AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE

Drawn from real-life interviews, AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE tells the troubling story of Miracle Village - a rural community for exiled sex offenders. Set deep in southern Florida’s sugarcane fields, this unsettling play features original folk songs built using verbatim interviews as well as classic Methodist hymns to help paint “a heartbreaking, complicated portrait of people adrift” (The New Yorker).

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GALLERY

The Cast of Life Jacket Theatre Company's production of AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE - photo by T. Charles Erickson.JPG

The Cast of Life Jacket Theatre Company's production of AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE - photo by T. Charles Erickson 2.JPG

Ken Barnett and David Spadora in Life Jacket Theatre Company's production of AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE - photo by T. Charles Erickson.JPG

Ken Barnett and Amy Gaither Hayes in Life Jacket Theatre Company's production of AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE - photo by T. Charles Erickson.JPG

REVIEWS & AWARDS

SUPPORT

This play was developed, in part, with funding from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Creative Engagement Grant (in conjunction with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council), ART/New York's Nancy Quinn Fund Grant and Creative Space Grant (in conjunction with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation), and the Drama League (in connection with the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and Howard Gilman Foundation).

PRODUCTIONS

UK PREMIERE: Edinburgh Festival (August 2-26, 2019). NYC PREMIERE: HERE Arts Center (January 30-February 24, 2018). RESIDENCIES: New York University (2017), Drama League (2017), Tank (2017), Governor's Island (2017), IRT (2016), and One Company (2016).

PEOPLE

DIRECTOR & PLAYWRIGHT: Travis Lee Russ. COMPOSER & LYRICIST: Priscilla Holbrook. RESEARCH TEAM: Travis Lee Russ, Amelia Parenteau, Anthony Dvarskas. CAST: Ken Barnett (NYC), John Carlin, Joyce Cohen, Amy Michelle Gaither, David Spadora, Gareth Tidball, Harry Waller (Edinburgh). LIGHTING: Solomon Weisbard (NYC), Greg Solomon (Edinburgh). COSTUMES: Andrea Hood. SET: Travis Lee Russ. CASTING: Dale Brown, CSA. PHOTOS: T. Charles Erickson, Em Watson. VIDEO: Jeremy Kotin, Mike LoBello. KEY ART: Russell Warren-Fisher.