Steve Jobs theater piece in New York to proceed, with changes
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Too soon? A one-man theater piece that addresses the life and career of Steve Jobs will proceed as scheduled at New York’s Public Theater, just days after the Apple co-founder’s death at age 56. The Public Theater said this week that ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,’ written and performed by Mike Daisey, will begin previews as scheduled on Oct. 11, with an opening set for Oct. 17.
However, Daisey told the New York Times that he plans to implement some changes to the production, which is said to be critical of Jobs and Apple. Daisey said he doesn’t know for certain what those changes will be but that he will keep the play’s critical point of view regarding Apple’s relationship with factories in China.
In a release sent out this week, Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater, said ‘it is inevitable that reality and drama will intersect in surprising, sometimes uncomfortable ways. This isn’t to be regretted; it’s to be celebrated.’
Daisey said in the same release that ‘we live in denial about China: a relationship that so disturbs us that we pretend our devices are made in magical Willy Wonka-esque factories by space elves instead of the real human cost we all know in our hearts has been paid.’
As a stage performer, Daisey has toured the country with his monologue shows, including a 2009 stop in L.A., when he performed ‘How Theater Failed America’ at the Kirk Douglas Theater.
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Steve Jobs dies at 56; Apple’s co-founder transformed computers and culture
-- David Ng
