SEND FOR THE MILLION MEN

Culturebot

TELLING THE SIMPLE SOUND: SORYTELLING AND ARTIFICE IN SEND FOR THE MILLION MEN

By JENNA CLARK EMBREY

"In the final moments of the show, when a paper funeral procession gives way to a slow lemming march of wooden men, Silovsky’s object theater delivers the emotional stomach punch that was missing from your high school Sacco and Vanzetti lecture. It was never about suspending disbelief; it was always about truth through artifice."

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The New York Times

A NOT-SO-MAD SCIENTIST AND HIS BLUE-EYED BUDDY Joseph Silovsky revisits Sacco and Vanzetti By ALEXIS SOLOSKI

"These solo-ish shows relate strange but true stories using a wealth of machines typically packed into battered suitcases. Some of his devices seem composed of little more than electrical tape, scavenged metal and hope. Mr. Silovsky’s work welds Mike Daisey-style monologues with the kind of object theater “spectacles” developed by Stuart Sherman. There’s a hefty dose of low-rent Victor Frankenstein, too."

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The New York Times

THE WEELS OF JUSTICE, CIRCA 1927, VIA A ROBOT AND A HERKY-JERKY PUPPETS 'Send for the Million Men' Revisits Sacco and Vanzetti

By LAURA COLLINS-HUGHES

"Incorporating puppets, a robot and Mr. Silovsky’s customary worn old suitcases, this is a clever, complex, handmade show about a legal cause célèbre from long ago..."

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The Village Voice

THE SACCO AND VANZETTI TALE AS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE

By MIRIAM FELTON-DANSKY

"Who'd have figured that Vanzetti is best represented onstage by a small, wiry robot with googly eyes and a shaggy mustache?"

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Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society

JOSEPH SILOVSKY: "SEND FOR THE MILION MEN" An interview by SERGIO REYES

"Why is it called "Send for the million men"
When Vanzetti found out that the Blue Ribbon Committee set up by the Governor had ruled against them, he lost his mind for a day- he called for hours from his jail cell to "Send for the Million Men." He sat down at one point and wrote a delirious letter to the Boston Defense Committee going over the details of how the million men should come to save him. I found this moment in their story to be an apex. Vanzetti was always so calm and collected, so intellectual and rigorous. The mental blow to him of that final rejection threw him over an edge. And for me that is an incredible symbol, a signifier of his torment..."

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Women Around Town

SEND FOR THE MILLION MEN INSPIRED

By ALIX COHEN on Playing Around

"One of the most surprising and inventive productions I’ve seen in quite some time..."

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Lighting and Sound America

THEATER IN REVIEW: SEND FOR THE MILLION MEN (HERE)

"Silovsky narrates most of the tangled story using a variety of techniques, including projections, puppets, video, lighting and sound effects, and his signature robots."

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THE JESTER OF TONGA

The New York Times

A KING BECOMES THE FOOL IN A SOUTH SEAS SCANDAL By JASON ZINOMAN

"...you need to see the whimsical "Jester of Tonga," a rare example of puppet theater about bad investments."

The Village Voice

WAVES AND THE JESTER OF TONGA GIVE MULTIMEDIA SOME HOPE By ALEXIS SOLOSKI

"Rarely has a mechanical performance seemed such a delight." 

PaperMag

STAGE NOTES: JESTER OF TONGA By TOM MURRIN

"Joseph Silovsky is one of Downtown's most unique performance artists" 

The Gothamist

OPIONIST: JESTER OF TONGA By JOHN DEL SIGNORE

"Silovsky tells the tale with an impressive variety of hand-made machines, puppets, and video, with most of the devices emerging as needed from inside the twenty suitcases littering the stage."