The Builders Are Back in Town

The New York Times once noted of The Builders Association that their dazzling shows “make just about every other theater company look as if it's living in the past…the eye-popping stagecraft seems from the future, but the content is typically of the moment.” The Builders are back in town, putting the finishing touches on HOUSE / DIVIDED, which has its world premiere performances this weekend here at Ohio State. This powerful show takes on both the housing foreclosure crisis and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, using video and digital media as well as live performance to tell multiple stories about our life and times. See the show live at the Thurber Theatre at the Drake Performance and Event Center (1849 Cannon Dr. near the stadium), Thursday through Saturday (Oct. 6 to 8) at 8 PM. These are the world premiere performances, before HOUSE / DIVIDED goes on the road, including to New York a year from now. Get your tickets from the Wexner Center ticket office (call 614 292-3535 or stop by the entrance level of the Wex) or online from Ticketmaster.

Want to know more before the show (or before you buy tickets)? Listen to a conversation featuring Marianne Weems of the Builders and Chuck Helm of the Wexner Center on WOSU radio. Read a few early stories—from back when the show was still called ROAD TRIP—in the Columbus Dispatch, onCampus, and Columbus C.E.O. (“Steinbeck Meets Fannie Mae”). And we like what blogger and critic Jeff Regensburger had to say recently in the fall arts preview of his onsummit blog: “Because we need art that shines a light on greed, malfeasance, corruption, and deceit. Because we need art to say what politicians, the media, and CEOs won't. Because we need Steinbeck, perhaps now more than ever.” Video clips and other interviews can be viewed here.