Political Star Wars Comedy THE TRADE FEDERATION To Premiere Off-Off-Broadway

Strike back at the Empire! The Trade Federation: Or, Let's Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels, a new political comedy by Andy Boyd, will make its world premiere September 20-28 at IRT Theatre in the West Village. Allen MacLeod directs the allegorical farce about global trade, the International Monetary Fund, and (of course) Star Wars. Tickets are on sale now at http://irttheater.org/.

A young, avant-garde playwright pitches his screenplay for a new Star Wars film. The concept: A prequel to Episode One that fleshes out the economic and social implications of the Trade Federation, the mysterious intergalactic shipping conglomerate that sets the entire trilogy in motion. The problem: it's far from your typical Star Wars movie - in fact, it's a full-on activist rallying-cry, replacing the veiled references to colonialism from more recent films in the franchise with blatant political allegory. The meeting doesn't go well. George Lucas thinks the movie sounds really boring. The playwright questions his decisions. Little does he realize that, in the process, he may have stumbled into one of the largest conspiracies in modern history, one with roots deeper than he could have ever imagined and which threatens to uproot not only his world, but all of society as he knows it...

The Trade Federation asks us to consider how we can use the grand narratives of late capitalism against capitalism itself. It weaponizes one the most successful film franchises of all time against the dead-end ideology of "capitalist realism," which insists that history is over and that there is "no alternative" to the unfettered rule of the market. No, it counters, we can always fight back. Star Wars told us so.

The complete cast includes David de Almo, Wolfen St. Michael de Kastro, Dale Duko, Paris Ellsworth, Kevin Gilmartin, David Lamberton, Jessica Noboa, Alex Pires, and Lynne Taylor.

The Trade Federation features scenic design by Daniel Prosky, lighting design by Keith Truax, video design by Taylor Edelle Stuart, and fight design by Joe DiNozzi.

General admission tickets for The Trade Federation are $18. The performance schedule is as follows: Friday, September 20 at 8:00pm; Saturday, September 21 at 2:00pm and 8:00pm; Sunday, September 22 at 3:00pm. Thursday, September 26 at 7:00pm; Friday, September 27 at 8:00pm; Saturday, September 28 at 2:00pm and 8:00pm.

The Trade Federation received its first workshop through Columbia University's MFA program in November, 2016. It received subsequent workshops at Trunk Space in Phoenix, Arizona in December, 2016, and then again at Dixon Place in August, 2018 through In The Water Theatre Company.

Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA in Playwriting; Harvard University, where he earned a BA in American History and Literature; and Arizona School for the Arts, where he studied acting. His previous plays include Acres of Diamonds (Phyllis Anderson Prize), She Shall Be Praised (Rhode Island State Council for the Arts Playwriting and Screenwriting Grant), and River Rouge, his MFA Thesis. Prior to attending Columbia, Andy served with City Year Providence.

Allen MacLeod is a Manhattan-based theatrical director and producer. Directing credits include Prophesy (The Fresh Fruit Festival, best direction award), Look What You Started (The Green Room 42) A Bit Too Much About Me (NAMI), Totally Gay and Almost Happy (The Duplex), You're Not My Type (The Duplex), Out of Touch (Secret Theatre); and Fireside Chat (Manhattan Rep.); Associate/assisting credits include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (The Kennedy Center), I Hate Hamlet (Bucks County Playhouse), Frozen: A Musical Spectacular (Disney Cruise Lines); Presto Change-o, A Little More Alive, and Man of La Mancha (Barrington Stage), We Are the Tigers (Gallery Players), and the inaugural season at The Script @Stage 74.

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. For info visit http://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)

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