THE RACE Returns to The Wilbury Theatre Group By Popular Demand

Back by popular demand, The Wilbury Theatre Group has added performances of The Race by Mark Binder, directed by Brien Lang: March 13 - 28, 2021. This challenging new play, done on Zoom - an emerging new performance medium - examines the common, and sometimes uncommon, obstacles of a high-pressure corporate interview dance in the Zoom era.

The Cranston Herald calls The Race, "Masterful innovative theatre. Director Brien Lang has taken Mark Binder's clever, interactive play, recruited Rhode Island's best actors and involved his audience in a thought-provoking evening of theater. ArtsFuse says. "[The Race] is a very effective political drama...spellbinding. Like Orwell's 1984, The Race is a wake-up call, demanding that we dissent against the dehumanizing directions business is taking."

The Race had two workshop performances with Wilbury Theater Group in November of 2020. Edge Media said of the workshop performances; "The Race is an uncomfortable, cautionary tale...thematically it touches upon life during the pandemic when in-person interviews are off the table. The Race is not only a cautionary tale [it] hints at a possible future.... It's worth a look, especially when we're all hanging out at home for the most part."

Two job-seekers from vastly different backgrounds vie for the same position in a large, faceless corporation. Each reveals uncomfortable truths from their past while dodging landmines from their competition, and dealing with an increasingly demanding disembodied interviewer. The audience also plays an integral part as they can communicate in a live chat, as the interview happens onscreen, and ultimately decide who is the best man for the job.

"As we were all experiencing a shift in performance during the pandemic, I asked myself 'How do we create a vibrant theater for this moment? After so many online meetings, how do we create something theatrical and visceral?'" says playwright Mark Binder. "The Race is about two people simultaneously interviewing for the same job in the Zoomscape - Joseph Black lives in the suburbs and is on sabbatical while Joe White lives in the city, and has been unemployed for a year. Both characters need the job, but how can they connect with the unseen selection interviewer from Human Resources and the selection committee? The Race not only deals with contemporary issues around bias, politics and work, it makes the audience complicit. That the actors change roles from night to night forces us to question every assumption we make. The experience is intense."

Director, Brien Lang adds, "Mark has crafted it so that each member of our cast can play any one of the three roles and this has been a real pleasure to explore as each one of our actors has brought their own unique flavor to each very different character. We will be shuffling the cast throughout the run so our hope is that audience members will join us on multiple nights for a completely different experience"

The Race features original music by Nikita Zabinski, stage management by Allison Marchetti, and features performances by Rodney Eric López, Jennifer Mischley and Jim O'Brien.

Performances for The Race are done live and held entirely via Zoom. Patrons will receive a Zoom link to access performances after purchasing tickets prior to the performance. A Zoom account is not required. For tickets and more information, please visit www.thewilburygroup.org/the-race.

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