A MEASURE OF CRUELTY

Written and Directed by Joe Calarco

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Starring 4615 favorites Scott Ward Abernethy (Venus in Fur) and Nick Torres (Enron), as well as Ethan Miller, who makes his debut with the company.

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4615 Theatre is thrilled to announce a surprise addition to its third season: the DC area premiere of Joe Calarco’s A Measure of Cruelty (January 18-26, 2020), to be staged on location in Bethesda’s legendary Harp and Fiddle pub. Calarco himself will direct the immersive event, his first project back in the area after relocating last year to New York. Audience members will sit throughout the venue, including at the 360 degree bar and surrounding tables, as the action encompasses all of the sprawling space. 

 

Calarco’s blistering play examines the uniquely American relationship to masculinity and violence, with a deft balance of tenderness and unrelenting honesty. The play follows Buddy, a recently returned veteran from the war in Afghanistan, who comes to work in his father’s bar while he nurses wounds both physical and psychic. When father and son become entangled in a local tragedy, they are forced to confront the ghosts of their past, and reckon with the cruelties they have taken part in, both at home and abroad. 

 

“I couldn’t be more excited to return to 4615 after being so happy with their fantastic production

of my play Separate Rooms,” said Calarco. “I’m not necessarily in the habit these days of

directing my own work, but I’m such a fan of the company, and the opportunity to do it as a site-

specific production was an opportunity I couldn’t resist.”

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