Workshop Premiere of a New Play by Daniel Neer
Directed by Ted Gorodetzky
Produced by The LAB
It’s 1970, and runaway Jonah Goodson is confined at California’s notorious Atascadero Psychiatric Hospital. His “sickness?" Homosexuality. Navigating a psychotropic maze of barbaric treatments, he encounters the most unlikely guides – but are they real or imagined?
Gruesomely referred to as Dachau for Queers, the maximum-security forensic institution Atascadero Psychiatric Hospital was widely renowned for its experimental therapies of electrical and pharmacological shock treatments subjected upon inmates to "cure" them of their perceived sexual deviations. The fictional Jonah Goodson, estranged from his family and adrift in 1970’s San Francisco, gets caught in the belly of that beast and wrestles with his jumbled mind to carve a journey out. At times shockingly brutal and at others comically surreal, Daniel Neer’s provocative new play is an innovative odyssey punctuated by surprising characters, leaps of fantasy, and heartfelt truths.
Written by Daniel Neer
Directed by Ted Gorodetzky
Cast: Tristan Jenis, Lois Sach*, Neena Boyle, Ted Gorodetzky*, Avery Leach
(*appearing courtesy AEA)
Runtime: 80 minutes with no intermission.
Thursday, Sep 25, 2025 - 7:00pm
Friday, Sep 26, 2025 - 7:00pm
Saturday, Sep 27, 2025 - 7:00pm
Sunday, Sep 28, 2025 - 3:00pm
TICKET LINK: https://fringearts.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0SUO000004vOnk2AE
MORE INFO: https://phillyfringe.org/events/dachau-for-queers/