A MacArthur 'genius' skewers philanthropy in a farcical play tackling oligarchy and arts funding
NEW YORK — Taylor Mac does not set out to bite the hand that feeds in a new play satirizing cultural philanthropy. The MacArthur 'genius grant' recipient claims to be 'just trying to get some lipstick on it.'
Set at a not-for-profit dance company's gala, 'Prosperous Fools' invites questions about the moral value of philanthropy in a society denounced by the comedy as 'feudal.' A boorish patron goes mad trying vainly to wield his lacking creative capital and thus confirms the choreographer's fears of selling out to a sleazy oligarch who represents everything his art opposes. The show, written by Mac and directed by Darko Tresnjak, runs through June 29 at Brooklyn's Polonsky Shakespeare Center.
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