Is This a Room is the astonishingly true story of Reality Winner, the 25-year-old former Air Force linguist who was surprised at her home by the FBI on June 3, 2017. The play’s text is taken from the FBI transcript of her interrogation – and from these pages, Tina Satter has wrought an extraordinary human drama between Reality (Emily Davis) and the agents who question her. In this theatrical thriller, Reality’s life is upended before our eyes, and we’re left questioning American values and the very nature of the truth.
How does mind-numbing banality become heart-racing excitement? In 'Is This a Room,' the transcript is only the starting point. More salient is the way the production, conceived and directed by Tina Satter, views the document through an expressionistic lens, allowing Emily Davis, in a heartbreaking performance, to make words into windows on a world of interior terror.
If you knew nothing about Winner, this effectively staged transcript - let's not call it a play - offers a vivid portrait of group male intimidation of a woman. The FBI team features a good cop (Pete Simpson), a bad cop (Will Cobbs) and a clown cop (Becca Blackwell, who even sports orange hair). As Winner, Emily Davis suffers a slow meltdown into near-hysteria as the men, search warrant in hand, literally invade her personal space. The title refers to a room in her house where the interrogation takes place.
2019 | Off-Broadway |
Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway World Premiere Off-Broadway |
2019 | Off-Broadway |
Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway Return Engagement Off-Broadway |
2021 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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