In 2017 Marcus and Naomi Wallace were invited to give a lecture at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, at a conference, “Now is the Time of Monsters,” on the theme, “what comes after nations?” They decided that three-quarters of the way into the lecture, they wanted an actor dressed as Benjamin Lay to come out from behind the curtain, disrupt the proceeding, and accuse the audience of complicity with oppression. Rediker and Wallace wrote a ten-minute monologue for the actor. The curators of conference originally liked the idea but grew anxious when the lecturers insisted on using an actor with dwarfism. The curators “withdrew their support” for that part of the talk, whereupon Rediker and Wallace resigned from the conference in protest – and met immediately to begin writing the play.
The authors wrote a draft of the play and held readings in London, Paris, and New York. They began to work with Ron Daniels, a distinguished director and for many years a leading light at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Ron in turn found the accomplished actor Mark Povinelli, who also happened to be the president of Little People of America, the largest advocacy group for people with dwarfism anywhere in the world.
The play had its international premiere in London, at the Finborough Theatre, in 2023, and its American premiere at Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh in 2025. Productions followed at the Sheen Center in Greenwich Village, NYC, thanks to the Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company, and in Philadelphia at Quintessence Theatre. Mark Povinelli was a finalist for a New York Drama Desk Award for best solo performance.
For more information about the play, download the pitch deck (PDF).
