WRITTEN BY PAUL COHEN
INSPIRED BY HERMAN MELVILLE’S NOVEL
DIRECTED BY STEPHEN BRACKETT, LAUREN KEATING,
& MICHAEL SILVERSTONE
ADMISSION | FREE to the public
WHERE | Aboard the Decommissioned US Coast Guard ship Lilac
North Side of Pier 40, Hudson River, New York City
WHEN | Summer 2009
Herman Melville’s novel The Confidence Man is a colorful tale of a con man aboard a riverboat in the mid-19th century. The story follows the protagonist as he charms and then cheats his fellow passengers. As disarmingly relevant today as it was in the 19th century, The Confidence Man begs the question: in whom may we safely place our confidence? In light of recent economic events surrounding Bernard Madoff, sub-prime lenders, and the deflating of the real estate bubble, “confidence” is a word on many minds these days. President Obama included the theme in his inaugural address, noting a profound “sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.”
The Woodshed Collective’s production of The Confidence Man is composed of a series of interwoven and simultaneously performed vignettes, evoking the whirlwind of both a riverboat journey and the everyday urban chaos of New York City. The audience chooses what to see and which character’s story to follow just as one selects which newspaper stories to read, which YouTube videos to screen, or which online links to click. By allowing audience members to immerse themselves in the experience, the production blurs the line between performer and patron, reclaims confidence in the power of live theater, and leaves the lingering impression that the audience members themselves may not be immune to the confidence man’s charms or cons.
