The Antiquities

The Antiquities
2025 Off-Broadway production poster
Original languageEnglish
Written byJordan Harrison
CharactersMan 1
Woman 1
Man 2
Woman 2
Man 3
Woman 3
Man 4
Woman 4
Boy
GenreDrama
Premiere
DateJanuary 11, 2025
PlacePlaywrights Horizons

The Antiquities is a dramatic play by American playwright Jordan Harrison that follows the curators of the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, who archive and recreate human history in the near-future. The play premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 2025,[1] and later that year, at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.[2]

Plot

Set in the near future, the play follows the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, a museum dedicated to preserving human history. Through various vignettes of different eras of human history and the purported future, everyday objects become artifacts in the museum as the true nature of the museum reveals itself--it is operated by non-organic AI creators.[3][4][5]

Production history

Harrison was inspired to write the play based on his interactions with technology and AI, much like his play, Marjorie Prime. He also noted he wanted to write a play in "a kind of pyramidal shape to go forward in time and then back again."[6] He began writing the play before the thought of AI being sentient became reality, which he claims only made it more effective when it premiered, saying "I think people think of this as a more personal subject, one that touches their lives in a way that they didn’t then."[7]

Off-Broadway (2025)

The play first premiered Off-Broadway in January 2025 at Playwrights Horizons, directed by David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan, running January 11 to March 2, 2025.[8] The production was co-produced by the Vineyard Theatre and the Goodman Theatre, and starred an ensemble of Cindy Cheung, Marchánt Davis, Layan Elwazani, Andrew Garman, Aria Shahghasem, Kristen Sieh, Ryan Spahn, Julius Rinzel and Amelia Workman as various characters throughout the exhibits.[9]

The Off-Broadway production received largely positive reviews, with The New York Times praising it as "tastefully restrained," while criticizing the framing device as "compelling if somewhat overbearing structural."[10] Observer echoed those sentiments, praising the show's "grimly compelling concept" while opining that "the execution lacks a certain audacity."[11]

The production was nominated for several awards in 2025, including the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play,[12] three Drama Desk Awards,[13][14] two Lucille Lortel Awards[15] and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Play.[16]

Chicago (2025)

Later that year, the production transferred to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, again directed by Cromer and Sullivan and joined by new cast members Helen Joo Lee (in Cheung's role) and Thomas Murphy Molony (in Rinzel's role). The production ran from May 3, 2025 to June 1, 2025.[17] The production received positive reviews, with New City Stage calling it "intense and sobering" with praise for the "thoughtful, elegiac mood."[18] The Chicago Tribune similarly praised the production, claiming it had "more to say in 95 minutes than most TV shows manage in eight seasons" and that the show was "superlatively acted."[19]

Cast and characters

Character Off-Broadway 2025[20] Chicago 2025[21]
Man 1 Aria Shahghasemi
Woman 1 Kristen Sieh
Man 2 Marchánt Davis
Woman 2 Amelia Workman
Man 3 Andrew Garman
Woman 3 Cindy Cheung Helen Joo Lee
Man 4 Ryan Spahn
Woman 4 Layan Elwazani
Boy Julius Rinzel Thomas Murphy Molony

Accolades

2025 Off-Broadway production

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
2025 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Direction of a Play David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan Nominated [22][23]
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play Brenda Abbandandolo Nominated
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play Tyler Micoleau Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Nominated [24]
Drama League Award Outstanding Production of a Play Nominated [25]
Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Play Nominated [26]
Outstanding Lighting Design Tyler Micoleau Won

2025 Chicago production

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
2025 Jeff Award Outstanding Ensemble - Play Company Nominated [27]
The Libby Adler Mages Award for New Work Jordan Harrison Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "The Antiquities (Production History, 2020s Season 2024–25)". Playwrights Horizons. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  2. ↑ "The Antiquities". Goodman Theatre. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  3. ↑ Mandell, Jonathan (February 4, 2025). "The Antiquities Review. Extinct Humans on Display". New York Theater. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  4. ↑ Playbill. "The Antiquities (Off-Broadway, Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater, 2025)." Playbill, https://www.playbill.com/production/the-antiquities-off-broadway-playwrights-horizons-mainstage-theater-2025. Accessed 30 May 2026.
  5. ↑ Theatre Development Fund. "The Antiquities." TDF, https://www.tdf.org/shows/22175/the-antiquities/. Accessed 30 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Interview with Jordan Harrison". Playwrights Horizons. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  7. ↑ Weinert-Kendt, Rob (February 3, 2025). "Jordan Harrison's Emotional Sci-Fi". American Theatre. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  8. ↑ "The Antiquities (Production History, 2020s Season 2024–25)". Playwrights Horizons. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  9. ↑ ""JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN" and "CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL" Lead 2025 Dorian Theater Awards". BroadwayWorld. June 3, 2025. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  10. ↑ Green, Jesse (February 4, 2025). "'The Antiquities' Review: AI and the Human Question". The New York Times. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  11. ↑ Simonpillai, Radheyan (February 3, 2025). "Review: The Distant Future Is Already Ancient History in AI Drama The Antiquities". Observer. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  12. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (May 12, 2025). "Maybe Happy Ending Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  13. ↑ "2025 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  14. ↑ Logan Culwell-Block (June 1, 2025). "Drama Desk Award Winners 2025: The Full List". Playbill. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  15. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (May 4, 2025). "Our Class Leads 2025 Lucille Lortel Award Wins; Read the Complete List Here". Playbill. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Photos: 2025 Drama League Awards (Winners, Nicole Scherzinger, Sam Pinkleton & More)". Playbill. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  17. ↑ "The Antiquities". Goodman Theatre. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  18. ↑ Wisniewski, Mary (May 16, 2025). "The Future Is Here: A Review of "The Antiquities" at Goodman Theatre". New City Stage. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  19. ↑ Weinberg, Rachel (May 13, 2025). "Review: "The Antiquities" at Goodman Theatre". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  20. ↑ "The Antiquities (Production History, 2020s Season 2024–25)". Playwrights Horizons. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  21. ↑ "The Antiquities". Goodman Theatre. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  22. ↑ "2025 Awards – Nominees and Recipients". Drama Desk. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  23. ↑ Logan Culwell-Block (June 1, 2025). "Drama Desk Award Winners 2025: The Full List". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  24. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (May 12, 2025). "Maybe Happy Ending Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Photos: 2025 Drama League Awards (Winners, Nicole Scherzinger, Sam Pinkleton & More)". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  26. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (May 4, 2025). "Our Class Leads 2025 Lucille Lortel Award Wins; Read the Complete List Here". Playbill. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  27. ↑ Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee. "2025 Equity Nominees." The Joseph Jefferson Awards, https://www.jeffawards.org/equity-nominees. Accessed 30 May 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.