Menu

Close

opc-web-wide.jpg
opc-web-wide.jpg

O.P.C.

  • Nov 28, 2014 - Jan 4, 2015

  • Loeb Drama Center

  • Run Time: 2 and a half hours with one intermission

Tickets

From $25

Learn more:

This event has passed

A new comedy from Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina MonologuesO.P.C. is an exploration of consumption and politics that asks, “How are we to survive as a species if we insist on destroying the world we love?” A dumpster-diving freegan is doing just fine squatting in an abandoned apartment, but when her mother, a candidate running for the Senate, tries to make her toe the party line, radicalism comes into collision with mainstream liberalism. Mother and daughter wrestle with the inconvenient truths at the heart of consumer culture, tossed between political compromise and “obsessive political correctness.”

Click here to read the full O.P.C. program.

Click here to learn about Freeganism and the themes discussed in O.P.C. in our fall Guide.

Get the best seats at the best price with an A.R.T. Subscription.

Really, Really, Free Events

In exploration and celebration of the issues explored in O.P.C., the A.R.T. welcomed audiences to a series of free events, including skillshares, post-show discussions, and an interactive lobby experience featuring artists from our community. Click here to learn more.

Lobby Exhibits

We pulled together an interactive exhibition of work from our community partners, local artists, and students in our neighborhood.

For the duration of the production, we displayed photographs, trashion, and eco-friendly furniture from local artists:

  •        An O.P.C.-inspired photography project by students at CRLS
  •        High trashion dresses by Jackie Olivia
  •        An eco-friendly living room made by teens from Artists for Humanity

Notable dates

ASL Dates

12/30, 7:30PM1/4, 2:00PM

Audio Described Dates

12/30, 7:30PM*1/3, 2:00PM* *Touch tour 1 hour prior

Age Appropriateness

O.P.C. is recommended for grades 10 and up due to mature language and sexual content.

Discussions

Post-performance discussions took place after the following matinee performances:

12/6, 12/10, 12/13, 12/17, 12/20

Click here to learn about some of the special talkbacks and O.P.C. Community Events we hosted.

This work was supported, in part, by The Robert Brustein Endowment for New Work.

Press

Credits

Creative team

Eve Ensler

By

Eve Ensler

V (Formerly Eve Ensler) (she/her) is the Tony Award-winning playwright and author of the Obie Award-winning theatrical phenomenon The Vagina Monologues, (translated into 48 languages and performed in 140 countries) along with many other plays. She is the author of a number of books including her latest bestsellers The Apology (translated into more than 15 languages) and In the Body of the World, as well as the New York Times bestseller I am an Emotional Creature. She starred on Broadway in The Good Body, and most recently Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in the critically acclaimed In the Body of the WorldWILD is her third production at The American Repertory Theater originating new work, following O.P.C. and In the Body of the World. During the COVID-19 pandemic she helped create That Kindness: Nurses in Their Own Words, a tribute to nurses presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music in accordance with theaters all across the country. Film credits include The Vagina Monologues (HBO) and What I Want My Words to Do to You (Executive Producer, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award, PBS) and Mad Max: Fury Road (Consultant). She is founder of V-Day—the 23-year-old global activist movement which has raised over 120 million dollars to end violence against all women (cisgender and transgender), those who hold fluid identities, nonbinary people, girls, and the planet—and founder of One Billion Rising, the largest global mass action to end gender-based violence in over 200 countries, as well as a co-founder of City of Joy. She writes regularly for The Guardian.

View full biography

Directed by

Pesha Rudnik

Directed by

Pesha Rudnik

A.R.T.: Debut. Pesha Rudnick is the co-founder and Artistic Director of LOCAL Theater Company in Boulder, Colorado where she pursues the company's mission to discover and develop new American plays. She has directed over twenty new works and runs an annual new play festival involving artists from around the country. Directing credits from LOCAL include the world premiere of Elijah: An Adventure. Ms. Rudnick has recently collaborated with Eve Ensler as Associate Director of the world premiere of Ensler’s play Emotional Creature at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Pershing Square Signature Center. Additional credits include: 26 Miles, Curious Theatre Company; The Hairy Ape, Tartuffe, Hangar Theatre; The House on Mango Street, Kennedy Center; American Night, OSF (Assistant Director). Rudnick is a member of Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab in New York City, and a Drama League Directing Fellow.

View full biography

Scenic Design

Brett J. Banakis

Scenic Design

Brett J. Banakis

A.R.T: Debut. Off-Broadway: Big Love, Signature; What's It All About?, NYTW; Titus Andronicus, Public Theater; Winter's Tale, Pearl Theatre; Tamar and the River, Prospect Theater. Regional: As You Like It, Two River Theater. Associate Set Designer: The Ambassador, BAM Next Wave; Dr. Zhivago, The Last Ship, If/Then, Hands on a Hardbody, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Broadway; Rigoletto, MetOpera. Education: NYU, UCLA.

View full biography

Costume Design

ESosa

Costume Design

ESosa

(he/him) A.R.T.: ExtraOrdinary, The White Card, Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), O.P.C., Witness Uganda, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Best of Both Worlds. Broadway: Motown, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony nomination), Topdog/Underdog. Off-Broadway: Water by the Spoonful; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lucille Lortel and NAACP Theater Awards), 2econd Stage; The Capeman, Juan and John, Romeo and Juliet, Public Theater; The Misanthrope, All That I Will Ever Be, NYTW. Regional: Othello, Guthrie Theater; Ruined, Señor Discretion Himself (Helen Hayes Award nominee), Arena Stage; Twist, Alliance; Once on This Island, Center Stage.

View full biography

Lighting Design

Bradley King

Lighting Design

Bradley King

A.R.T.: Moby-Dick, We Live in Cairo, Endlings, Burn All Night, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, O.P.C. Broadway: Fat Ham, Hadestown (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Awards), Flying Over Sunset (Drama Desk Award, Tony Nomination), The Great Comet(Tony, Drama Desk, OCC awards), Bernhardt/Hamlet. Numerous shows Off-Broadway, regionally, and around the world. Upcoming musicals: Water For Elephants, Alliance; Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic; Lempicka; Goddess; How to Dance in Ohio. bradleykingld.com

View full biography

Sound Design

Jane Shaw

Sound Design

Jane Shaw

A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: The Killer, Tamburlaine, Theatre for a New Audience; Red Dog Howls, NYTW; London Wall, Mint; The Rivals, Pearl; Grounded, Page 73; Jackie, Women's Project. Regional: Hamlet, Hartford Stage; The Little Foxes, Cleveland Play House; 4000 Miles, Asolo Rep; All in the Timing, Dorset Theater Festival. Recipient: NEA/TCG Career Development Program; Henry Award, Denver Center; Premios ACE 2012 Award; Bessie Award (with Big Dance Theater). Graduate: Harvard College, Yale School of Drama. 

View full biography

Projection Design

Shawn Sagady

Projection Design

Shawn Sagady

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Leap of Faith, Memphis (2010 Tony Award for Best Musical). Off-Broadway: Stop. Reset., Mound Builders, Emotional Creature, Signature; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, Second Stage; Father Comes Home From the War, Public Theater. National Tours: Memphis, Julius Caesar. Regional: The White Snake, Measure for Measure, American Night, OSF; Back Back Back, Old Globe; Carmen, La Jolla Playhouse; Cowboy Vs. Samurai, Mo’ollelo.

View full biography

Movement

Jill Johnson

Jill Johnson

Movement

Jill Johnson

A.R.T.: In the Body of the WorldCrossing, O.P.C. Director of Dance, Senior Lecturer in Music and Theater, Dance & Media; Artistic Director of the Harvard Dance Project, at Harvard University. Graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School; a 28-year veteran of the dance field, Johnson choreographs for film, television, and the stage; has danced in over 50 tours on 5 continents. Was soloist with the National Ballet of Canada and a principal dancer and researcher in William Forsythe’s company Frankfurt Ballet. Stages Forsythe’s work worldwide, including for Paris Opera Ballet, La Scala, Batsheva Dance Company, Norwegian National Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theater, Boston Ballet, and American Ballet Theater. Is a founding collaborator of The Movement Invention Project in New York, and has served on the faculties of and created choreographic work for Princeton University, Columbia University, the Juilliard School and NYU; and has created 12 new works at Harvard since 2011 including Paper Wing, What Moves You?, and dance installations RE: RE: RE: and LOOK UP. Recent collaborations include those with the Harvard Choruses, Harvard Mahindra Humanities Center, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Dries Van Noten/Louvre Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

View full biography

Casting

Stephen Kopel, CSA

A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo; Jagged Little Pill; The White Card; Trans Scripts, Part 1: The Women; Witness Uganda; O.P.C.; The Glass Menagerie; Once; Ajax; The Blue Flower; Johnny Baseball; Best of Both Worlds. Casting director for Roundabout Theatre Company. Broadway: Caroline, or Change; Trouble in Mind; Moulin Rouge; Jagged Little Pill; Kiss Me Kate; The Play That Goes Wrong; Beautiful: the Carole King Musical; Sunday in the Park with George; Amélie; Violet; Winslow Boy; The Glass Menagerie; Mystery of Edwin Drood; Harvey; Don’t Dress for Dinner; Once; Road to Mecca; On A Clear Day…; Anything Goes; Brief Encounter; Scottsboro Boys; Sondheim On Sondheim; Hedda Gabler.

View full biography

Production Stage Manager

Taylor Brennan

Production Stage Manager

Taylor Brennan

A.R.T.: Stage Manager: HEAR WORD!Burn All Night; Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education1984; O.P.C.The Shape She MakesThe Donkey Show. Assistant Stage Manager: Bedlam's Sense & SensibilityThe Night of the IguanaFingersmithRoosevElvisKansas City Choir BoyNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812The Heart of Robin HoodAll the WayThe Glass MenagerieThe Lily’s RevengeOnce. Production Associate: Prometheus BoundThe Blue FlowerCabaret. Education/Training: Graduate of Boston University (Summa cum laude) College of Fine Arts.

View full biography

Cast

Nancy Linehan Charles

Mrs. M and others

Nancy Linehan Charles

Nancy Linehan Charles

Mrs. M and others

Nancy Linehan Charles

A.R.T. Debut. Regional: Wit, Geffen Playhouse, Alliance Theatre; Toys in the Attic (L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award, Ovation Award), Colony Theatre; The Visit (L.A.D.C.C Award), Mrs. Warren’s Profession (L.A.D.C.C. Award), Pacific Resident Theatre; The Tempest, Merchant of Venice, L.A. Women’s Shakespeare Company. Artistic Director: Salty Shakespeare (flash-mob, L.A. Weekly’s “The Best of L.A.”). Film/TV: Lords of Salem, Minority Report, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Stepfather, “Getting On,” “Growing Up and Down,” “Longmire,” “NCIS: L.A.,” “West Wing,” “Seinfeld.”

View full biography

Nicole Lowrance
Nicole Lowrance

Kansas

Nicole Lowrance

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (u/s), Dividing the Estate. International: The Merchant of Venice, RSC. Off-Broadway: Middle of the Night, Keen Company; Peter and the Starcatcher, New World Stages; The Merchant of Venice, All’s Well That Ends Well, Don Juan, Theatre for a New Audience; Columbinus, NYTW. Regional: Oleanna / Speed the Plow (in rep), Actors Theatre Company; Beyond Therapy, Westport Playhouse; Curse of the Starving Class, ACT; The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, Hartford Stage; Romeo and Juliet, Folger Theatre; Hamlet, The Little Foxes, Shakespeare Theatre Company. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

View full biography

Liz Mikel Headshot

Sister Ro and others

Liz Mikel

Liz Mikel Headshot

Sister Ro and others

Liz Mikel

(she/her) A.R.T.: O.P.C. Broadway: Lysistrata Jones (Hetaira). Off-Broadway: Lysistrata Jones, Transport Group; Fruit Trilogy, Abingdon Theatre. Regional: V to the Tenth (The Vagina Monologues), Louisiana Superdome; Spring Awakening, Theatre Under The Stars; Seussical, Hairspray, All Shook Up!, MUNY Theatre; Little Women (Marmie), Old Globe Theatre. International: Blind Lemon Blues, Forum Meyrin (Switzerland), Maison des Cultures du Monde (Paris, France). Resident Company Member, Dallas Theater Center. TV/Film: “Friday Night Lights” (Corrina Williams), Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, Get On Up!, Miss Juneteenth. Ten Chimneys Lunt Fontanne Fellow.

View full biography

Kate Mulligan
Kate Mulligan

Smith

Kate Mulligan

A.R.T.: Debut. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: The Cocoanuts; A Streetcar Named Desire; Animal Crackers; August: Osage County; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; All’s Well That Ends Well; Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter, Lincoln Center. Other credits: Embedded, Public Theater; The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, Habeas Corpus, South Coast Repertory; Living Out, Mark Taper Forum; Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella, Yale Rep. TV: "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Desperate Housewives," "Judging Amy," "ER," "NYPD Blue," "The Practice," "Seinfeld."

View full biography

Peter Porte

Damien

Peter Porte

Peter Porte

Damien

Peter Porte

A.R.T.: Debut. National Tour: Mamma Mia! (Sky). Regional: A Pretty Filthy Evening, Kirk Douglas Theatre; For the Record, DBA; Scituate, Odyssey; Troilus and Cressida, Soho Rep; Titanic, Forestburgh Playhouse. TV: "MOM," "NCIS: Los Angeles," "Baby Daddy," "Devious Maids," "The New Normal," "Parks and Recreation," "The Young & The Restless," "Cold Case," "CSI: Miami," "Medium," "Funny or Die." Training: NYU Tisch, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. 

View full biography

Babak Tafti

Prakash and others

Babak Tafti

Babak Tafti

Prakash and others

Babak Tafti

A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: The North Pool, Vineyard Theatre; The In-Between, Noor Theatre. Regional: Scorched, A.C.T.; Blood and Gifts, La Jolla Playhouse; The North Pool, Much Ado About Nothing, Barrington Stage Company. TV: “Blue Bloods,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Orange Is the New Black.” M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.

View full biography

Olivia Thirlby
Olivia Thirlby

Romi

Olivia Thirlby

A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: Farragut North, Atlantic, Geffen Playhouse; Lonely, I'm Not, Second Stage. TV/Film includes: Juno; Dredd; Being Flynn; Snow Angels; Red Knot; United 93; The Wackness; Margaret; 5 to 7; Just Before I Go; "Bored to Death"; "Good Vibes." Training: American Globe Theatre, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.   

View full biography

Michael T. Weiss
Michael T. Weiss

Bruce

Michael T. Weiss

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Impressionism. Off-Broadway: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (OBIE Award Best Play, Lucille Lortel Award Best Play), Second Stage; Scarcity (Drama Desk nomination), Atlantic; A Perfect Future, Cherry Lane. Regional: Burn This (Pale), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Valmont), Huntington Theatre Company; Of Equal Measure, Center Theatre Group. Film/TV: Sex and the City 2; Jeffrey; Freeway (Sundance Film Festival); Freeway 2; Bones; Iowa (Tribeca Film Festival, Best Actor Award, Midwest Film Festival); Disney's Tarzan and Jane; Until the Night; Marmalade; "The Pretender" (Jarod); and numerous series leads and guest star roles. 

View full biography

Additional staff

Assistant Stage Manager

Stephanie M. Holmes

Assistant Stage Manager

Stephanie M. Holmes

A.R.T.: O.P.C. (Asst. Stage Manager), Witness Uganda (Asst. Stage Manager), The Wedding Band (Staged Reading, Stage Manager). Broadway: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Production Asst./Sub. ASM), Off-Broadway: One Night Only (Stage Manager), American Theatre of Actors. Regional: Welcome to Jesus (Stage Manager), Hartford Stage; Dreamgirls (Asst. Stage Manager), Ivoryton Playhouse; The Dining Room, Westport Country Playhouse. 2011/12 Season Production Assistant, Two River Theater Company. Stage Management B.F.A. from Syracuse University.

View full biography

Assistant Director

Annabell Reader

Assistant Director

Annabell Reader

A.R.T.: Debut. Mixed media artist. Costume designer: The Catamounts, Hannah Kahn Dance Company, 3rd Law Dance/Theatre, Theatre Aspen, Evolving Doors Dance, Naropa University. Wardrobe Supervisor: Theatre Aspen. Dresser/stitcher: Opera Colorado. Owner: EyeSoar Performance/stilt dance. Performer: EyeSoar Performance (NZ/USA), Borrillo Entertainment (US), Evolving Doors Dance (US), Empress Stilt Dance (NZ/HK/AUS), Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson (NZ), Footnote Dance (NZ), Spinal Chord (UK). Training: Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts (Contemporary Dance) (Unitec/NZ), Cert Pacific Cultural Performing Arts (Whitirea/NZ).

View full biography

Dramaturg

Robert Duffley

Voice Coach

Erika Bailey

Voice Coach

Erika Bailey

A.R.T.: Life of Pi; 1776; WILD: A Musical Becoming; Jack and the Beanstalk; Gloria: A Life; Moby-Dick; We Live in Cairo; Endlings; Othello; ExtraOrdinary; The Black Clown; Jagged Little Pill; WARHOLCAPOTE; Burn All Night; The Night of the Iguana; Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women; Fingersmith; In the Body of the World; Waitress; O.P.C. Broadway: Mary Stuart. Regional: Vanity Fair, Central Square Theater; New Electric Ballroom, Gloucester Stage Company; Arms and the Man, Guthrie Theatre; The Foreigner, Cabaret, To Kill a Mockingbird, Kansas City Repertory Theatre. As Head of Voice and Speech at A.R.T., Erika also teaches in the Theater, Dance & Media concentration at Harvard as well as coaching public speaking skills across the university. Education: MA, Voice Studies, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; MFA, Acting, Brandeis University.

View full biography

Assistant Set Designers

Rebecca Phillips, Mia Cook

Scenery Studio Assistant

Rachel Vaught

Assistant Costume Designer

Adrienne Nussey

Production Assistants

Cate Agis, Nina Goodheart, Megan Jones

Managing Director, Eve Ensler and Lotus Productions

Tony Montenieri

ASL Coach

Michael Krajnak

Access Services Consultant

Mary Beth Peters

Carpenters

Thomas Eckenfels, Bill Hawkins, Derek Jay, David Jewitt, Dan Lincoln, Jimmy Lynch, Marty Lynch, Brian Melcher, Dane Palmer, Andy Remillard, Ray Reyes, Nick Tosches

Scenic Painters

Elizabeth Johnson, Richard Ouellette

Carpentry Intern

Mehran Jahedi

Wig and Makeup Stylist

Amber Voner

Stitchers

Sally Ravitz, Michelle Johnson Ross, Carol Schaberg

Props Carpenter

Christine Goldman

Props Artisans

Brendan Conroy, Lisa Guild, Susanna Labowitz

Props Free Shopper

Amy James

First Hand

Chelsea Kerl

Crafts

Jen Bennett, Jackie Olivia

Sound Crew

Kevin Corzett, Dylan Foley, Chris “Thunda” Kurtz, Michael Policare, Nell Robinson

Ms. Mulligan’s wig by Jared J. Janas
Additional Lighting Equipment provided by Christie Lites
Television Equipment provided by Robert Massey, Pulse Media
Additional Sound Support: Sound Associates, d&b audiotechnik

Understudies

For Romi: Natalie Battistone; For Smith: Ingrid Werner; For Bruce: Corey Sullivan; For Kansas: Kristen Wetherington; For Damien: Kevin Wade; For Mrs. M, Sister Ro, Prakash, and others: Ahmad Maksoud

Special Thanks

David Binder; Carole Black; Jennifer Buffett; Myunghee Cho; Liz Perlman and Costume Works; Global Green USA; Johann Hari; Rachael Kadish and Maximus Thaler; Naomi Klein; George Lane; James Lecesne; Joe Machota; Pat Mitchell; New York Stage and Film; Nancy Rose; Scott Seydel; David Stone; Steven Stone; UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television; Susan Celia Swan, Cecile Lipworth, and the V-DAY team; Monique Wilson.