Manic Flight Reaction
- Written by Sarah Schulman
- Directed by Trip Cullman
SARAH SHULMAN was born in New York City in 1958 and attended (High College) Hunter High School. She is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, AIDS historian, journalist, and active participant citizen. Her honors include a Guggenheim (Playwrighting), Fulbright (Judaic Studies), 2 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships - Fiction, 1 NY Foundation for the Arts Fellowship - Playwrighting, Kessler Prize for Sustained Contribution to LGBT Studies, Stonewall Award for Improving the Lives of Gays and Lesbians in the United States, Revson Fellow for the Future of New York City at Columbia University, Fellow – NY Institute for the Humanities at New York University, 6 residencies at MacDowell, 3 residencies at Yaddo, 2 American Library Association Stonewall Book Awards – fiction/nonfiction, Brown Foundation/Houston Arts Museum Fellow at the Dora Maar House, and Fellow - University of Toronto Bonham Center for Sexual Diversity Studies.
Playwrights: The Pain of My Belligerence, Assistance, The Drunken City, Manic Flight Reaction, A Small Fire (Drama Desk nomination). Broadway: The Rose Tattoo, Choir Boy, Lobby Hero, Six Degrees of Separation, Significant Other. Select off-Broadway: The Mother, I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic); Days of Rage, The Layover, Lonely I’m Not, The Substance of Fire, Some Men, Bachelorette, Swimming in the Shallows (Second Stage); Punk Rock (Obie Award), Yen, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit..., Moscow... (MCC); Significant Other (Roundabout); Choir Boy, Murder Ballad (MTC); The Hallway Trilogy: Nursing, The Last Sunday in June (Rattlestick); Dog Sees God (Century Center); Roulette (EST); US Drag (stageFARM); and several productions with The Play Company. London: The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, PA (Tricycle). Select regional: Geffen, Alliance, Old Globe, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Bay Street, Williamstown Theatre Festival.
(Updated Mar 2019)
Faced with the exposure of her past liaison with the wife of the leading presidential candidate, an idealistic professor finds herself in the crosshairs of scrutiny from both tabloid press and her college-aged daughter. Manic Flight Reaction is a razor edged comedy about abandonment, the intrusion of mass market media, and the need for faith in goodness, despite the odds.
Featuring
Jessica Collins
Angel Desai
Michael Esper
Austin Lysy
Deirdre O'Connell
Molly Price
Broadway: American Idiot, A Man for All Seasons. Other New York credits: The Lyons, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, The Four of Us, Crazy Mary, subUrbia, As You Like It, The Agony and the Agony, Manic Flight Reaction, Big Bill. Regional theatre: The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures; Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Me, Myself and I. Film and TV: All Good Things, A Beautiful Mind, Bittersweet Place, Loggerheads, “Bunker Hill,” “Law & Order.” Clarence Derwent Award recipient. (As of February 2012)
Playwrights: Circle Mirror Transformation, Manic Flight Reaction, Moe‘s Lucky Seven, Spatter Pattern. Broadway: Dana H (Tony Award nomination, Obie, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle awards), Magic/Bird. Off-Broadway: The Way West, Thinner Than Water (Labyrinth); By the Water, Fulfillment
Center (MTC); Judy (Page73); In the Wake (The Public), Scarcity (Rattlestick); Terminus (NYTW). Regional: Before the Meeting (Williamstown). Film: Diane, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. TV: “The Affair,” “The Path,” “Outer Range.” Awards: Obie Award for Sustained Excellent in Performance, New York Drama Critics Circle Special Citation, Lily Award.
Creative Team
Louisa Thompson
Scenic DesignerJenny Mannis
Costume DesignerPaul Whitaker
Lighting DesignerFitz Patton & Harris Skibell
Sound DesignerMarion Friedman
Production Stage ManagerLouisa Thompson is an award-winning set/costume designer and creator of theatrical work for young audiences. In 2018, she received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Design. Her designs have been seen Off-Broadway, on Regional stages, and internationally (with the 10 year tour of GATZ by Elevator Repair Service). Known for explorations of audience space, site specificity, and the potential for materials on stage, Louisa is considered an innovator in the field and has been recently featured in the book Scene Shift. Currently, Louisa connects her projects as Ground_Cloth, a container for past, present, and future explorations of cloth, play, and environmental justice.
Photos of (1) Deirdre O'Connell and Molly Price; (2) Jessica Collins and Michael Esper; (3) Deirdre O'Connell and Austin Lysy; and (4) Angel Desai and Deirdre O'Connell by Joan Marcus.