A BID TO SAVE THE WORLD

September 9 – October 2, 2016
By Erin Bregman
Directed by Lee Liebeskind
  • Atlas Performing Arts Center

Raised in a world without death, best friends Adam and Evelyn study the fine art of dying. In the recent past, a young woman barters for her beloved brother while Death peels oranges. Elsewhere, a rich man seeks to buy world peace, and a song of great sorrow and beauty is sung and sung again. When being immortal is normal, what is the meaning of life without death?

A Bid to Save the World is surprisingly funny for a play about death but it remains moving and poignant.  The play is filled with a bold theatrical style that asks for the kind of impossible stagecraft Rorschach is known for: a voyage into the underworld, a strange future in which death does not exist and songs that are heard across time and space. The production also includes six original songs and music throughout, written by Jon Jon Johnson and developed by the ensemble.

“In Rorschach Theatre’s locally-grown triumph A Bid to Save the World, audiences peer into the mental fragments of a young woman as she confronts both the devastating death of her brother and the personification of Death itself… A Bid to Save the World goes beyond mere greatness. Here Rorschach Theater has done what it does best: make an impossible story come to life in front of an audience. And, trust me, you want to be in that audience.”

DC Theatre Scene

A Bid to Save the World is supported in part by The Share Fund, Jeffrey Cunard, Pete Miller and Sara Cormeny and Rahaleh Nassri

FEATURING

Linda Bard
Natalie Cutcher
Nahm Darr
Louis E. Davis
Rashard Harrison
Paige O’Malley
Robert Pike
Daven Ralston
Jen Rabbitt Ring
Christian Sullivan
Dallas Tolentino
Tyasia Velines

Designers

Lighting Katie McCreary
Sound Veronica J. Lancaster 
Costumes Danielle Preston 
Props Becky Mezzanotte

ORIGINAL MUSIC

Written By Jon Jon Johnson
Developed And Arranged by Hilary Morrow and the cast of the show

STAFF

Stage Manger Linz Moore
ASM Lucette Moran
Dramaturg Maegan Clearwood
Music Director Hilary Morrow
Technical Director Greg Condon
Scenic Charge Britney Mongold

PRODUCERS

Randy Baker
Jenny McConnell Frederick
Jonelle Walker

MEDIA

Photos by Ryan Maxwell Photography

PRESS

“The play, with bold and colorful direction by Lee Liebeskind, explores humanity’s relationship with death, drawing on ancient myths and futuristic imaginings… A Bid to Save the World features A+ performances and a gorgeous set design. I strongly urge you to put it on your ‘should see’ list.
DC Metro Theatre Arts
“Unique, disconscerting, dark and fascinating … left me thinking about it long after the end.”
Broadway World
“A compelling use of space… Whimsical and pleasingly mythic… splendidly sinister… you have to admire Bregman’s determination to explore, in a fresh and offbeat way, the great mystery that is death.”
THE WASHINGTON POST