Hugh Jackman And Sonia Friedman Boldly Bid To Democratize Theater

Since its earliest beginnings, dating back to the ancient Greeks, theater has connected people in profound ways. Theater, as Oscar Wilde once said, is “the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”

And it’s even better when accessible to all. Especially in a city where the average cost of an off-Broadway show can be $75 or more and the average Broadway ticket can run upwards of $135. And tickets for many shows can cost much more than that.

To that end, this past spring Hugh Jackman and Sonia Friedman debuted TOGETHER, a theater company they co-founded. TOGETHER’s mission is to create more accessible live theater in an intimate setting. That means low-cost ticket offerings catering to broader audiences and more streamlined productions without expensive sets and big salaries.
Devoted to establishing more affordable theater TOGETHER joined forces with Audible, which has a 400-seat Minetta Lane Theater. Through June 18 they are presenting two shows in repertory in this intimate locale. While more pared-down in terms of sets, costumes and lighting design, the plays don’t skimp on the richness of the performances.

There’s Hannah Moscovitch’s Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, with Ella Beatty and Hugh Jackman, which delves into the #MeToo-damaging exercise of power between teacher and student. Then there is Jen Silverman’s new adaptation of August Strindberg’s Creditors, with Liev Schreiber, Maggie Siff, and Justice Smith. The play, a psychological thriller, presents a kind of complex love triangle. Both Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes and Creditors are directed by Ian Rickson.

Tickets to the plays are accessible in a variety of ways:. 25 percent of all tickets cost $35 and are available for purchase on the day of each performance through a digital lottery and in-person at the box office. An additional 25 percent of tickets are given for free to a range of community organizations across the tristate area. The organizations range from seniors and veterans groups to students, educators, local neighborhoods, and more. All remaining tickets go on sale. Plus, the plays are recorded for Audible and will be released on Audible at a later date. Visit audiblexminetta.com for more details.

Audible’s team continues to be fiercely committed to theater audiences. “Audible Theater is proud to be a home for creators to imagine outside the bounds of traditional models, and we’re honored to collaborate with the team at TOGETHER who are doing just that,” said Jeremy Blocker, Audible’s head of Live Creative Producing

“We’re both devoted to connecting talented artists with audiences in intimate spaces like the Minetta. With TDF, we’re excited to ensure that every audience at the theater reflects the brilliant diversity of our community. By later releasing these plays as Audible Originals, our service has the ability to share these powerful works with people across the globe.”

In Creditors Tekla is an author who has written a steamy novel and included unsavory details about her first marriage. Gustav befriends Tekla’s second husband, Adi, while they are holed up at an old seaside resort. Gustav tries to convince Adi that Tekla is capable of manipulation and plants doubt about Tekla’s loyalty and love. Meanwhile Adi begins to question his marriage and spirals while we discover that Gustav’s motives may be more sinister than what we imagined.

Curiously, when asked what she feels Creditors is all about, Siff says that the play hinges on tenderness. “It might seem a strange answer, but I think the word that came up the most in rehearsal, was tenderness,” says the actor who starred on Billions, Sons of Anarchy, and Mad Men. “There’s the tenderness of each of these characters. In an almost prismatic way the audience is let into each of the characters’ perspectives and vulnerabilities and their capacities for tenderness.

As Siff points out, that caring emotion allows the audience to feel a sense of compassion for all three characters. “Even as we battle it out, tenderness seems to be the bridge toward understanding, toward compassion, toward healing, toward togetherness,” adds Siff. “It is the thing that creates new shapes as we evolve in our gender roles.”

Jeryl Brunner: Tekla is such a nuanced character and you bring so many layers to her. What gives Tekla strength when both her husband and Gustav are trying to take her down?

Maggie Siff: The Tekla in our adaptation, and as I understand her, is someone who feels “modern” in her moment. She is not afraid to push against convention but is also is very tender and full of a belief in love. In some ways she’s a romantic idealist. It’s just that her ideals aren’t necessarily everyone else’s.

I always love the line she says to her husband Adi: “We’re not trapped like everyone else. We’re trying to make a thing that works for us.” She believes in love, longs for love, but requires psychological and artistic freedom. And she’s trying to craft that vessel.

Brunner: What is the joy of doing Creditors?

Siff: Working with great actors on a script that’s brilliant with a great director. It doesn’t actually get better than that.

Brunner: What is cool about Audible x TOGETHER? And why is accessibility so key for people who long to see theater but cannot afford it?

Siff: Audible x TOGETHER is brilliant. Creditors is so accessible to so many different kinds of audiences: young and old, seasoned theater goers and newbies to the theater. When you have great stories that bridge divides, they need audiences from all walks so that the play can live its fullest expression, and have its widest reach. The dedication this company has to bringing new theater audiences at affordable prices is the key to ensuring theater as an art form lasts. And we need theater more than ever—a place to see people in real time, a place to put down our devices and share atmosphere and story with a roomful of other people.

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