SBU Theater, the theater program at St. Bonaventure University, opens its season next week with the production of Amy Herzog’s “After the Revolution.”

The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6-9 at the university’s Garret Theater on campus.

Directed by visiting guest artist Steve Crosby, the play is about an American family thrown into an intergenerational tailspin when they are forced to face a shocking truth about their recently deceased patriarch.

Set in 1999 on the brink of the new millennium, the play centers on Emma Joseph, a recent law school graduate and activist who carries on her family’s Marxist tradition.

Emma’s grandfather Joe was a prominent progressive who stood up against and fought through the anti-Communist witch hunts of the 1940s and ’50s. As a result, Joe’s promising political career and life were destroyed.

In honor of her grandfather and committed to just causes, Emma began a foundation with the purpose of advocating for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, an African American activist convicted of killing a police officer. Many believed Abu-Jamal was a political prisoner “railroaded by a racist judge, jury and prosecution” because of his affiliation with the Black Panther Party.

However, a dark family secret is revealed that threatens the future of the foundation and profoundly impacts Emma’s relationship with her family.

“We’re all too familiar with historical events referenced in the play, notably the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and national/international unrest. But the central theme is what intimately touches us all: how history shapes our lives and informs our political beliefs, convictions and relationships,” said Janell Clingenpeel, assistant professor of Theater and SBU Theater’s technical director.

“Painful misunderstandings arise between generations whose own experiences shape who they are, generating conflicting perceptions. How timely it is that we open our play just after Election Day.” 

For tickets, visit https://www.ticketor.com/quickarts, call (716) 375-2494, or visit the Quick Center box office. Tickets are $10 for adults, and $8 for students, senior citizens, and SBU employees. Free student rush tickets will be available starting at 7 p.m. each day of the performance and available through https://www.ticketor.com/quickarts.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).