Beginning October 27 and continuing until November 22, Fiasco Theatre will be presenting Glaspell’s masterpiece “The Verge” at New York’s Public Theatre. Jesse Austrian directs this new production. This is an exciting event for our Society and for those who have championed Glaspell’s plays. Here is how they are describing this play and production:

“This fall, Fiasco Theater and The Public partner to celebrate a hidden American classic: THE VERGE by Susan Glaspell, Pulitzer Prize winner and founder of the Provincetown Players. In Glaspell’s 1921 masterpiece, botanist Claire Archer is on a quest to create a new life: a plant unlike any that has ever come before. When her husband, lover, and soulmate each arrive in her greenhouse seeking heat in a snowstorm, chaos ensues. But as Claire pushes—sometimes violently—against the constraints of her own good breeding, she wonders if the only way to transcend boundaries is to destroy them. By turns witty farce, devastating philosophical debate, and scathing feminist cry, THE VERGE defies genre and pierces the bounds of theatrical realism.”

The Society is working with Fiasco, Expand the Canon, and the Public to develop events around this production, including a panel discussion and readings of other Glaspell plays, currently scheduled for November 15 and 16. There will be a “symposium” to discuss “The Verge” production and related Glaspell works and topics on Monday, November 16 (exact time/location tba). Seating will be limited, so the staff at the Public has asked us to provide a list of ISGS colleagues who plan to attend, so that they can reserve the right number of seats. Please email J. Ellen Gainor at jeg111@cornell.edu by Tuesday, October 6 if you would like to be included on that list of attendees.

We will post more information as it is finalized. To access the Public’s website and tickets, go to
https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2627/the-verge/.