"90 minutes of engaging and provocative theatre that reminds us of our too-easily-forgotten responsibilities as human beings sharing this planet. "
Martin Denton, NYTheater.Com

Friday, January 30 through February 16, 2004
Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 PM
Sundays at 3 PM
At the Tenement Theatre, 97 Orchard Street

$15 adults, $12 for students and seniors; $9 for Museum members
(10% discount with ticket stub from Museum's
“Piecing It Together: Immigrants in the Garment Industry” tour)
Reservations: TicketWeb or 800.965.4827
Additional Information: www.tenement.org

Shirtwaist is a neo-Brechtian vaudeville, incorporating traditional street theatre techniques, such as puppets and dance, and featuring period and original music to make political commentary that evokes the tragedy while celebrating the positive changes that came out of it. Shirtwaist also serves as a reminder that there are still sweatshops around the world where similar tragedies can, and do, occur.

The play begins in the present-day with a female Asian American firefighter investigating a false alarm on the 9th floor, which houses the university biology and chemistry laboratories. What is unbeknownst to the Brazilian professor she encounters in the lab is that the 9th floor laboratory was where most of the 146 victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire perished. Several of the 146 victims were never identified. Five ghosts of those unidentified remain in the building and impart their stories through the play.

The heart of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is its landmark tenement building, home to nearly 7,000 immigrants from more than 20 nations between 1863 and 1935. The Museum's programs are developed in keeping with its mission: “To promote tolerance and historical perspective through the presentation and interpretation of the variety of immigrant and migrant experiences on Manhattan's Lower East Side, a gateway to America.” The Museum's artistic programming is as old as the institution itself and focuses on projects that help expand visitors' understandings of contemporary immigration through works inspired and informed by history. Please call 212.431.0233 or visit the Museum's website for a complete list of programs.

Produced by Michaela Goldhaber and Heather Ondersma
Set and Lighting Design: Scott Boyd
Costume Design: Julie Sandy
Puppet Design: Stefano Brancato
Musical Director: Spiff Wiegand
Choreographer: Donna Costello
Stage Managers: Alia Connor & Rebekah Bateman
Publicity: Kila Packett

with Sari Ganulin, Michaela Goldhaber, Melissa Miller, Walter Pagan, John Russo, Idara Victor, and Jessalyn Wanlim

This program is made possible in part through the sponsorship of The Field.