The Anthropologists

The Anthropologists

The Anthropologists is dedicated to the collaborative creation of investigative theatre that inspires action. Fusing research, expressive movement, and rigorous dramaturgy, we create dynamic plays rooted in social inquiry. We use theatre to engage with challenging questions, to re-contextualize the present, and reimagine our collective future.

Plays

  • Artemisia's Intent by The Anthropologists
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: Strong Female Lead, solo play + 6 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, movement/physical, period
    Keyword: Strong Female Lead, solo play, feminist, Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian, survivor story, plays about mothers, devised theater
    Declared “a powerful parallel to our current cultural moment” (Culture Catch), Artemisia’s Intent unearths the life, work, and words of 17th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Inspired by every proclamation of me too, The Anthropologists’ award winning drama paints a startling portrait of a woman caught at the intersection of gender, power, and art.

    Written by Melissa Moschitto
    ...
    Declared “a powerful parallel to our current cultural moment” (Culture Catch), Artemisia’s Intent unearths the life, work, and words of 17th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Inspired by every proclamation of me too, The Anthropologists’ award winning drama paints a startling portrait of a woman caught at the intersection of gender, power, and art.

    Written by Melissa Moschitto
    Devised by Mariah Freda, Brianna Kalisch, Irina Kuraeva, Melissa Moschitto and Lynde Rosario

    Learn more about this 60-minute play at https://www.theanthropologists.org/artemisiasintent
  • Give Us Bread by The Anthropologists
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama
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    Keyword: ensemble based, historical research + 8 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama
    Keyword: ensemble based, historical research, food insecurity, Immigrants, Lower East Side history, investigative theatre, devised theater, Italian, Yiddish, plays about mothers
    Food prices shot up overnight. Starvation threatened families from Williamsburg, Brooklyn to the Lower East Side to the Bronx. The city did nothing. A group of women came together to demand action. Boycotts accelerated into riots. The year was 1917.

    Using original text and primary source materials, Give Us Bread tells the remarkable true story of immigrant women who united to feed their families...
    Food prices shot up overnight. Starvation threatened families from Williamsburg, Brooklyn to the Lower East Side to the Bronx. The city did nothing. A group of women came together to demand action. Boycotts accelerated into riots. The year was 1917.

    Using original text and primary source materials, Give Us Bread tells the remarkable true story of immigrant women who united to feed their families… and a city, providing a lens with which to examine today’s food crisis.

    Written by Melissa Moschitto
    Devised by Jean Goto, Jennifer Griffee, Melissa Moschitto, Jennifer Moses, Shayna Padovano, Katy Rubin and Sonja Sweeney

    Learn more about this 80-minute play at https://www.theanthropologists.org/give-us-bread
  • No Pants In Tucson by The Anthropologists
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: transgender character, non-binary character + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, movement/physical
    Keyword: transgender character, non-binary character, 19th century American women history, Black female protagonist, ABSURD LGBTQ POSTMODERNISM, hoop skirts, abortion politics, gender politics, Diverse Ensemble Cast, anti-cross dressing laws
    Indecent! Illegal! Immoral! It’s 1883 and an ordinance prohibiting women from wearing pants has been passed in Tucson. The fight for bodily control is on! Find out who wins and who wears the pants. Created by a team of women, non-binary and transgender artists, The Anthropologists’ subversive comedy dares to calculate the costs of gender-oppression today.
  • The Blackout by The Anthropologists
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: climate change, comedy + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Keyword: climate change, comedy, doomsday prepper, NYC blackout, Screwball Comedy, eco-theater, Flexible Casting
    When a massive blackout paralyzes New York City, Oscar and Marion Jung are certain they are prepared for survival. But if their housemates aren't? Part screwball comedy, part nihilism and with a dash of good old American bravado, The Blackout examines the precarious role of the individual in the age of climate change. Devised by The Anthropologists, written by Melissa Moschitto.
  • This Sinking Island by The Anthropologists
    Cast: 
    4–12
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: climate change, sea level rise + 7 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, immersive, movement/physical, political, young audiences
    Keyword: climate change, sea level rise, climate refugees, refugee, family inclusive, drama, global warming, global citizenship, flexible staging and casting
    This Sinking Island tells the story of families displaced by climate change. The play starts
    with the voices of climate refugees from around the globe and concludes with the story of three siblings who must leave all they’ve ever known on the island of Manhattan in search of a new home. Poignant and inspiring, the play was devised by The Anthropologists, using sea level rise science and climate refugee...
    This Sinking Island tells the story of families displaced by climate change. The play starts
    with the voices of climate refugees from around the globe and concludes with the story of three siblings who must leave all they’ve ever known on the island of Manhattan in search of a new home. Poignant and inspiring, the play was devised by The Anthropologists, using sea level rise science and climate refugee testimony. This Sinking Island builds a bridge between understanding climate science and imagining a better
    and more just future. Written by Melissa Moschitto with the ensemble. With original music by Mariah Freda.