photo credit: Kaye Hurley
Minor Theater takes classic Jacobean shocker ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore and runs it straight into the present. Annie waits tables at the Cheesecake Factory while her brother’s away at school; their mom is kind of a slut. Annie’s cute, Gio’s sad, and when she goes up to visit him at college, longing and tenderness tip toward the unthinkable and the grotesque, all laced with humor from somewhere unhinged. Julia Jarcho, an Obie winner and one of the most unclassifiable voices in American playwriting, has never once written the expected play. For her NYU Skirball premiere, she teams up with director Kedian Keohan (Rocky Horror Show) to make something sexy, savage, funny, and fully alive: a tragedy that knows precisely where it is going.
“A queen of experimental mayhem” – The New York Times
CREDITS
Creator: Julia Jarcho
Director: Kedian Keohan
Starring: Susannah Perkins & more
Set: Silin Chen
Costumes: Andreea Mincic
Lighting: Kate McGee
Sound: Tei Blow
Producer: Eric Shethar
Production Manager: Libby JVera
Inspired by conversations with Ásta Bennie Hostetter, who suggested the source material.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Minor Theater makes plays in a minor key. Shows include Marie It’s Time (Here Arts Center); Pathetic (Abrons Arts Center 2019) The Terrifying (Abrons 2017); and Grimly Handsome (2013 Obie Award). “A superb example of modern experimental theater” – Time Out New York
Julia Jarcho is a New York playwright who won the 2013 Obie Award for Best New American Play. Her plays have been staged at venues around the US and at London’s Royal Court Theatre. A recipient of the Doris Duke Impact Award and the Mark O’Donnell Prize, Jarcho is a professor at Yale University who previously headed the MFA Playwriting Program at Brown University. She is also the author of two books of criticism.
Kedian Keohan is a trans theater director and creator of live performances. Currently: Kedian is the Associate Director of The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway directed by Sam Pinkleton. Director: Nurit Chinn’s godbird (Exponential Festival), Kaye Hurley’s :/secondplace (Exponential Festival), DeliaDelia! (The Brick / Edinburgh Fringe), reid tang’s ISABEL (NAATCO), Genevieve Simon’s PUNCH BACK (Breaking the Binary), Erin Markey’s First Lady (Bard Spiegeltent), Jimmy Fay’s Straight Wedding (Brown / Writing is Live). Associate Director: GALAS (Little Island), Morgan Bassichis’ Can I Be Frank? (Soho Playhouse), Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s Rheology (The Bushwick Starr), Ryan J. Haddad’s Dark Disabled Stories (The Public Theater/Bushwick Starr). Kedian is a 2025 Audrey Resident with Minna Lee and a 25/26 Resident Artist at The Cell with Utkarsh Rajawat. Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship and Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab alum, a New Georges affiliated artist, and a regular collaborator of Julia Jarcho/minor theater. With minor theater: Pathetic, Marie it’s Time, and PITY WHORE.
FUNDING + SUPPORT
NYU Skirball’s programs are made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation; Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; Culture Ireland; The Shubert Foundation; Collins Building Services; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA; Goethe Institut New York with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; Harkness Foundation for Dance; and Marta Heflin Foundation; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Allies for Arts Access Fund support.
VENUE NOTES + ACCESSIBILITY
NYU Skirball
566 LaGuardia Place
New York, NY 10012By Subway: A/B/C/D/E/F/M to West 4th Street / 6th Avenue.
Access
Accessible and Companion Seating is available on all levels of the theatre. Balcony accessible and companion seating is on the street level. Parterre accessible and companion seating locations are one level below ground, and are accessible via an elevator located in the main street-level lobby. Orchestra accessible and companion seating locations are two levels below ground, and are accessible via the lower lobby by an attended elevator – please see the Front of House Staff for assistance. Transfer chairs are available for all accessible seat locations. Please feel free to inform the Box Office Staff, or add a note to your online ticket order, if a transfer seat is needed. Front of House Staff can also assist upon arrival. Infrared Assistive Listening Devices are available free of charge at the Lobby Café in the lower level lobby. Photo ID is required as a security deposit. Our ALDs are Infrared Stethoset Headphones. Neckloops are available upon request and as our supply permits. Service Animals are welcome at NYU Skirball Center. For more accessibility information, please visit https://nyuskirball.org/accessibility.
Appropriate Age Range
Mature Audiences Only
Content Warnings
Pity Whore includes mention and depictions of incest, rape, murder, pregnancy and bad politics.
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, January 13 at 7:30pm
Thursday, January 14 at 7:30pm
Friday, January 15 at 7:30pm
Saturday, January 16 at 300pm and 7:30pm
VENUE
NYU Skirball
566 LaGuardia Place
New York, NY 10012
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