JESSICA BLANK AND ERIK JENSEN (New York)

The New York Theatre Workshop Production

AFTERMATH
Written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen
Directed by Jessica Blank

Following its recent sold-out, extended run at New York Theatre Workshop, and following on THE EXONERATED, one of the most politically relevant and effective works in American theater history, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen return with AFTERMATH, an engaging docudrama created from interviews with Iraqi refugees. AFTERMATH is based on interviews with Iraqis who fled the chaos and violence that befell Iraqi society for the relative safety of Jordan. Through the voices of Nine actual people, AFTERMATH portrays the experiences of ordinary Iraqis who lost their country in the six years since the United States invasion. Representing an extraordinary cross-section of society, the characters range from married artists, restaurant owners, to a dermatologist, a pharmacist, a religious leader and a young mother. The result brings to life the realities of wartime and its innocent victims, and the appalling civilian carnage of any army conflict. AFTERMATH reflects Jessica and Erik’s belief that theater can affect tangible social change. Theater’s incredible power—the power of empathy—can create connections among individuals normally separated by geography, experience, nationality, ideology; and tell the human stories that both embody and transcend those differences.

This production was developed in part during a residency with the Theatre Department at Dartmouth College, in collaboration with Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center for the Arts. AFTERMATH was made possible by the generous support of The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Special thanks is due to the Ford Foundation for their continued support of this production.

"This aura of fraught intimacy has been achieved with subtle ingenuity by Mr. Jensen and Ms Blank."
- Ben Brantley, The New York Times

"A superbly staged and beautifully acted testimonial to the innocent victims of an ugly war...This wonderful piece of agitprop theatre challenges us all."
- Marilyn Stasio, Variety

"Graceful and gripping work...The stories unfold bit-by-bit over 80 minutes and are haunting and harrowing, but there’s also room for humor...The staging is fluid; the performances excellent across the board."
- John Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News