The Agony and the Ecstasy began its return run Jan. 31 and was originally scheduled to play through March 4. The production will not extend beyond its March 18 closing, according to the Public.
Daisey's pointed monologue originally began previews Oct. 11, 2011, and played an extended run through Dec. 4. Jean-Michele Gregory directs. The Agony and the Ecstasy's timely fall engagement began less than a week after the Apple co-founder died at the age of 56 on Oct. 5, 2011.
Daisey will also make the script available for download on Feb. 21.
"The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs is coming back because it must," Public artistic director Oskar Eustis said in a previous statement. "There has been huge demand for Mike Daisey's wonderful show, a demand that is fueled both by the brilliance of his performance and the importance of his subject. This show speaks to the heart of America, who we are, the way we live and what we value. I am thrilled that Mike has struck such a nerve."
Here's how the Public describes the work: "Mike Daisey turns his razor-sharp wit to America’s most mysterious technology icon in this hilarious and harrowing tale of pride, beauty, lust, and industrial design. He illuminates how the CEO of Apple and his obsessions shape our lives, while sharing stories of his own travels to China to investigate the factories where millions toil to make iPhones and iPods. Daisey’s dangerous journey shines a light on our love affair with our devices and the human cost of creating them." "Many of us feel a deep intimacy with Steve’s passing, because Apple’s design language and Jobs’ obsessions blur the lines—in a real sense many people’s intimate history with Apple has been a decades-long conversation about industrial design with Steve Jobs himself,” Daisey said in a previous statement.
He continued, "This moment is an opportunity to peel back the surface and get at the secret heart of our relationship with Steve Jobs, his devices, our labor, and China itself. 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. Steve Jobs was famous for his unsentimental directness, his ability to ignore nostalgia and demand the unvarnished truth, however difficult. I admire that, and these performances at this precise moment are an opportunity for us to together rediscover out how alive theatre can be when we don’t know all the answers."
The piece has scenery and lighting design by Seth Reiser.
Mike Daisey's monologues include How Theater Failed America, The Last Cargo Cult, If You See Something, Say Something, Invincible Summer, Monopoly!, Great Men of Genius, The Ugly American, I Miss the Cold War, Wasting Your Breath and Stories From the Atlantic Night Cafe. His films include "Layover" and "If You See Something Say Something." Daisey recently presented his 24-hour monologue All the Hours in the Day at the TBA Festival in Portland, OR.
For tickets phone (212) 967-7555 or visit PublicTheater. The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.
