IRT Theater Presents THE CABARET AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Ancient Rome looks a lot like modern America as irreverent, vivacious hosts Flora and Fawna invite you to the hottest club in the City Of Seven Hills for a sly, sexy, hilarious romp through Julius Caesar.

Melody Bates' new play affectionately burlesques Shakespeare as it satirizes on our own tumultuous Trumpian times.

IRT presents Hard Sparks' THE CABARET AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Melody Bates and Rebecca Hart, directed by Joan Jubett, March 10-19 at IRT Theater (154 Christopher Street) as part of the 3B Development Series*.

Tickets ($25) may be purchased in advance at www.irttheater.org/ . The cast will feature Melody Bates (Alas The Nymphs at BAM; R & J & Z at New Ohio Theater), Samantha Bilinkas (The Trials of Ms. Katherine at Theatre Row), and Connor Bond (Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare in the Park), Rachel Benbow Murdy (Diane Paulus' The Donkey Show) with Musical Director Peter Szep, Costumer Elizabeth Kurtzman and Stage Manager Darielle Shandler.

Performances are March 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18 at 7pm, and March 11, 15, 19 at 3pm.

It's the Ides of March and Julius Caesar is back in town. Sisters Flora (Melody Bates) and Fawna (Samantha Bilinkas) run the hottest underground club in Ancient Rome, regaling audiences with song, dance, and just the right amount of scandal. But with Rome on edge, satire can be a dangerous game. The feisty hostesses strive to keep their patrons entertained - and safe - while the events of Shakespeare's play threaten to overwhelm the evening. Will Caesar become Emperor? Will anyone become Emperor? Can democracy survive a Roman meltdown? And just what does democracy mean if not everyone gets to participate?

Author of the supernatural sequel to Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet, R & J & Z, playwright Melody Bates' work inverts - and subverts - classical tropes in order to shed new light on long-standing sociopolitical issues. Her latest, The Cabaret At The End Of The World, is a socially conscious comedy that asks us to consider whose experience matters. Telling the events of Julius Caesar from the perspective of two women--two non-aristocratic women, at that- is, in itself, political. Co-starring Connor Bond with original songs by Rebecca Hart, it's also downright vaudevillian.

The Cabaret At The End Of The World is a play with music created by Melody Bates (book) and Rebecca Hart (music and lyrics), and directed by Joan Jubett. It was originally commissioned by Maine's Opera House Arts at The Stonington Opera House.

Melody Bates is a native Oregonian actor and writer based in Brooklyn. Theatre includes Alas, The Nymphs (BAM), If Colorado Had an Ocean (La Mama E.T.C.), Eightythree Down (Theatre St. Marks--NYIT Award Outstanding Lead Actress nominee), and performances at The Public Theatre, Classic Stage Company, St. Anne's Warehouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, and Boston's ART. At Maine's Stonington Opera House: Juliet in R & J & Z, Maria in Mr. Burns, Cleopatra in Antony & Cleopatra. She plays featured roles this season in Bartlett Sher's Romeo et Juliette and Barbiere di Siviglia at the Metropolitan Opera. Film/TV credits include Public Hearing, Naked/ Spurious, and I Am Homicide. The sold-out NY premiere of Melody's play R & J & Z was nominated for three NYIT Awards. MFA in acting from Columbia University. www.melodybates.com

SAMANTHA BILINKAS Selected theatre credits include: The Trials of Ms. Katherine (The Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row), The Night of the Hunter (New 42nd Street Studios), Much Ado About Nothing (John Gielgud Theatre, RADA), The Crucible (NYU), Jonah (Todd Mountain Theatre Project), Equus (Scott Theatre). Film: Civil War (has played in over fifty film festivals internationally), Temma (Alfred P. Sloan Production Grant Winner), Spy, Porcupine, Let Me Wonder. Samantha has also studied extensively at The Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City and received her BFA from NYU Tisch. www.samanthabilinkas.com

Connor Bond most recently performed in The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Troilus and Cressida directed by Dan Sullivan. Regional: Richard III with the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, and Henry IV Pt 1 and Sense and Sensibility with the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Also, the Winter's Tale, Camelot, and the Foreigner with the Texas Shakespeare Festival. He performed Legally Blonde with the Pacific Conservatory Theater, and the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with Portland Center Stage. Currently featured in Bartlett Sherr's Metropolitan Opera production of Romeo Et Juliette. Film/TV: Madam Secretary, Boiling Pot, and Eidola. MFA in Acting from the University of California, Irvine. connorbondactor.com.

Rachel Benbow Murdy is an actor, singer, and theater devisor based in NYC. Performer/co-writer "The Millay Sisters Cabaret" at Stonington Opera House, Don't Tell Mama, and The Abingdon Theater. Co-writer/performer "Welcome Home Hamlet" performed at Joe's Pub, and Don't Tell Mama. Recently appeared as Man's Understanding in Calderon's "2 Dreams" at La Mama and played The Evil Apothecary in "Romeo and Juliet and Zombies" at New Ohio Theatre. Co-creator/performer "Connie's Avant Garde Restaurant." Bushwick Starr, Joe's Pub, and Cleveland Public Theater. Co-creator with Diane Paulus's Company: Project 400 Theater Group original cast member of "The Donkey Show".

JOAN JUBETT (Director) NEW YORK: The Laramie Project (LREI), The Millay Sisters (Gowanus Loft) R & J & Z, (The New Ohio, Three NY Innovative Award Nominations including Outstanding Revival), Struck (HERE Sublet Series), Multimedia True West (3LD). AD on A Midsummer Night's Dream (Blessed Unrest), Oph3lia (HERE, NY Innovative Award Nomination for Outstanding Ensemble). REGIONAL: R & J & Z, The Millay Sisters and Burt Dow, Deep Water Man, at Stonington Opera House (Opera House Arts), Maine. Joan has guest lectured at SVA, The New School, MIT and Colgate University and holds a MFA in Acting from Columbia University.

HARD SPARKS champions daring performances of adventurous new plays. Since 2011, the company has worked with fifty-one actors, nine playwrights, six directors, and eighteen designers on eleven productions in thirteen venues. Hard Sparks has been nominated for eleven New York Innovative Theatre Awards including Outstanding Premiere Production for Eightythree Down, Outstanding Short Script for Chicken-Fried Ciccone, and Outstanding Revival for R & J & Z. For more information, visit www.HardSparks.com

IRT THEATER is a grassroots laboratory for independent theater and performance in New York City, providing space and support to a new generation of artists. Tucked away in the old Archive Building in Greenwich Village, IRT's mission is to build a community of emerging and established artists by creating a home for the development and presentation of new work. Some of the artists we have supported include Young Jean Lee, Reggie Watts, and Mike Daisey. For info visit www.irttheater.org.

*This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Office of Councilmember Corey Johnson and The Nancy Quinn Fund, a project of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York(A.R.T./New York)

Photo credit: Jody Christopherson

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