playwright & theatre artist
"Exhuberantly unhinged!"
La Mama - Ellen Stewart Theatre May 2025
Text by Robert Lyons
Directed by Daniel Irizarry
Composed by Rhys Tivey
"Chaotic times call for chaotic plays; a head-spinning collision of political philosophy and clowning."
- New York Observer
Two grad-students hallucinate a post-capitalist manifesto...
While their favorite professor catalogs the un-written work of our Esteemed Author...
And his arch-nemesis (The Other-Lit-Professor) performs love poems inspired by her affair in a prestigious artist colony.
"Bursts onto the stage with the wild, bright energy of youthful minds dreaming beyond the margins—an effervescent ode to imagination… offering a gleeful escape hatch into possibility. Dense, disorienting, and defiantly uncommercial—a theatrical manifesto masquerading as a fever dream. This is the wonder of Class Dismissed.
Hums with latent connectivity… a relentless swirl of Marxist theory and grand philosophical overtures, against a backdrop of absurdist physicality. Narrative cohesion is eschewed in favor of thematic resonance. Though no linear thread binds them, their trajectories intersect often and with theatrical charge, forming a constellation of meaning just out of reach. "
- Theatre Scene
With live music, sing-alongs, and a different guest artist at each performance.
"Their energy and camaraderie amplifies the show’s festive, anything-can-happen vibe. Anything can indeed happen as the production invites the audience to partake in their world - where chalkboard scribbles and reggaeton dance breaks coexist with philosophical rants and poetic musings. Audience members are encouraged to engage and participate, and they sure do! They move furniture, swap books, play catch, and even sip wine or rum alongside the cast."
- Hi Drama
Anticipate your (consensual) participation as we peel yuca, improvise dances, make butter, and invite the audience onstage to eat bread, drink Puerto Rican rum, write on the set with chalk, and swap books (that you bring to the show).
This is the grad school you wish you went to.
Featuring:
"Crazy scenes of graduations, book readings, and mock war zones are all glossed by pithy post-capitalist deconstructionist pronouncements. The entire cast keeps the show alive and on theme. This aggressively absurd piece connects chaos into a complete experience through its skilled writing and performance."
- Medium / No Proscenium
"A wild ride through the surreal world of academia and philosophy, serving up a mix of lecture, party, and fever dreams. Through absurd lectures, rebellious performances, and a series of increasingly wild tangents, the characters explore ideas about knowledge, capitalism, rebellion, and human connection. The ensemble delivers vibrant performances that keep the atmosphere playful and unpredictable. Creates a joyful, perplexing celebration of collective imagination and academic absurdity with a bit of rum and dance. If you’re open to getting a little messy, laughing through confusion, and dancing your way through philosophy, Class Dismissed will offer an experience like no other."
- Theater Pizzazz
