video design by Leanna Keyes. Violet Woundy is the 

Stage Manager, Charlotte Dow is the Marketing Consultant, and Alex Kopnick is the Assistant Director. Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist is produced by The Tank, Vick Liu, and Rachel Ackerman, and co-produced by Mark Armstrong, Artistic Director of The 24 Hour Plays. 

Co-producer Mark Armstrong shared, “We think of conservative politics emanating from what we now  call 'red states,' but Andy's play masterfully shows how one strand of this thought emerged right here in  New York City. Three Scenes takes us from Brooklyn's radical left in 1939 to the burgeoning  ‘neoconservative' movement in 1980, which would have an enormous impact on world affairs in the next  century. Jake Beckhard is an extraordinary director whose work should be seen and supported. Recently,  I've been inspired by my peers to help produce the work of fellow artists. As a theater director and labor  organizer, this was the project I wanted to support." 

Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist traces the forty-year story of Lev Trachtenberg from idealistic  youth to hard-core reactionary. We first meet Lev in 1939 as a leftist firebrand at City College. But after  finding himself on the other side of the picket lines in the campus rebellions of the 1960s, he finds himself  zealously embracing the Reagan Right. This horrifies his one-time comrades, who wonder: has Lev  abandoned his old ideals, or held onto them too tightly as the world around him changed? Three Scenes is a play about politics, literature, and the corrosive power of success in America. 

Additionally, Three Scenes will host a talkback festival following select performances. The festival, Staging Dissent, will feature some of today’s savviest writers, politicians, artists, and activists reacting to the play and staging discussions on the evolution of socialism, reactionary politics, and the legacy of Anti-Stalinism in the 20th century. Currently joining the roster are David Klion (The Guardian, and others), Sam Adler-Bell (Know Your Enemy), Joshua Boerman (The Worst Of All Possible Worlds), New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim, Brandon West, David Staller (Gingold Theatrical Group), Prof. Ronnie A. Grinberg (Write Like A Man), Jesse Jae Hoon (I’ve Got A Sinking Feeling In The Pit Of My Stomach), Alle Mims (A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America as Told by Langston Hughes and Others), Ben Firke (I Am The GooseKing), Aeneas Sagar Hemphill (A Wake At Singh’s), Chas Libretto (Cyclops), with more to be announced. 

The festival’s events include: 

Saturday, February 24, 2024, Following 3pm performance 

“Socialism Then and Now - Organizing The Left” 

Assemblyman Ron Kim (State Legislator, Queens)
Brandon West (WGA Labor Organizer, City Council Candidate) Additional participants to be announced 

 

Sunday, February 25, 2024, Following 7pm performance 

“An Over-Reactive Imagination: From Old Left To New Right” 

David Klion (Writer, The Nation, Jewish Currents, The New Republic, The Guardian) 

Sam Adler-Bell (Host, Know Your Enemy Podcast)
Josh Boerman (Host, The Worst of All Possible Worlds Podcast) 

 

Sunday, March 3, 2024, Following 3pm performance 

“A Conversation with the Gingold Theatrical Group”
David Staller (Founding Artistic Director, Gingold Theatrical Group) 

Andy Boyd (Playwright of Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist) 

Additional participants to be announced 

 

Monday, March 4, 2024, Following 7pm performance 

“Does Writing Plays Count As Praxis (And Other Revolutionary Questions)” 

Ben Firke (I Am The GooseKing)
Aeneas Sagar Hemphill (A Wake At Singh's with The Civilians)
Chas Libretto (Pulitzer-nominated for Cyclops) 

Jesse Jae Hoon (MacDowell fellow, Public Theater EWG)
Alle Mims (A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America as Told by Langston Hughes and Others, Clubbed Thumb's Emerging Writers Group)
Andy Boyd (Playwright of Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist)

Tickets

The performance schedule is as follows: February 22, 23, 25, and 29, March 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15 and  16 at 7pm; February 24, and March 3 and 17 at 3pm.  Tickets begin at $25 and are available at www.thetanknyc.org/20th-anniversary-season 

The Tank's Core Production Series

The Tank's Core Production series serves companies and artists as they create new works for  performance. Core Productions are central to The Tank's mission to give emerging artists resources to  build their careers and artistic voices. These productions receive institutional support in the form of financial assistance, performance and rehearsal space, press, marketing, and more, culminating in a world premiere production run. The Core Production series offers a way for emerging artists to fully realize their artistic vision in partnership with The Tank. 

About The Tank 

Founded in 2003, The Tank is an Obie Award-winning, multi-disciplinary non-profit arts presenter and  producer, which provides a home to emerging artists working across all disciplines, including theater,  comedy, dance, film, music, puppetry, and storytelling. Led by Artistic Director Meghan Finn, Managing  Producer Molly FitzMaurice, and Director of Artistic Development Johnny G. Lloyd, The Tank  champions emerging artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression. In doing so the  company removes the economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers  and experimenting within their art form. From the company's home with two theaters on 36th Street, The  Tank serves over 2,500 artists every year, presents over 1,000 performances, and welcomes 36,000  audience members annually. The company fully produces a curated season of 8-12 theatrical World or  New York premieres each season. 

Recent Tank-produced work includes The New York Times Critics' Picks Taxilandia by Flako Jimenez  (2021), OPEN by Crystal Skillman, directed by Jessi D. Hill (2019); Red Emma & The Mad Monk by  Alexis Roblan, directed by Katie Lindsay (2018); and The Offending Gesture by Mac Wellman, directed  by Meghan Finn (2016), as well as Drama Desk Award-nominated productions The Hunger Artist (2018),  The Paper Hat Game (2017), the ephemera trilogy (2017), Ada/Ava (2016) and youarenowhere (2016).