(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage presents the World Premiere of Westphalia by Helen Banner from October 21-November 12, 2023. Directed by Lila Rachel Becker on Luna's MainStage, Westphalia imagines a futuristic world in which citizenship can be bought and sold, and where artificial intelligence determines an individual's psychological fitness to make bold life choices.
Playwright Banner grew up in the British Channel Islands, studied at Cambridge and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has lived in America, China, England, France, Russia, and Singapore. The experience of shifting national identities (and sometimes passports) inspired her to create theatrical worlds in which the very idea of citizenship is challenged.
“I was stunned when this play crossed my desk,” said Luna Stage Artistic Director Ari Laura Kreith. “We had been looking for a play which explored artificial intelligence in ways that were imaginative and engaging, inviting us to move beyond headlines into an inventive, theatrical world.”
“Westphalia takes on multiple existential threats that humans are facing--AI, the climate crisis--and illustrates how the true threat is, in fact, the capitalist system that exploits our labor and planet,” says director Becker.
“Technology provides tantalizing possibilities,” elaborates Banner. "In Westphalia, we're using AI to subvert our expectations of national identity. I'm interested in why, when technology is so adaptive and fast-changing, our ideas about citizenship and borders remain so rooted in the old world of seventeenth century Europe.”
“Westphalia has very complex systems and people at its center, but it's also a satire that shows us the absurdity of the moment that we're living through,” says director Becker. “I love that Helen holds back from offering easy answers. I hope that encourages us to dream bigger.
Westphalia opens October 19, and runs Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm through November 12. All Luna Stage tickets are pay-what-you-choose, with admission starting at $10 and a suggested price of $40, and are available for purchase online.
About The Creative Team
Helen Banner (she/they) is a NY based director, playwright and librettist and an associate artist at New Georges. They grew up in the British Channel Islands and studied at Cambridge and the Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, where they completed their MFA in Dramatic Writing and were awarded the John Golden Playwriting Award. Helen is a co-founder of the Byzantine Choral Project with composer Grace Oberhofer, which makes choral plays, immersive installations, and podcasts. Helen’s play INTELLIGENCE was performed at NYTW Next Door in 2019 and then again at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022.
Lila Rachel Becker (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based director. Born and raised in Washington DC, she has worked with theaters all over the country, including Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Portland Stage Company, Folger Theatre, the First National Tour of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, and the Source Festival. Recent productions: THREE SISTERS, REVOLT. SHE SAID. REVOLT AGAIN, LINGERING (University of Iowa); and come apart (Portmanteau/The Tank); bad things happen here (Edinburgh Festival Fringe); CLARABELLE, 86 (Cloud City); GOLDEN (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Member, LCT Directors Lab, Directors Lab North. BA Wesleyan University; MFA University of Iowa. Associate Member, SDC.
Luna Stage is a professional regional theatre dedicated to developing and producing vibrant plays about local and global experiences. Firmly rooted in New Jersey's Valley Arts District – a crossroads of cultures – Luna brings its communities together for artistic events that spark conversations and create understanding and change.
Luna received the JerseyArts People's Choice Award for Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey, and has contributed to the development of over 100 new works for the stage, many of which premiered at Luna and have gone on to be produced in New York, regionally and internationally.
As producer, innovator, and educator, Luna is dedicated to eliminating barriers to participation and allowing all community members to nurture their own creativity and vision. Luna offers classes for children and adults, as well as opportunities for early-career and established theatre artists to develop and incubate new work.
All programs at Luna are pay-what-you-choose to support equity and access to professional arts experiences in our region.
