Composer & Poet

the offending gesture

THE OFFENDING GESTURE

Written by Mac Wellman
Directed by Meghan Finn
Music by Alaina Ferris

 Layla Khoshnoudi (left) and Abby Rosebrock (right). Photo by Richard Termine.

 Layla Khoshnoudi (left) and Abby Rosebrock (right). Photo by Richard Termine.

The Offending Gesture is a humorous and poetic indictment of American foreign policy in Iraq, told through the true story of Hitler and his dog, Blondi. Wellman takes as his subject a political incident that occurred in 1941 just before Germany invaded the Soviet Union, when Tor Borg, a Finnish businessman infamously taught his own dog Jackie to do the Nazi Party Salute in response to the command, "Heil Hitler."

Mr. Wellman’s eclectic works are often hard to penetrate, but Meghan Finn, the director, has gotten the most out of this one, aided by haunting music composed by Alaina Ferris and delivered by a sort of Greek chorus of “mooncats,” 
-The New York Times

PERFORMANCES

The Connelly Theater
January 25th-January 23rd, 2016

The Offending Gesture 5 by Richard Termine.jpg

CREDITS

By Mac Wellman
Directed by Meghan Finn
Music by Alaina Ferris

Featuring: Catherine Brookman, Starr Busby, Alaina Ferris, Julia Sirna Frest, Layla Khoshnoudi, Kristine Haruna Lee, Lacy Rose, and Abby Rosebrock

Music Director: Alaina Ferris
Drums: Sarah Bennett
Set Designers: Christopher and Justin Swader
Lighting Designer: Brian Aldous
Costume Designer: Emily Blumenauer
Sound Designer: Eric Sluyter
Choreographer: Laura Diffenderfer
Stage Manager: Katherine Shelton
Production Manager: Liz Nielsen
Assistant Director: Ilana Khanin
Assistant Lighting Designer: Betsy Chester
Assistant Costume Designer: Jeannipher Pacheco
Assistant Stage Manager: Gene Lee
Music Assistant: Sam Kaseta
Master Electrician: Artem Kreimer
Sound Mixer: Woodrow Woytivich

Produced by The Tank
In Association with 3-Legged Dog Art and Technology Center

Part of Flint & Tinder, our flagship theater series showcasing new works of physical or devised theater

PRESS

New York Times
Critic's Pick
January 10th, 2016

Time Out New York
Critic's Pick
December 21st, 2015

The New Yorker

Theater is Easy
January 11th, 2016

Stage Buddy

New York Theater Review
January 15th, 2016

Culturebot
January 14th, 2016

The Brooklyn Rail
December 9th, 2015