Prosperous Fools
Prosperous Fools
Description
Written by and starring the MacArthur genius and incomparable force of theatrical nature Taylor Mac, Prosperous Fools, inspired by Moliere’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, is a brilliant and courageous exploration of philanthropy and its hypocrisies; a retooled comedy of manners for an age with no manners.
Design by Paul Davis Studio / Paige Restaino
Starring and Written by Taylor Mac
Directed by Darko Tresnjak
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Artist Bios
taylor mac
Performer/Writer
Taylor Mac is a MacArthur “genius,” a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony nominee for Best Play, and the recipient of the Kennedy Prize, a Guggenheim, two Obies, two Bessies, a NY Critics Circle Award, a Drama League Award, and the International Ibsen Award. Selected works include: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (a musical adaptation of the non-fiction novel by John Berendt with music/lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and a book by Taylor Mac); Bark of Millions (a fifty-five song—and counting—parade trance extravaganza for the living library of the deviant theme, with lyrics by Mac and music by Matt Ray); Joy and Pandemic (a realism play about an abstract art school); The Hang (a jazz opera Passion Play about the final hours of Socrates, with lyrics by Mac and music by Matt Ray); The Fre (a queer children’s play about loving after bullying, set in a ball pit); Gary; A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (a tragedy determined to become a comedy); A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (a 24-hour performance art concert about communities building themself as a result of being torn apart); Hir (an absurd realism play about a changing America); The Walk Across America for Mother Earth (an anarchist adaptation of Three Sisters about activism, with music by Ellen Maddow); The Lily’s Revenge (a flowergory manifold about a flower who wants to be the center of the story, with music by Rachel Garniez); The Young Ladies Of (a paternal mystery); The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac (a ukulele confessional about the War on Terror); Red Tide Blooming (a freak-show musical about gentrification); The Last Two People on Earth (a two-man cabaret for seagulls about the joy of singing, created with Mandy Patinkin, Susan Stroman, and Paul Ford). Films include Whitman in the Woods (directed by Noah Greenberg, streaming on All Arts) and Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music (a concert doc directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, streaming on Max).
darko tresnjak
Director
Darko Tresnjak (Director) won the Tony Award, the Drama Desk, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for his direction of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. He won an Obie Award for his direction of Ionesco’s The Killer at Theatre for a New Audience. Darko also directed All's Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice, and Antony and Cleopatra at TFANA. From 2004 to 2009, Darko was the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Shakespeare Festival. From 2011 to 2019, he was the Artistic Director of Hartford Stage Company. As a director of plays, musicals, and operas, Darko has worked at Joseph Papp Public Theater, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Royal Shakespeare Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Geffen Playhouse, Vineyard Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Alley Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Huntington Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre Company, Goodspeed Musicals, Geva Theatre Center, Westport Country Playhouse, Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Santa Fe Opera. Darko wrote the book and the lyrics, and Oran Eldor wrote the music for Ask for the Moon, a musical comedy that just premiered at Goodspeed Musicals’ Terris Theatre.
Season Sponsors
Deloitte and Bloomberg Philanthropies are the 2024-2025 Season Sponsors.
Principal support for Theatre for a New Audience’s season and programs is provided by the Bay and Paul Foundations, The Marlène Brody Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Fund at the New York Community Trust, The Dubose & Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, The Polonsky Foundation, The SHS Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Thompson Family Foundation.
Theatre for a New Audience’s season and programs are also made possible, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities; the National Endowment for the Arts; Shakespeare in American Communities, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
