Balm in Gilead

Guest-directed by award-winning international theater artist, Phil Soltanoff, this updated version of Pulitzer Prize winner Lanford Wilson’s first full-length play brings the world of gritty 1970s New York City to vivid life on the Skidmore stage. Balm in Gilead tells the story of the down-and-out of New York’s Upper West Side set to an iconic soundtrack of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Frank Sinatra and many other timely favorites.

FROM THE DIRECTOR: “Rumor has it playwright Lanford Wilson sat in a gritty all-night diner on the Upper West Side of mid-1960’s Manhattan – and just wrote down what he heard. The result is Balm in Gilead, one of the first plays of the Off-Off Broadway movement. The play creates a world of lost souls: pushers and junkies, hustlers and whores – social outcasts struggling delicately and brutally on the edge of poverty.” –Phil Soltanoff

Photos by Sue Kessler

Production Info

Guest Directed by Phil Soltanoff
Lighting Design by Jared Klein
Scenic Design by Garett E. Wilson
Sound Design by Max Helburn
Costume Design by Patty Pawliczak
Make-up Design by Julianna Quiroz
Stage Managed by Chloe Brush
Asst. Directed by Rebecca Rovezzi and Lily Kamp
Asst. Lighting Design by Omi Furst
Asst. Scenic Design by Sarah Markley and Nola Donkin
Asst. Sound Design by August Sylvester
Asst. Stage Managed by Rebecca Schilsky and Emily Forer

CAST: Anabel Milton, Annabelle Vaes, Bean Chiodo, Billy Winter, Caoilin O’Connor, Chris Naughton, Devin McDonough, Eli Bliss, Jacob Hudson, Josh Wagner, Keegan Kelly, Kirsten Mulrenan, Kyle Thomas, Lena Schwartz, Liel Dolev, Lulu Fairclough-Stewart, Matt Clyne, Maximillian LoSardo, Nick Leonard, Sadiq Ahmed, Shea Leavis, Samantha Fleishman, Sydney Tennant, Wiley Hopkins

Dates & Tickets

April 14-15 and 19-21 at 8pm
April 22 at 7pm (followed by the Skidmore Theater's Annual HOUSE PARTY)
April 23 at 2pm

Tickets

Spring 2017 Mainstage: “Balm in Gilead”

Three Rules of "Balm in Gilead": 1.) There is an 85 cent minimum to sit at a booth. 2.) A junkie never falls off his stool. 3.) Dopey is our guide in this world of chaos, and the audience’s only hope of knowing where to look.

JKB LIFE: BALM IN GILEAD

For one night only, this motley crew of addicts, prostitutes, and thieves take over the diner for an open improv session! This is only a small taste of the dirty, rock 'n' roll love-parable that is Balm in Gilead, so get on over to the JKB for this theatrical slice-of-life from 1970s New York!

Creating Character in Chaos: How to Exist within Balm in Gilead

Staff writer Kallan Dana '19 investigates how the world of Balm in Gilead acts as a petri dish for the company and characters to grow and evolve—or, rather, devolve, in this semester's upcoming Mainstage production.

Guest Director Spotlight: Phil Soltanoff

Guest Director of Balm in Gilead, Phil Soltanoff, talks about his journey from teaching at Skidmore to following his professional career around the world, and returning back again to direct this semester's Mainstage.

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