The Antelope Party
Play Description
Pony up, America! Equestria is a land of friendship. Equestria is a land of magic. Equestria is Ben’s apartment in rural Pennsylvania. Every Tuesday night, Ben hosts “The Rust Belt Ponies Meet-Up Group for Adult Fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” Sharing fun with these friends is a wonderful place to be. After all, nothing bad can happen in Equestria … But when an ominous neighborhood watch brigade starts patrolling the streets, fear and paranoia creep into the circle of friendship. The outside world is turning more violent and authoritarian, and it is sucking our heroes into an entirely different story. A timely new comedy that explores the rise of a new social order and how the currents of history, normalization, and fear can sweep up even the most generous bronies.
Production Info
Cast: 6 total (3 female, 3 male)Full Length Comedy (about 100 minutes)
Single Set
Contemporary Costumes
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- About the Author(s)
- About the Book
- Special Notes
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Press Quotes
“Where have you gone, Princess Celestia? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. And we need the Elements of Harmony now more than ever. If you got those references, then you’ve probably spent time with the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. If, as a grown-up, you’ve created costumes based on characters from the show and congregated with other like-minded fans, then you’re probably a ‘brony.’ Brony culture (captured in the 2012 documentary Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony) is the jumping-off point for Eric John Meyer’s THE ANTELOPE PARTY. But Meyer’s story jumps the fences and heads for the open range of American populism and paranoia. It’s set in a Rust Belt Pennsylvania mill town — the kind of place where one expects the local diner to be stuffed with a mix of hardscrabble former steelworkers and national reporters interrogating them about their voting preferences over bacon and eggs. It’s a place where the misfit brony men and ‘pegasisters’ who gather every week to share stories and play games based on the Hasbro series walk warily outdoors, their ‘cutie marks’ covered up, lest they be jumped by the intolerant. If we’ve learned one thing about how fascism works (and brother, are we learning a lot), it’s that elevating tribal grievances over harmony and creating a hated Other is the path to power. So when Maggie, the glamorous ‘Twilight Sparkle’ of the gang, twists their arms (or forelegs) to join with her father’s ‘Antelope Party’ (a neighborhood watch group with darker political aspirations), things take a sharp turn for the allegorical. Meyer has an undeniable flair for illustrating how group dynamics shift once the fear factor enters the room…” —Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune
“The show starts with a comically underattended gathering of the Rust Belt Ponies Meetup Group, complete with homemade costumes and wistful misfits. But from there Meyer takes an odd, fascinating turn: the neighborhood where the misfits meet has become an outpost for a watch group that evolves into a militant political organization with an arcane, quasi-Wagnerian mythology. Meyer is brilliant at showing how fantasy play may produce a brony or a neo-Nazi…” —Tony Adler, Reader
“Meyer gives life and breath and love to all of these oddly human misfits; they’re relatable in their common quest to find their tribe. Simultaneously, we’re compelled to consider the consequences of a tribe ‘going wrong.’ In conversation with our time, it offers insight into the humanization and justification of the ‘bad guys’ … a thought-provoking romp that’s not to be missed.” —Kelsey McGrath, Perform.Ink
Author(s)
Eric John MeyerEric John Meyer is a playwright and performer based in New York City. His plays include THE ANTELOPE PARTY (Theater Wit, world premiere), THE APOCRYPHAL TRAGEDY OF KING MICHAEL (Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb SuperLab), and THE SISTER (Dutch Kills Theater Company, world premiere; Edinburgh Fringe Festival), among others. He is a two-time finalist for the Heideman Award (National Ten-Minute Play Contest) and his ten-minute plays GRACE and THE RUSTBELT BRONIES MEET UP GROUP FOR ADULT FANS OF MY LITTLE PONY were performed at Actors Theater of Louisville as part of The Tens. Eric is a member of The Actors Studio Playwright/Director Unit and a recipient of a new play commission from Playwrights Horizons. As an actor, Eric has appeared in the indie horror film THE MOOSE HEAD OVER THE MANTLE, as well as his own plays OBFUSCATION (Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and NOT WINEHOUSE (The Truck Project). Eric is a co-founder of Human Head Performance Group and The Truck Project, both of which he established with his partner, Jean Ann Douglass. With Human Head, he co-wrote and co-directed DUE TO EVENTS (The Brick Theater, world premiere), and OBFUSCATION at Ed Fringe. With The Truck Project, he co-created and performed in numerous short plays presented in 24' Budget rental trucks. MFA: Sarah Lawrence College.
Special Notes
If original stage producers credits appear in bold below, all licensees are required to include them in the following form on the title page in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all advertising in which the full cast appears in size of type not less than ten percent (10%) of the size of the title of the Play:
First produced at Theatre Wit, Chicago, IL, January 2018
Jeremy Wechsler, Producing Artistic Director
In addition, the following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypub.com
Production Video and Stills
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