About the Show

 

“The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” Version 2.0 is, in my view, if anything more powerful, funny and engaging than the earlier production."–The New York Times

"The question is not, should you participate in such an event, but should you miss the opportunity. Would you miss the chance to see Muhammad Ali box? Springsteen sing? Baryshnikov dance?"–The Post and Courier

Mike Daisey returns to Woolly with his hilarious and revolutionary monologue, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. Beginning at Woolly in 2010, this extraordinary show has played extended runs around the world to sold-out crowds and rave reviews. By examining the human price we pay for our high-tech toys, Daisey opened a Pandora's box in the world of technology and production, demanding social responsibility in the corporate sector, inspiring his audiences to action, and influencing drastic change in the corporate practices of both Apple and Foxconn, Apple's supplier in China.

Following the recent media storm generated by Mike Daisey's appearance on This American Life and its subsequent retraction, Steve Jobs returns to Woolly this July–stronger, sharper, and more important than ever. This all-new version cuts the contested material and addresses the controversy head on, using the struggle over fact and fiction to tell an even better story that pierces the heart of our human relationship with our labor.

"The look at super-geekdom provides some of the funniest material in the show. Just hearing Daisey imitate an early version of a dot matrix printer is, in its own crazy way, worth the price of admission."
—The Baltimore Sun

"Put simply, Daisey, regardless of what one thinks of his social views, is a compelling performer. Well aware of the power of the theatre to entertain and highlight possibilities for social change in the world, he offers an engaging and passionate performance."
—Broadway World

"His singular transportive power and creative energy are worth a trip to Woolly Mammoth."
—DC Theatre Scene

 

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Programming:

POST-PERFORMANCE CONVERSATIONS

• Thursday, July 19 following the 8pm performance:
  The Making of The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs
  Q & A with Production Dramaturg Ronee Penoi, Director Jean-Michele Gregory, and creator and performer Mike Daisey.
• Sunday, July  22 following the 2pm performance:
  Mammoth Forum on Factory Workers and Human Rights
  Town-hall style discussion featuring a panel of guests who will speak on human rights violations and corporate practices that affect the daily lives of factory workers in China and around the world. Panelists include Jonathan Kaufman from EarthRights International, Scott Nova from Worker Rights Consortium, and Gabe Warren from Plessas Experts Network, Inc..
  
• Thursday, July  26 following the 8pm performance:
  Audience Exchange: America’s Technological Revolution
  Can’t leave home without your smart phone? Don’t feel “up-to-date” without checking Twitter and Facebook on a day-to-day basis? How on earth did we get here? Join a Woolly staff member after the afternoon performance to discuss how far our society has come with its usage of technology, and what could come next.

 

APPLE ORCHARD REDUX

Didn’t get your fill of tech-nostalgia the first time around? Feed your inner-Apple Fanatic by exploring the evolution of the objects of your obsession. Woolly's harvested a variety of Apple products and accessories from the 1980's and 90's, and displayed them for the run of the show.

Included are:
Apple IIe – able to input and display lowercase letters for the first time
Apple ImageWriter II – sturdy and reliable, used for decades after its release
Newton – John Scully, then CEO of Apple, coins PDA (“Personal Digital Assistant”)
Apple Quicktake 200 – take a quick shot of the apple of your eye
iMac G3 – first to incorporate USB ports
iBook G4 – post-“Clamshell” design updated, sleek, and white
iPod mini 4GB (Second Generation) – power multi-media players in the palm of your hand
MacBook – the notebook for everyone
iPhone 3GS – “S” is for “speed”

 

What's happening now, and how can I get involved?

Want to dig deeper and discover more about the human rights issues in China and around the world, as they are today? Check out these helpful links recommended by Woolly's invited guests from the July 22nd post-show discussion; Piper Hendricks, Jonathan Kaufman, Scott Nova, and Gabe Warren.

More on forced labor:
Chain $tore Reaction - Connecting consumers with companies to demand slave-free standards

Slavery Footprint - You’ve probably heard of your carbon footprint; this website helps to calculate your “slavery footprint”

Environmental Issues in China:
The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs - IPE looks to expand environmental information disclosure to allow communities to fully understand the hazards and risks in the surrounding environment, thus promoting widespread public participation in environmental governance. This website has an interactive map of China and a searchable database so you can track the environmental pollution records of all the Chinese companies that are in the supply chains of the brands you buy. It also allows for engagement between consumers and producers so that companies can explain their record and seek to improve their performance.

Investigative Reporting:
Below are some great news websites and blogs for getting the latest on China, including labor, human rights, politics, and environmental issues.

China Digital Times

China Elections Blog

Tea Leaf Nation - Specifically focused through the lens of social media and the blogger community in China

China Media Project

Seeing Red in China

Twitter:
Discover the latest from the Chinese blogosphere on current events, politics, human rights, etc. by following these handles on Twitter:

@niubi, @isaac, @chinahearsay, @gadyepstein, @goldcorn, @malcommoore, @cmphku, @aiww

Who's Who

 

MIKE DAISEY(Creator and Performer) has been called “the master storyteller” and “one of the finest solo performers of his generation” by The New York Times for his groundbreaking monologues which weave together autobiography, gonzo journalism, and unscripted performance to tell hilarious and heartbreaking stories that cut to the bone, exposing secret histories and unexpected connections. His monologues include last season’s The Last Cargo Cult, critically acclaimed If You See Something Say Something, the controversial How Theater Failed America, the six-hour epic Great Men of Genius, the unrepeatable series All Stories Are Fiction, and the international sensation 21 Dog Years. Over the last decade he has brought his work to venues including the Public Theater, the Cherry Lane Theater, the Barrow Street Theatre, Yale Repertory Theater, the Spoleto Festival, American Repertory Theatre, Center Theater Group, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Noorderzon Festival, the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Perseverance Theatre, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Intiman Theatre, the Under the Radar Festival, Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts, Performance Space 122, and many more. He’s been a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as a commentator and contributor to Studio 360, WIRED, Vanity Fair, Slate, Salon, WNYC and the BBC. His first film, Layover, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and a feature film of his monologue If You See Something Say Something will be released next year. His first book, 21 Dog Years: A Cubedweller’s Tale, was published by the Free Press and his second book, a collected anthology of his monologues, will be published by TCG in the fall of 2010. He has been nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award, two Drama League Awards, and has been the recipient of the Bay Area Critics Circle Award, four Seattle Times Footlight Awards, the EST/Sloan Galileo Prize, and a MacDowell Fellowship.

 

JEAN-MICHELE GREGORY(Director) works as a director, editor, and dramaturg, focusing on unscripted, extemporaneous theatrical works that live in the moment they are told. Working primarily with solo artists, for the last decade she has collaborated with monologist Mike Daisey, directing at venues across the globe including the Public Theater, the Barrow Street Theatre, the Cherry Lane Theater, Center Theater Group, the Under the Radar Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Chicago’s Museum for Contemporary Art, American Repertory Theatre, the Spoleto Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Noorderzon Festival, Intiman Theatre, ACT Theatre, Performance Space 122, the TBA Festival, and many more. She also works with New York storyteller Martin Dockery (Wanderlust, The Surprise) and the Seattle-based performer and writer Suzanne Morrison (Yoga Bitch, Your Own Personal Alcatraz). Her productions have received three Seattle Times Footlight Awards (21 Dog Years, The Ugly American, Monopoly!), the Bay Area Critics Circle Award (Great Men of Genius), and nominations from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle (If You See Something Say Something).

 

PRODUCTION TEAM

SETH REISER (Lighting and Set Design)

 

 

Schedule

July 17 – August 5, 2012. Tuesday through Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, Sunday at 2pm.

Special performance dates:

• Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC): Tuesday, July 17th at 8pm
  Tickets sold at 6pm each evening, two per person, cash/check only. Lines begin forming around 5pm. Performances typically sell out.

Prices

Tickets start at $45. Subject to change.

Click here for exact dates and prices...