THE UNBELIEVING

BY MARIN GAZZANIGA | DIRECTED BY STEVE COSSON

Additional content to be formatted

INVESITGATE TAB

Trailer on IG not on youtube: https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ckd2acBvg0a/

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Testimonials:

How do we bring the world’s attention to a problem which can, literally, kill us all, yet seems to have no immediate impact on our lives? It is a measure of The Civilians’ ambition that they are willing to take on this challenge. Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director at The Public Theatre

The Great Immensity was one of those shows that sticks with you. It was funny and alarming while telling a damned good story. Illuminating the desperate straits of climate change we are leaving our children through the eyes of those children was very ingenious and ultimately very moving. Amy Larkin, Author, Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy

The Great Immensity was definitely a sobering and shocking experience about the realities of climate change. The beautiful Cadence of this particular play was that it was vested in hopes and dreams of a better world, ideology against all odds. People/Critics would rather dilute their sense of personal responsibility than face a contrasting reality that directly challenges their way of life. The Great Immensity challenges you to flip the switch on a sinking ship and get active to save what we have now or at least prepare for the coming tomorrow. This play has moved me greatly, being on the front lines of the Tarsands expansion and watching the devastation of our ecosystem and our indigenous way of life. I just want to say thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for bringing these issues to life. It’s something tangible, something people will talk about, something to get the dialogue moving forward. Gitz Crazyboy, Indigenous Canadian Climate Activist from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

We tell stories so that we can understand things. We tell stories so that we can connect. We tell stories so that otherwise inexpressible things can make sense to a theater filled with complete strangers. I felt, in the moments after leaving The Public, a terrible responsibility. Elizabeth Seldin, Audience Member

Amazed by The Civilians’ The Great Immensity. A vital, essential work of ensemble theater that is too powerful to be ignored. Andrew Cornelius, Audience Member

About The Show

In the classic tale of religious conversion, finding God holds the promise of a life filled with purpose and meaning. But what happens when this transformation occurs in reverse, and a faith you have built your life around begins to fall away? The Unbelieving takes a penetrating look into the lives of practicing clergy members— Catholics, Episcopalians, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Jews, Mormons, Muslims—who have stopped believing in God.

Staged by NYC’s acclaimed downtown theater company The Civilians in the brilliant investigative-theater style they pioneered, THE UNBELIEVING tells the intimate stories of these faith leaders. Using their actual words, obtained during a groundbreaking study by philosopher Daniel C. Dennett and qualitative researcher Linda LaScola, the play explores the struggles, courage, and great humor of these “unbelievers” as they face the hardest decision of their lives—whether to continue living in secret or to risk everything by telling the truth.

Based on interviews conducted for the book, Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind (2013) by Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola

“There’s a lot of anguish in The Unbelieving. As it turns out, there’s a lot of courage, too.”

Laura Collins-Hughes

Cast

DAVID AARON BARKER

DAN DOMINGUES

RICHARD TOPOL

JEFF BIEHL

Creative Credits

Playwright: Marin Gazzaniga
Director: Steve Cosson
Movement Director: Sean Donovan

Set Design: casaboyce
Costume Designer: Emily Rebholz
Lighting Designer: Amith Chandrashaker
Sound Designer: Ryan Gamblin
Video & Projection Designer: Attilio Rigotti
Production Manager: Zach Jenkins
Associate Production Manager: Beatrice Perez-Arche
Production Stage Manager: Andrew Petrick
Assistant Stage Manager: Ais Galvin

THE UNBELIEVING will feature movement direction by Sean Donovan, set design by Andrew Boyce & Se Oh, costume design by Emily Rebholz and Miriam Kelleher, lighting design by Lucrecia Briceno, and original music and sound design by Christian Frederickson. Jeremy Stoller & Jocelyn Clark serve as dramaturg. Megan Kingery serves as creative consultant. The production stage manager is Molly Shea and the Assistant Stage Manager is Dack Justiz.