Stet & The Muse Project's 1st partnership.
Muse actor - Jocelyn Kuritsky
STET
Written by Kim Davies
World Premiere directed by Tony Speciale
Developed by Kim Davies, Jocelyn Kuritsky, and Tony Speciale
STET
Written by Kim Davies
World Premiere directed by Tony Speciale
Developed by Kim Davies, Jocelyn Kuritsky, and Tony Speciale
A young journalist is assigned to write about sexual assault on college campuses and must find a unique angle for the story that will sell. During her investigation, she encounters a student with a horrific story to tell. Determined to bring the events to light, this ambitious reporter refuses to let anything stop her — including the truth.
The captivating Ms. Kuritsky is in every scene of the play. Her excellent characterization of the tough reporter veers from bravado to subtlety.
-TheaterScene.Net
timeline.
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summer 2015
Actress Jocelyn Kuritsky approaches director Tony Speciale and playwright Kim Davies about creating a new play, inspired by Rolling Stone's blockbuster (and now retracted) "A Rape on Campus." Jocelyn is interested in creating a complex, fraught and intellectual heroine. The first iteration of the process involves a Mini Muse workshop in the summer of 2015, with support from The New Group and New Georges. fall & winter 2015, winter & spring 2016 Inspired by the Mini Muse, workshops for Stet continue, with the goal of mounting a fully realized production in the summer of 2016. summer 2016 Abingdon Theatre Company, in association with The Muse Project, present Stet. Stet receives an extended world premiere production at Abingdon's June Havoc Theatre on West 36th Street. |
In journalism, the editing mark “stet” instructs a writer to ignore a previous correction; it reverses a judgment. Fittingly, revision is at the heart of STET, Kim Davies’s complex drama inspired by Sabrina Erdely’s 2014 Rolling Stone article, ‘A Rape on Campus’, which claimed to describe a group sexual assault at the University of Virginia (UVA), but was later discredited and retracted by the publisher. Davies’s arresting examination of campus rape culture as reported by the media comes to the June Havoc Theatre, where, through the joint forces of The Muse Project and Abingdon Theatre Company, director Tony Speciale steers a superb cast into a moral danger zone where factual truth and emotional truth don’t quite square.
Baited by the prospect of her first cover story, Erika, a sharp and driven journalist, lands on a piece she thinks will sell... As Erika tries to spin an ugly crime into a compelling read, her journalism involves more dramatisation than verification... Yet Erika’s blunders only complicate an already fascinating character; even without Jocelyn Kuritsky’s virtuosity in the role, Davies has written the type of female lead of intelligence and startling dimension that our American stages need...
STET’s sophistication skips an overt indictment of rape culture and opts for timely, vital discourse about our cultural narration of the crime: How do Erika’s responsibilities extend beyond her manuscript to include the possible re-traumatization of her subjects? And what will survival like Ashley’s mean after such public exposure? A rigorously crafted production in powerful pursuit of a national conversation...
-Exeunt Magazine
director's notes.
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POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS INCLUDED
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Katie Koestner
founder of Take Back the Night
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
journalist Claire Gordon & activist Gloria Fortuna
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
author/poet/artist Angela Carter
Thursday, June 30, 2016
writers Amanda Duarte & Eliza Bent and activist Kathy Moran
Read more about the post show discussion panelists here.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Katie Koestner
founder of Take Back the Night
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
journalist Claire Gordon & activist Gloria Fortuna
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
author/poet/artist Angela Carter
Thursday, June 30, 2016
writers Amanda Duarte & Eliza Bent and activist Kathy Moran
Read more about the post show discussion panelists here.