Our preview

In our imagination, The Gentlemen’s Gentlemen is like a fantastic theatre, nearly infinite in its physical dimensions. Its farthest seats are “hidden by impenetrable fog” where “primitive snake motifs” ornament the walls. In real time-space, THE GENTLEMEN’S GENTLEMEN is a traveling show on a hand built, two-platform, wooden stage. On the top stage, an actor and actress deliver excerpts from a small town musical, “Earlville on the Erie Canal,” as their rivalry becomes violent. The bottom stage is a refuge from the audience, and possibly an escape. The text of our play, co-written by Getnick and Kidder, details the coming of a killer audience, one that cyclically riots, murders the actors and feeds the theater. The ending of the play and fate of the characters is determined by the cast. In this way, the project is augmented by the people that we work with.

In each city that we visit, we invite a local cast of artists, actors, builders, and musicians to perform “The Gentlemen’s Gentlemen” play in front of a live audience for four nights. At the finale of these performances, we ask the assembled audience to riot against our play. For the duration of our residency we videotape footage of our actors, sets and audiences. This footage is edited into a film and then projected during future performances across the globe.