WE

KEVIN RAY | WORKS presents eleven performances of WE, a theatrical adaptation of the banned dystopian novel by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin at The Mark O'Donnell Theater, 160 Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, from October 11 to 20, 2024. Live acting, shadow puppetry and video projections collide in this expressive production that vividly brings Zamyatin’s dystopian allegory to life on stage.

Zamyatin’s ground-breaking 1920 novel launched dystopia as a literary genre, inspiring Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World, and became one of the first books banned by the Soviets. Smuggled out of Russia, it debuted in a U.S. English translation in 1924. It was not published in Russia until 1988.

1,000 years in the future, WE is set in the authoritarian “One State”, governed by technological efficiency, mathematical logic and suppression of individuality. It is the story of the chief engineer of a new space shuttle with a mission to spread the One State’s regime across the universe. The engineer’s plans, perception of himself and the “mathematically perfect” state he reveres are thrown into chaos when he meets a woman with subversive ideas.

Critical Acclaim for KEVIN RAY | WORKS 2023 adaptation of “The Machine Stops”:

“A Space Mountain roller coaster ride, an intellectual white water rafting expedition, a production that will have you talking about it for hours and days to come.” - The Front Row Center

“Outstanding use of projections, puppetry, and silhouette work…inventively maintaining a sense of immersion and scale.” - Thinking Theatre

WE is made possible by grant funding from the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) in the Arts, the Puffin Foundation Ltd., and NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program). Production design support provided by the Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Design Enhancement Fund, a program of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York).

This performance runs approximately 2 hours 25 minutes with one 15 mintue intermission.

Read about how the show was created on Substack at Modern Drama.

Visit the show's website.

Photos by Danny Boyd.

Host or Publisher KEVIN RAY | WORKS