The Lily's Revenge

The Lily's Revenge by Taylor Mac, music by Rachelle Garniez

(3)
Productions (5)
Play with Music
|
150 - 300 minutes
4 W, 3 M, 25 Any (32-100 actors possible: 32-100 W, 32-100 M)
Content Notes: Adult language and content.
Set: A flexible theater space: each act requires a different audience/stage configuration.

An uprooted Lily falls in love with a blushing bride, much to the dismay of The Great Longing Deity, a malicious stage curtain hell-bent on spreading nostalgia and institutionalized narrative. Tasked with becoming a real man in order to wed its beloved, the Lily attempts to hijack the story and create its own kind of narrative. What follows is an epic dismantling of theatrical norms and an inspiring, raucous ode to storytelling in all its myriad forms. Part Noh play, part musical, part verse play, part dance-theater, part silent film, and part party, The Lily's Revenge is a one-of-a-kind extravaganza of theater, love, and community.

Pricing Information

Libretto $13.99
piano/vocal score $14.99
NOTE: This play is also part of a collection called The Downtown Anthology.

For additional production package information, please see the Overview below. For production package pricing and performance fees, please begin an order.


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Play Details

An uprooted Lily falls in love with a blushing bride, much to the dismay of The Great Longing Deity, a malicious stage curtain hell-bent on spreading nostalgia and institutionalized narrative. Tasked with becoming a real man in order to wed its beloved, the Lily attempts to hijack the story and create its own kind of narrative. What follows is an epic dismantling of theatrical norms and an inspiring, raucous ode to storytelling in all its myriad forms. Part Noh play, part musical, part verse play, part dance-theater, part silent film, and part party, The Lily's Revenge is a one-of-a-kind extravaganza of theater, love, and community.

  • Play with Music
  • |
  • 150 - 300 minutes
  • 4 W, 3 M, 25 Any (32-100 actors possible: 32-100 W, 32-100 M)
  • Content Notes: Adult language and content.
  • Set: A flexible theater space: each act requires a different audience/stage configuration.
  • Standard Edition ISBN: 978-1-62384-216-1

Package Details

Production Packages Include

  • 32 librettos (the book and lyrics)
  • 22 piano/vocal score

Pricing and other details are provided during the order process. Higher quantities of some items may be purchased.

Published Reviews

"In its bravery, scope, creativity, extremity and sheer generosity of spirit, The Lily's Revenge, to my mind, surpasses any American theater in New York this year. [Taylor Mac] is one of the most exciting theater artists of our time."

Adam Feldman, Time Out New York

"The Lily's Revenge offers so many incidental pleasures that theatrical time -- always a curiously malleable element -- seems to contract. To my happy surprise, I emerged from The Lily's Revenge more refreshed than exhausted."

Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

"...intelligent, endlessly surprising, and above all spectacularly entertaining. It inspires hyperbolic pronouncements like 'the most important event of the theater season' or 'the essential must-see event of the year'."

Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com

"This was the most challenging, exciting and wonderful theater event of the year."

Paper Magazine

"A visionary ode to creativity itself."

NY Metro Mix

"Despite initial dire warnings by a very philosophical and pedantic Time, who's trapped in a plastic hourglass ('Leave this place now!' she shrieks at the audience), time whizzes by. You're likely to laugh from beginning to end -- I did."

San Francisco Examiner

"The Lily's Revenge cannot be missed...the production of Taylor Mac's work may cause viewers to reevaluate the kind of stories you are told, whether in theatre or film or the narratives embedded in culture and traditions."

The NOLA Defender

"A provocative, culturally entertaining experience that pushes the boundaries of what is theatre. It should definitely be seen by everyone interested in what theatre can be."

The Berkshire Fine Arts

Production History

APR 20, 2018 - APR 29, 2018
University Of Massachusetts, Amherst
Amherst, MA United States
University Of Massachusetts, Amherst Amherst, MA United States
OCT 17, 2012 - OCT 21, 2012
Southern Repertory Theater
New Orleans, LA United States
Southern Repertory Theater New Orleans, LA United States
OCT 12, 2012 - OCT 28, 2012
The American Repertory Theater
Cambridge, MA United States
The American Repertory Theater Cambridge, MA United States
APR 21, 2011 - MAY 31, 2011
The Magic Theater
San Francisco, CA United States
The Magic Theater San Francisco, CA United States
OCT 29, 2009 - NOV 22, 2009
HERE Arts Center
New York, NY United States
HERE Arts Center New York, NY United States
No upcoming productions.
OCT 17, 2012 - OCT 21, 2012
Southern Repertory Theater
New Orleans, LA United States
Southern Repertory Theater New Orleans, LA United States
OCT 12, 2012 - OCT 28, 2012
The American Repertory Theater
Cambridge, MA United States
The American Repertory Theater Cambridge, MA United States
APR 21, 2011 - MAY 31, 2011
The Magic Theater
San Francisco, CA United States
The Magic Theater San Francisco, CA United States
OCT 29, 2009 - NOV 22, 2009
HERE Arts Center
New York, NY United States
HERE Arts Center New York, NY United States

Awards (3)

Obie Award, Writer/Director Taylor Mac (2009)

Named Best Play of 2010 by Time Out New York and Paper Magazine

Named one of the best plays of 2010 by The New Yorker, The New York Post, Theatremania.com, NYMetromix.com, NYtheatre.com, and OnoffBroadway.com