The Invention of Tragedy
The Invention of Tragedy
82% 15 reviews
82%
(15 Ratings)
Positive
93%
Mixed
0%
Negative
7%
Members say
Great acting, Ambitious, Quirky, Edgy, Confusing

About the Show

This absurdist work about a chorus of students trying trying like the devil to tell a simple story offers an examination of the post-9/11 world. Part of the Flea's "Mac Wellman: Perfect Catastrophes" series.

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Critic Reviews (6)

The New York Times
September 25th, 2019

"In ‘Invention of Tragedy,’ Wordplay Over Plotlines: Mac Wellman’s ode to theater does away with character and basic grammar. Here, language baffles and delights."
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BroadwayWorld
September 22nd, 2019

"Mac Wellman's mini-masterpiece 'THE INVENTION OF TRAGEDY' at The Flea Theater"
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Lighting & Sound America
October 10th, 2019

"Seeing 'The Invention of Tragedy,' certain names went through my head, such as John Ashbery and Edith Sitwell, poets who preferred the sounds of words over their meanings; it's certainly an approach, although whether it really works in a theatrical setting is debatable."
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TheaterScene.net
September 24th, 2019

"On a school auditorium’s stage, young adults portray children as they perform Mac Wellman’s abstract fantasia with slight political overtones. Devotees of his idiosyncratic style may be enchanted while anyone else could be baffled. Brevity, playfulness and presentational polish are its virtues."
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Front Mezz Junkies
September 29th, 2019

"The piece, at first, dives head first into the idea of group dynamics, when the whole follows aggressively behind the central talking-head, like a pack of nervous dogs repeating Fox News talking points."
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New York Theater
September 21st, 2019

"There are three ways of looking at 'The Invention of Tragedy' that offer some satisfactions - as a political parable, as a metaphor for Western theater, or as entertaining nonsense full of such surface pleasures as colorful design, pleasing music and an appealing cast."
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