All That Chat - Randy Sharp's "The Vast Machine," Inspired by Marcus Rediker’s "The Slave Ship: A Human History," at Axis Theatre

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Randy Sharp's "The Vast Machine," Inspired by Marcus Rediker’s "The Slave Ship: A Human History," at Axis Theatre

Posted by:	Official_Press_Release 05:12 pm EDT 10/26/15

AXIS THEATRE PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF RANDY SHARP’S THE VAST MACHINE, ABOUT THE CREW OF A SLAVE SHIP BECALMED IN THE MIDDLE PASSAGE, THROUGH NOVEMBER 7 Play Is Inspired in Part by Historian Marcus Rediker’s Acclaimed Book The Slave Ship: A Human History The Vast Machine Written and directed by Randy Sharp Dramaturgy by Marc Palmieri Historical Consultant: Marcus Rediker Featuring: Brian Barnhart, Brian J. Carter, George Demas, Sean Patrick Monahan and Julian Rozzell. Lighting design by David Zeffren Sound design by Steve Fontaine Set design by Chad Yarborough Costume design by Karl Ruckdeschel Axis Theatre One Sheridan Square Tickets: Preview: $25; regular performances: $45, $30 students/seniors 212.807.9300 www.axiscompany.org Opening Night: Tuesday October 13 at 8pm Regular Performances: October 15 - November 7 Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm Added performances: Wednesday, October 28 at 8pm There will be no performance on Saturday, October 31 Axis Theatre is now presenting (through November 7) the world premiere of The Vast Machine, a new play written and directed by Randy Sharp about the dilemmas facing the crew of a slave ship at sea in the Middle Passage. Performances take place at Axis Theatre (1 Sheridan Square) in the West Village. In writing The Vast Machine, Sharp drew inspiration from Marcus Rediker’s celebrated bookThe Slave Ship: A Human History (Viking-Penguin, 2007), which won the 2008 George Washington Book Prize, presented by the Glider Lehrman Institute, the Starr Center at Washington College, and Mount Vernon; the 2008 James A. Rawley Prize, presented by the American Historical Association; and the 2008 Merle Curti Award, presented by the Organization of American Historians. The book has appeared in English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish, and Turkish editions. Sharp found Mr. Rediker at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History. He has been a trusted adviser to Sharp throughout her writing and staging of the play. Although Great Britain and the United States made the slave trade illegal in 1807-1808, other countries carried on the trade as did many illegal British and American traders. After 1818 the British and American navies sent vessels called interceptors to police the Middle Passage, sometimes impounding vessels, arresting crews, and returning captives to the African continent. The Vast Machine takes place on the Perisher, a Guineaman completely becalmed on a mirror-like sea and trapped under an endless gray dome. Following an unsuccessful slave insurrection, the crew is almost completely decimated by illness, alcohol and accident, and is quickly running out of food and water. The remaining five members must decide what to do with the 235 living people beneath the deck. They spy a tiny speck on the horizon line. Is it an Interceptor? A fellow slaver who may tow them to safety? A whaling ship that could spare oars and a long boat? The Vast Machine explores questions including: Who were the crewmen that perpetrated the complex and multi-faceted crime of slavery? Who would take this work knowing what it entailed? Is there a vast machine that still grinds away today existing only because of the complacency and fear of the witness? Tickets are $45 for adults, $30 for students/seniors, and are available at axiscompany.org or by calling 212.807.9300. The Vast Machine is performed by Brian Barnhart, Brian Carter, George Demas, Sean Patrick Monahan and Julian Rozzell. The production will feature set design by Chad Yarborough, lighting design by David Zeffren, costume design by Karl Ruckdeschel, sound design by Steve Fontaine and dramaturgy by Marc Palmieri. About Randy Sharp Randy Sharp is Axis Theatre Company’s founder and Artistic Director. She has been writing and directing theater for 30 years. Her plays include the Drama Desk Award-nominated Last Man Club (published by DPS), Nothing on Earth, Down There, Seven in One Blow (published by DPS and performed every December in NYC and around the country) and Hospital, a long-running serial about the interior life of a man in a coma, which is a West Village phenomenon each summer. She wrote and directed Solitary Light, a musical created with Paul Carbonara (Blondie) about the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Sharp’s directing credits include Last Man Club, Nothing on Earth, Down There, Seven in One Blow, Hospital, Edgar Oliver’s East 10th Street: Self Portrait with Empty House (Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Fringe; Spoleto Festival USA 2011) and In the Park, A Glance at New York (Edinburgh Fringe & NYC), Julius Caesar and the U.S premiere of Sarah Kane's Crave,starring Deborah Harry. About Axis Theatre Company Randy Sharp founded Axis Company in 1996. The company acquired a permanent home in 1998 at 1 Sheridan Square in New York City’s West Village. Built in 1834 by Samuel Whitmore, the building once housed Café Society, the historic site of performances by Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughn, Art Tatum, Big Joe Turner and other jazz greats; and later was the home of Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company. Axis transformed interior performance space into one where audiences are totally immersed, surrounded by the experience of a theatrical production the moment they enter. Distractions from the material are minimal. Among the wide variety of works Axis has produced in the theater are Beckett’s Play; Benjamin Baker’s 1848 vaudeville A Glance at New York (also at the Edinburgh Festival); the U.S. premiere of Sarah Kane’s Crave, starring Deborah Harry; the premieres of Edgar Oliver’s East 10th Street (New York Times Critic Pick; Fringe First Award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Spoleto Festival, USA) and In the Park; David Crabb’s Bad Kid (New York TimesCritic Pick, now an acclaimed book published by HarperCollins Perennial); Marc Palmieri’sThe Groundling; and Sharp’s Drama Desk-nominated Last Man Club, Solitary Light, Nothing on Earth, Down There, Seven in One Blow and Hospital.

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