INDECENT is the new play from Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel inspired by the true story of the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance. Called "superbly realized and remarkably powerful" by the New York Times and hailed as one of the best plays of the year by critics, Indecent charts the journey of an incendiary drama and the artists who risked their lives to perform it. Created by Vogel and director Rebecca Taichman and set at a time when waves of immigrants were changing the face of America, this play with music is a riveting look at an explosive moment in theatrical history and comes to Broadway from its critically acclaimed, sold-out run at the Vineyard Theatre.
...'Indecent' arrives on Broadway as one of the season's most respectable - and respectful - plays. Yes, that notorious scene that never made it to the main stem, even in the licentious Jazz Age, is fully rendered here...The dominant note of this erotic encounter isn't prurience, though; it's piety...What's more, 'Indecent' delivers not only a history of styles of theater and their political contexts but also a portrait of Asch...as he progresses from youthful enthusiasm to embittered old age. This is achieved by a tight ensemble of chameleon performers...glowing with devotion to their craft and its possibilities.
After Paula Vogel's extraordinary play...burst open at the Vineyard Theatre last year, the sad and strange and wonderful piece landed on many annual best-play lists. Yet it was hard to imagine how its specialness...might hold up in a big Broadway house with broad commercial expectations. It is a thrill to report that this 105-minute, multilingual...adventure is a natural fit. It's a gripping and entertaining show with laughter and tears and a real rainstorm in which two women from the marvelous 10-member cast re-enact what, in 1921, had been the first lesbian kiss on an American stage...In her program note, Vogel writes, 'I believe the purpose of theater is to wound our memory so we can remember.' 'Indecent' does that, but it also enchants.
2016 | Off-Broadway |
New York Off-Broadway Premiere Off-Broadway |
2017 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2021 | West End |
Menier Chocolate Factory's West End Premiere Production West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play | Christopher Akerlind |
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | Paula Vogel |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Indecent |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Rebecca Taichman |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Richard Topol |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Katrina Lenk |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical) | Christopher Akerlind |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Indecent |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Projection Design (Play or Musical) | Tal Yarden |
2017 | Theatre World Awards | Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater | Katrina Lenk |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Rebecca Taichman |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Christopher Akerlind |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Paula Vogel |
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