A new comedy from Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues, O.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.
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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
by
Eve Ensler

by
Eve Ensler
Eve Ensler is a Tony Award-winning playwright, activist, and author of the theatrical phenomenon and Obie Award winning The Vagina Monologues, which has been published in 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Eve’s plays include Necessary Targets, The Good Body, Emotional Creature, O.P.C. (which premiered at A.R.T. in 2014) and The Fruit Trilogy, which just premiered at the WOW Festival in London and the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Her books include Insecure At Last: A Political Memoir; the New York Times bestseller I Am An Emotional Creature, and her critically acclaimed memoir In the Body of the World on which this play is based. She has written numerous articles for The Guardian, Time, Elle France and the International Herald Tribune. Ensler’s film credits include an HBO film version of The Vagina Monologues. She also co-produced the film What I Want My Words to Do to You, winner of the Freedom of Expression Award at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered on PBS’s “P.O.V.” Ensler was a consultant on the 2016 Oscar nominated film Mad Max Fury Road. In 1998 Ensler founded V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls and in 2013, its evolution, ONE BILLION RISING, a global mass action campaign linking racial, gender, economic and climate injustice in over 200 countries. She was named one of Newsweek’s “150 Women Who Changed the World” and The Guardian’s “100 Most Influential Women.” Eve is thrilled to be working with Diane Paulus and the entire A.R.T. team.
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.
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.
Costume Design
ESosa
Costume Design
ESosa
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.
Lighting Design
Bradley King
Lighting Design
Bradley King
A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo; Endlings; Burn All Night; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; O.P.C. Broadway: Hadestown (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Award nominations); Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Awards); Bernhardt/Hamlet. Off-Broadway: Roundabout, MCC, LCT3, Ars Nova, Signature, Atlantic, Cherry Lane. New York: LAByrinth Theater Company, The Kitchen, Wild Project. Regional: Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, The Old Globe, South Coast Rep, Virginia Stage, Yale Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival. Opera: Bard Summerscape, Boston Early Music Festival, Kentucky Opera, Virginia Opera. Education/Training: MFA, NYU.
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.
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.
Movement
Jill Johnson

Movement
Jill Johnson
A.R.T.: Crossing, 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 and the Louvre Musee des Arts Decoratif, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Casting
Stephen Kopel, CSA
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: Moulin Rouge, 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.
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 Education; 1984; O.P.C.; The Shape She Makes; The Donkey Show. Assistant Stage Manager: Bedlam's Sense & Sensibility; The Night of the Iguana; Fingersmith; RoosevElvis; Kansas City Choir Boy; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; The Heart of Robin Hood; All the Way; The Glass Menagerie; The Lily’s Revenge; Once. Production Associate: Prometheus Bound; The Blue Flower; Cabaret. Education/Training: Graduate of Boston University (Summa cum laude) College of Fine Arts.
Cast

Mrs. M and others
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.”

Kansas
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.

Sister Ro and others
Liz Mikel

Sister Ro and others
Liz Mikel
A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Lysistrata Jones (Hetaira). Regional: V to the Tenth (tenth anniversary performance of The Vagina Monologues), Louisiana Superdome; SPUNK, Xanadu, Black Pearl Sings, WaterTower Theatre; Ain't Misbehavin, Cape Playhouse; Seussical, Muny Theatre; Acting Company Member, Dallas Theater Center. TV/Film: “Friday Night Lights” (Corrina Williams), Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Get On Up.

Smith
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."

Damien
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.

Prakash and others
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.

Romi
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.

Bruce
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.
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.
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).
Dramaturg
Robert Duffley
Voice Coach
Erika Bailey
Voice Coach
Erika Bailey
A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo; Endlings; Othello; ExtraOrdinary; Jagged Little Pill; WARHOLCAPOTE; Burn All Night; The Night of the Iguana; Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women; Fingersmith; Waitress; In the Body of the World; O.P.C. Broadway: Mary Stuart. Regional: New Electric Ballroom, Gloucester Stage Company; Absurd Person Singular, Nora Theatre Company; Arms and the Man, Guthrie Theatre; A Christmas Carol, McCarter 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 voice in the Theater, Dance & Media concentration at Harvard as well as teaching public speaking skills across the university. Education: MA, Voice Studies, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; MFA, Acting, Brandeis University.
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.