A man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Adolf Hitler finds himself idolized by an orgiastic, underground, Führer-worshipping cult. In a monologue that’s alternately hilarious and terrifying, we glimpse the true nature of worship, authority and humanity’s tragic urge to obey. His heartbroken friend, our narrator, leads us down a twisted path to uncover the mystery of what really happened. Written by and originally performed by Assurbanipal Babilla, this tour-de-force monologue features a cast of grotesque characters, passages of intense lyrical power and bawdy comedy. Downtown stage veteran Robert Honeywell performs this 90-minute thrill ride that goes straight to the dark heart of religion and politics.
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ASSURBANIPAL BABILLA
(Writer)
Writer, director, designer and actor ASSURBANIPAL BABILLA (1944–2011) was born in Tehran, Iran, raised in an Assyrian-Presbyterian household and attended college at the American University of Beirut. There he studied theology and theater, becoming deeply impressed by the work of visionary Polish director Jerzy Grotowski. He was one of three resident directors with the famed Drama Workshop of Tehran from 1973 to ’78, where he staged several of his own plays. The fundamentalist revolution of 1979 forced Mr. Babilla to flee his native country. He immigrated to the United States, briefly teaching at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles before moving to New York City. He taught acting at New York University and Bard College, and founded the theater troupe Purgatorio Ink. Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Mr. Babilla led Purgatorio Ink in a series of critically acclaimed productions at La MaMa E.T.C., PS 122, St. Marks Church, The Kitchen and others. On tour, Mr. Babilla brought his work to Poland, the Czech Republic and throughout the U.S. Babilla’s plays include Three Angels Dancing on a Needle; Eating the Audience: A Presbyterian Tragedy; The True Story of a Woman Born in Iran and Raised to Heaven in Manhattan; The Rise and Fall of H.M. Dick; Suddenly Something Recklessly Gay, or Cirque de Ca-Ca; All About Jeez, or the Sacred Squirt; The Sisters Karamazov; Homo Americanus; Othello and the Circumcisèd Turk; Something Something Über Alles (Das Jackpot); and Assyrian Monkey Fantasy. Mr. Babilla said that his great theme was the inseparability of sex, politics and religion.
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DAVID COTE
(Director)
DAVID COTE (Director) directed the premiere of Assurbanipal Babilla’s Something Something Über Alles at the Emerging Collector in 1998. It played the Fringe Festival and then an extended run at the Kraine Theater. David performed in Babilla’s plays in the 1990s. He is also a playwright and librettist. Plays: Otherland (commissioned by the Gingold Theatrical Group); Rude News and other short plays. Libretti: The Scarlet Ibis, with composer Stefan Weisman, which premieres at HERE in 2015; Safe Word and The Companion with composer Robert Paterson. The Companion premieres next April at Roulette. David is theater editor of Time Out New York. davidcote.com.
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ROBERT HONEYWELL
(Performer)
ROBERT HONEYWELL (Narrator) is an actor, playwright and composer, and co-founder of The Brick Theater in Williamsburg. Prior acting credits include Václav Havel in The Pig (Ice Factory, 3LD); the lecturer in Every Play Ever Written (The Brick; “a must-see for anyone who has been onstage”–New York Times); George Orr in The Lathe of Heaven (3LD); Underground Man in Notes From Underground (The Brick); and Darl in In a Strange Room (The Brick; “delivers Faulkner’s words with a hypnotic insouciance”–Time Out New York). His musicals include Mass; Ich Liebe Jesus! (A Christian Musical); and Greed: a Musical Love $tory.
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Press
Bryan Clark
September 24, 2013
It has a dramatic structure that takes you repeatedly by surprise, and the final moments will leave you pleasantly bewildered.
Full review
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Press release
Full Press Release for Something Something Uber Alles - Das Jackpot.
Full release
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