Fox Toss
by Zuzanna Szadkowski
Directed by Alice Reagan
March 6-8, 2025
Director’s and Playwright’s Statement
For the fifth cycle of New Plays at Barnard, the Theatre department has commissioned actor and playwright Zuzanna Szadkowski (Barnard ‘01) to write a play for our students. Through two workshops in fall 2024 and several drafts, Zuzanna is writing an incredibly funny, heartbreaking, sometimes shocking play called Fox Toss. From the initial proposal:
“Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) was a fabled king of Poland who proudly exhibited his Herculean strength by bending horseshoes with his bare hands and tossing live animals for distance. He was rumored to have sired 360 bastards with his many fantastic mistresses. He was a huge and hugely charismatic sex maniac with a soft spot for fine porcelain. In fact, he imprisoned a promising alchemist in the hopes that the man could divine a means of producing porcelain better than Chinese china. Augustus was sort of cool and really awful at the same time: a shitty dad to rival all shitty dads. Today is the day of the annual fox toss, and also the day his most indomitable bastard, Anna, comes knocking.
The play asks: Does my family know me, see me, understand me? Am I my parents? What do I deserve from my loved ones? What am I willing to accept? And what does it mean to be self-made? This is a comedy about desperately wanting to have it out with what makes you up.”
Fox Toss has a big heart, and will make big demands: scenically, comedically, and emotionally. I’m thrilled students will have the opportunity to work on a new piece with a playwright in the rehearsal room. We’ll follow Zuzanna as she leads us to the distant past with this hilarious, whip smart play that actually feels too close for comfort.
Tickets
$12 general admission
$6 with BC/CUID
Performances
Thursday, March 6, 8pm
Friday, March 7, 8pm
Saturday, March 8, 3pm
Saturday, March 8, 8pm