Schenkkan’s ‘Building the Wall’ coming to Catskill, August 20–23

CATSKILL—Fresh from a sold-out Off-Broadway run, Ripple Effect Artists’ production of Robert Schenkkan’s Building the Wall comes to Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill for four performances only, August 20–23.

Directed by Bridge Street Theatre board member Brent Buell and featuring Cecily Lyn Benjamin and Austin Lightning Carrothers, Building the Wall is a dystopian political thriller by Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan that explores the extreme consequences of anti-immigration rhetoric and policies.

Written in 2016 and set in 2019, the play follows a conversation between Rick, a former private detention center supervisor, facing sentencing for his role in atrocities committed in detention centers, and Gloria, a professor who has come to interview him. Their conversation reveals how a major terrorist attack, the declaration of martial law, and increasingly extreme government policies led to horrifying consequences.

As Gloria attempts to understand how Rick became implicated in those events, Building the Wall examines personal responsibility, institutional power, fear, and the seemingly incremental choices through which the previously unthinkable can become reality.

Schenkkan is the author of The Kentucky Cycle, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and All the Way, winner of the Tony Award for Best Play. His extensive body of work for stage, film, and television frequently examines American history, politics, power, and the consequences of individual choices.

Building the Wall will be performed at Bridge Street Theatre, 44 West Bridge Street in Catskill from Thursday, August 20 through Saturday, August 22 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, August 23 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for students in advance. Student rush tickets are $10 at the door until the show sells out.

Tickets and additional information are available at bridgest.org/building-the-wall.