First Produced April 3 - 19, 2009
Reprised June 18 - July 10, 2009
at the Manny Fried Playhouse
 The
world debut of
WATERBOARDING BLUES
Written & Directed by
Kurt
Schneiderman*
THREE STARS!!!
"[S]mart, strong, and deeply affecting . . . Schneiderman puts us all on
notice."
-- Colin Dabkowski, BUFFALO NEWS 4/5/09
click here to read this
review
"[E]ngaging and thought-provoking . . . this stalwart crew is called upon
to play multiple roles, which they do with impressive facility."
-- Anthony Chase, ARTVOICE MAGAZINE 4/9/09
click here to read this
review
"A superior play by author Kurt Schneiderman . . . a very agile plot
indicts the military under Bush and Cheney."
-- Willy Rogue Donaldson,
NIGHTLIFE MAGAZINE 4/10/09
click here to read this
review
It's extremely rare in the world
of theatre to present a play that speaks directly to very issues that are
making front page headlines the night of each performance. But, as fate
would have it, the world-debut of Kurt Schneiderman's original stream of
consciousness drama WATERBOARDING BLUES opened just as some of the most
damning evidence of torture by U.S. Forces in the so-called "War on
Terror" came to light.
As the New York Times ran articles listing by
name the criminals who authorized the American use of torture, and as
President Obama added to our national shame by refusing to prosecute
these criminals, we at Subversive Theatre were honored to have the
opportunity to use our stage to speak out against the atrocities that
others dared not face.
In fact, our production -- directed by the
playwright himself -- proved to be so overwhelmingly popular and
well-attended that we had no choice to reprise it later that season.
WATERBOARDING
BLUES plunges unflinchingly into the issue of America's new found
willingness to employ methods of torture. Mixing
stark realism with Twilight Zone-esque
surrealism, this drama leads audiences on a dizzyingly intense journey as a military
intelligence officer in modern day Baghdad is pushed by supernatural forces
into stunning revelations about the harsh realities of America's past,
present, and future.
Sobering, spellbinding, and unapologetically
agitational, WATERBOARDING BLUES proved to be a powerful and urgently necessary
statement on outrages and hypocrisies of our Twenty-First Century World.
Here's who did what:
 THE
CAST:
Captain Sterling . . . . . . Gordon Tashjian
Colonel Carnovsky . . . . . Dennis Keefe*
Lieutenant Thorne . . . . . . . . James Wild
1st Investigator . Robert "Hodie" Hodas*
2nd Investigator . . . . . . . Jessica Stuber*
3rd Investigator . . . . . . . . . . . John Vines
Xavier Sterling & others . Travis Hedland
THE
CREW:
Director/Playwright . Kurt Schneiderman*
Stage Manager/Props . Virginia Brannon*
Set Designer . . . . . . . . Dyan O'Connell*
Sound Designer . . . . . . . John Shotwell*
Lighting Designer . . . . Craig Freudenthal
Costume Designer . . . . Paul Stephenson
Poster Designer . . . . . . . . Dan Sterlace* Special
thanks for assistance with props, equipment, and procuring other necessary
materials for this production goes out to:
Phil Knoerzer, David King, and the Theatre Department of Niagara University Voiceover
work for this production was provided by:
Dinash Lal, Kurt Schneiderman*, Gordon Tashjian, Robert "Hodie"
Hodas*, Dyan O'Connell*, and John Shotwell*
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