Casting is set for the New York premiere of Tadeusz Słobodzianek's Our Class, which play the Brooklyn Academy of Music January 12-February 4, 2024, with an official opening January 18.
Directed by Igor Golyak (The Orchard), the cast will feature Gus Birney (The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window) as Dora, Andrey Burkovskiy (Call DiCaprio!) as Menachem, Jack DiFalco (Torch Song) as Zygmunt, José Espinosa (Take Me Out) as Rysiek, Tess Goldwyn (New Amsterdam) as Zocha, Will Manning (As Reaper in the Summer Gain) as Heniek, Stephen Ochsner (Chicks) as Jakub Katz, Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof) as Rachelka/Marianna, Richard Topol (Indecent) as Abram, and Ilia Volok (Gemini Man, The Gaaga) as Władek.
Inspired by real events surrounding a 1941 pogrom in Poland, the play follows 10 classmates—five Jewish and five Catholic—as they grow up as playmates, friends and neighbors, then turn on one another with life and death consequences.
"The cast…the whole team…this is more than just a play for us. The story hits close to home. Our incredible group of actors are bringing their full selves to the project—many are Jewish, some have Polish roots, others are from the former Soviet Union and now live here in the U.S. and grapple with the creation of new lives here. It’s an honor to work with them,” says director Golyak. “We all recognize the characters and the circumstances in Our Class—it’s a play about how neighbors turn on neighbors, as we experience today in the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and it’s about antisemitism, what we are capable of, and who we can become in the face of war and aggression. We are living this every day in today’s world—it is unfortunately not a story of the past, but a cycle that keeps repeating. I can’t think of a more timely play, or a more generous or gifted group of actors with which to collaborate on this powerful, deeply human project.”
The production will also have scenic design by Jan Pappelbaum, сostume design by Anka Lupes, lighting design by Adam Silverman, music by Anna Drubich, sound design by Ben Williams, projections design by Eric Dunlap, hair and makeup design by Timur Sadykov, and dramaturgy by Rachel Moss. Kyra Bowie is the production stage manager.
Our Class is co-executive produced by MART’s Sofia Kapkova and Arlekin’s Sara Stackhouse.
For tickets and information about events related to the production, click here.
