The Actors' Gang: The New Colossus

An intensely physical production, The New Colossus presents a group of actors telling their ancestors’ stories in twelve different eras, all woven into a single narrative about escaping an oppressive homeland — from the Holocaust in Europe to Mexico to Turkey to Malaysia — and being drawn to the beacon above Ellis Island. The play was work-shopped during the Obama years in a reaction to the Syrian refugee crises; Director Tim Robbins told the Los Angeles Times “I looked around at our company, and we have people from all over the world, so I asked everyone to really think about their own families and how they found their way here.” Performed in twelve languages, each used sparsely, and interspersed with live music, poetry, and kinetic movement, the play concludes with a question – who are we as a nation? “The New Colossus holds a theatrical mirror to the nation” (Los Angeles Times).

Presented by The Actor’s Gang, which was founded in 1981. Their ensemble has included accomplished actors such as Jack Black, Lee Arenberg, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, Brent Hinkley, Helen Hunt, Kate Walsh, Kyle Gass, Fisher Stevens, Ned Bellamy, Jeremy Piven, Ebbe Roe Smith, Kate Mulligan, and Tim Robbins. The theater company has presented the work of innovative theater artists including Georges Bigot, Simon Abkarian, Charles Mee, Culture Clash, Bill Rauch and The Cornerstone Theatre Company, Tracy Young, Namaste Theater Company, Roger Guenver Smith, Eric Bogosian, Oskar Eustis, Danny Hoch, Beth Milles, David Schweitzer, Brian Kulick, Stefan Haves, Jason Reed, Michael Schlitt, and Tenacious D.