Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's AFTERMATH at NYTW

Here's a rare plug: Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, who created the amazing documentary play The Exonerated, have a new play opening shortly at New York Theatre Workshop.

This is from the NYTW website:

New York Theatre Workshop sent Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, the award-winning creators of The Exonerated, to Jordan in June 2008 to find out firsthand what happened to the Iraqi civilians as a result of the events that began on that fateful day. They interviewed some 35 people—a cross-section of lives interrupted—who fled the chaos and violence that befell Iraqi society for the relative safety of Jordan. Following the visit to Amman, Jessica and Erik crafted their conversations with the Iraqis and have turned them into an unforgettable theatrical event.

And check out this extraordinary video on the production, which includes a discount code for tickets:


As you know from my previous posts on Erik and Jessica's work, their plays are extraordinarily compassion-centric! And because of their compassion, I know it's impossible to come out of this play without feeling a deep, human connection to its subjects. And they are deeply aware of the impact that's possible from creating this connection. As Jessica said in our interview,

“Storytelling is based in empathy.... it has this incredible potential to... expand our ideas about who we are and who might be like us in the world. It has incredible potential to make us all more compassionate or give us greater access to our own compassion and empathy... because storytelling can do that, absolutely as a storyteller I have a responsibility to absolutely make the most of that potentiality with my work all of the time. Otherwise, I've been given this incredible gift, and I'm not doing anything to serve others.”

Can't wait to see this play! Thanks, Jessica & Erik! *

Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's AFTERMATH at NYTW