The Republic, or My Dinner with Socrates…

In the midst of a government shutdown, perhaps there’s no better way to re-visit the meaning of democracy than with–puppets! In November, the Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre in New York City will be staging, “THE REPUBLIC, or MY DINNER WITH SOCRATES”–and seeking to engage the audience members in true Socratic style. Questions that will be asked include: Is democracy not the ideal form of government? And was Socrates executed by a vigilant Athenian “department of homeland security”?

THE REPUBLIC will premiere on November 29 as part of La MaMa’s Fall 2013 Season, and it will run for three weeks with a series of post performance discussions. Maybe I’m biased, because I’m Czech and often play with puppets myself, but I think marionettes are a wonderful way to re-visit works from the past (like the poetry of Rumi) and ponder life’s “big questions” as a community.

To contribute to the production of this new show, please click here. And if you’re in New York in November, be sure to catch this dynamic cast of 6 actors, 50 marionettes and dozens of shadow puppets perform parallels between the Greek classics and the state of the government today…