Program 2013

Arguendo (Work in Progress)

Elevator Repair Service

Created and performed by Elevator Repair Service

Directed by John Collins

Running Time: 90 minutes

$20 Tickets: publictheater.org or call 212-967-7555.

One of New York's most highly acclaimed theater companies, Elevator Repair Service (Gatz, The Sound and the Fury [April Seventh, 1928]) presents their latest work in progress - Arguendo. In Barnes v. Glen Theatre, a 1991 First Amendment case brought by a group of go-go dancers, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court debate whether dancing naked in a strip club is an exercise of artistic expression or a crime. In Arguendo, ERS presents the case's oral argument, verbatim, revealing a compelling intellectual struggle and the court's often-absurd sense of humor. 

Performances will include talk-backs with ERS Artistic Director John Collins and special guests. Special guests include:

January 12 at 1PM: Bob Kerrey (President Emeritus of The New School)

January 12 at 4PM: William Araiza (Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School)

January 13 at 5PM: Ben Wizner (Director, ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project)

January 13 at 8PM: Amy Adler (Emily Kempin Professor of Law, NYU Law School) and Emily Bazelon (Senior Editor, Slate Magazine & Senior Research Fellow, Yale Law School)

January 14 at 3PM: Nelson Tebbe (Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School)

ERS is a New York City-based ensemble that creates innovative original works for live theater with an ongoing ensemble. Its work has been seen across America, Europe, Australia and Asia, and they have been the recipient of many awards including Elliot Norton Awards, Lucille Lortel Awards, a BESSIE, and a 2012 OBIE for Sustained Excellence.

"Impassioned, witty, quirky." - The Paris Review

"A beloved downtown stalwart whose collaborative shows often include found text, high technology, and a brainy, subversive sense of humor." - The New York Times

On January 13 join the ERS company for pre-show cocktails. Contact Ed@elevator.org for details.

Arguendo was developed in part at New York Theatre Workshop, The Bushwick Starr and Abrons Art Center. Performances of Arguendo are made possible, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Arguendo is also supported with funds from The Edward T. Cone Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New York Theater Program, The Tony Randall Theatrical Fund, The Scherman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, as well as many generous individual contributors.

Photos by Ariana Smart Truman