Haymarket Opens Tonight at Off Broadway's Becket Theatre

Opening tonight, Monday, December 12th at 8:00 pm is the Alchemy Theatre Company of Manhattan, Inc. production of the New York premiere of "Haymarket" by Zayd Dohrn, Off Broadway at The Beckett Theatre (Theatre Row), 410 West 42nd Street. Directed by Robert Saxner with set design by Heidi Meisenhelder; costumes by Victoria Tzykun; lighting by Stephen Sakowski and sound by Haddon Kime. The cast includes Morgan Baker, Birgit Huppuch, Judson Jones, Dennis McNitt, Squeaky Moore and D. Zhonzinsky. Previews began December 9th. (2 hour 5 min including intermission)

On the evening of May 4, 1886, anarchist-socialist organizers called a meeting in the Haymarket Square in Chicago to demand an eight-hour day for the city's workers. When police attempted to disperse the meeting, somebody in the crowd hurled an iron sphere filled with dynamite into the ranks of officers. The bomb exploded, the police opened fire into the crowd, and in the ensuing riot, seven policemen and several workers were killed. At the time, it was one of the most deadly acts of terrorism that had ever taken place on American soil. While the bomb-thrower was never caught, seven anarchist leaders were arrested and convicted of conspiracy. Five of them were hanged.

"Haymarket"focuses on one of those leaders, Albert Parsons, and his wife Lucy Parsons, a bi-racial ex-slave. Using newspapers, trial transcripts, and original scenes, the play shows the aftershocks from the May 4 explosion that rocked the city of Chicago in the summer of 1886. The play begins moments after the bomb is thrown, and follows the lives of anarchists, policemen, elected officials, and ordinary citizens in the aftermath of tragedy and through the first "red scare" in American history.

Playwright Zayd Dohrn grew up in NYC and Chicago, attended Brown University, and received his MFA in playwriting at Boston University. His first play, Shameless, premiered to raves at the Boston Actors Workshop. The Boston Globe named it one of 2002's "Critic's Picks." In addition to numerous professional readings, his plays have received productions at the Producers Club, Boston Director's Lab, and Boston Playwrights Theatre, where Haymarket, was nominated for seven IRNE awards and his new play, Permanent Whole Life, will receive its world premiere this year.

Robert Saxner is the Producing Artistic Director of The Alchemy Theatre Company of Manhattan, Inc. His directorial work for Alchemy includes David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow and Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart; Ollie Utz is Free; in Boston: Shameless; Old Soldiers at Theatre Cooperative; Tinted Window and Samarkand at the Atlantis Playmaker's Festival; John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Creep, and Jean Genet's The Maids at the Actor's Workshop. Other directorial work includes Samuel Beckett's Catastrophe, Play, and Act Without Words I & II at the Moscow Art Theatre School; Hamletmachine, The Swan, and Cloud 9 at American Repertory Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. Acting work includes Gavrila in Ivanov, in which he also served as assistant director, starring Debra Winger and Arliss Howard at American Repertory Theatre.

The Alchemy Theatre Company Of Manhattan, Inc. exists to produce vivid theatrical productions, devoted to visceral storytelling of contemporary, classical, and new works, and a collaborative approach to artistry, which will resonate with a diverse New York audience. Two of the past acclaimed productions of ATCNY have been the first NYC productions of "Speed The Plow: and "The Normal Heart" after their original New York premieres. www.atcny.org

Performances of the limited engagement of "Haymarket" are Monday, Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 & 7:00 pm through December 23. Tickets are only $15.00. They are available through Ticket Central: (212) 279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com