Port Out, Starboard Home 
by Sheila Callaghan

Directed by: Ben Yalom
Dates: September 7-23, 2012
Location: Z Space | 450 Florida St. San Francisco, CA | Zspace.org

P.O.S.H. takes place aboard a cruise ship and opens with an announcement from its cruise director that the conventional rules of time and place no longer pertain. “Throw away your watches” and forget your place of national origin, “for here you are an honorary citizen of the Crown of the Seas!” he blithely proclaims. Thus begins a three-day journey for an eclectic group of vacationers who, untethered from everyday responsibilities, become enmeshed in a mysterious and disturbing ritual.

With about a dozen critically acclaimed, full-length plays under her belt – in addition to a handful of prestigious fellowships and awards, including a 2007 Whiting Award – Sheila Callaghan is a “hot commodity” (The New York Times). Marie Claire recently profiled Callaghan as “the next Wendy Wasserstein.” And thanks in part to her successful turn as a writer for the Showtime series (The United States of Tara, Variety magazine named her to its list of “10 screenwriters to watch” in 2010.

Callaghan’s plays have been called “sophisticated” and “gutsy”, “raunchy” and “literate”, and her audiences have come to expect a mix of social commentary and comedy. P.O.S.H. , a script she developed for – and with – the folks at foolsFURY, an ensemble specializing in avant garde, physical theater, delivers on this count. The play weaves together dialogue and dance – the choreography is by Erika Chong Shuch – to explore the temporary space of a luxury cruise vacation which is, it turns out, an ideal setting for confronting our most primal fears and selves. P.O.S.H. offers a surreal view of a pampered society accustomed to purchasing piña coladas and spiritual bliss with the same swipe of the credit card.

Cast

Debórah Eliezer: Caroline
Brian Livingston: Johnny O
Josiah Polhemus: Blake
Amy Prosser: Maya
Angela Santillo: Gayle
Calder Shilling: Gary
Jessica Unker: Daria
Benj Stuber: Mack

* Member AEA

Design & Production 

Dan Stratton: Set Design
Patrick Kaliski: Sound Design
Lucas Krech: Lighting Design
Benj Stuber: Costume Design
Erika Chong Shuch: Choreography
Debórah Eliezer: Movement
Scott Horstein: Dramaturgy
Jonathan Spectre: Dramaturgy
Benj Stuber: Costumes

Wes Newfarmer: Stage Manager
Gregg Hood: Production Manager
Rob Oakley: Technical Director
Devin Kasper: Assistant Technical Director
Lila Mullins: Production Assistant

FoolsFURY Artistic Directors 

Debórah Eliezer
Ben Yalom

Development partners

Playwrights Foundation (San Francisco)
New Dramatists (New York)

Producing partners

Z Space (San Francisco)
La Mama etc. (New York)

P.O.S.H. is a co-commission of foolsFURY and the Playwrights Foundation and was developed in collaboration with Playwrights Foundation and New Dramatists (NYC).