Stolen Chair Presents Commedia dell'Artemisia, 10/31

In a daring attempt to rival Moliere's greatest work and single-handedly revive the tradition of Commedia dell'Arte, Stolen Chair presents Commedia dell'Artemisia, a masked farce in rhyming couplets, satirizing the controversial rape trial of Italian Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi. As the teenage virtuosa Artemisia tries to escape the clutches of her miserly father, she becomes entwined with Agostino Tassi, a master painter and criminal who would rather screw than woo. Transforming these complex historical figures into commedia stock characters, Stolen Chair irreverently eviscerates history, hypocrisy, rape, romance, art and artifice. The piece has already played to sold-out houses and critical acclaim at Collective Unconscious, the Brick Theater, CBGB's, and Swarthmore College where it's been praised as "dizzying and fun" (NYtheatre.com), "smart, supple, and daring" (Clyde Fitch Report), and "one of the most exquisite rapes in the history of theatre" (5th St Review).

On Halloween, strap on a mask and join the cast and crew of Commedia dell'Artemisia for a Masked Mingle. Come in costume for the show and stay for free wine, appetizers, and masked mingling. Presented as part of 2010 FREE NIGHT OF THEATRE NYC, Stolen Chair is offering their October 31st performance of Commedia dell'Artemisia and Masked Mingle free of charge. For more information on the Halloween performance go to: freenightoftheater.net

One of Broadway World's "10 to Watch in 2010," The Stolen Chair Theatre Company 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. Stolen Chair's programs are supported, in part, by the Nancy Quinn Fund and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts. To find out more about the company, please browse its press packet.

Commedia dell'Artemisia performs at Playwrights Horizons North Studio

www.stolenchair.org

Sun 10/31 @ 7pm, Sat 9/6 @ 7pm, Sun 9/7 @ 2pm

Running Time: 45 Minutes

416 W 42nd St, 5th Floor, NYC, NY 10036

Subways: 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, S @ Times Square, A, C, E @ Port Authority

Suggested donation: $5

Free alcohol