THIS IS REAL
directed by David Herskovits
March 1 – April 4, 2026 @ Target Margin Theater
Special Benefit Performance on March 24 @ 7:30 pm
Featuring Queerly Femmetastic, James Tigger! Ferguson, Daddy Ho, Susannah MacLeod
J Moliere, Timiki Salinas, TANSY, Mari Vial-Golden, & Merlin Whitehawk
David Herskovits, Director & Sound Design
Karen Boyer, Costume Design
Jesse Freedman, Sound Demon
Marika Kent, Lighting Design
Normandy Sherwood, Scenic Design
Emily Duncan, Production Manager
Sarah Orttung, Stage Manager
Michelle L’amour, Intimacy Director
Orla Patterson, Assistant Director
Ari Richardson, Assistant Stage Manager
Daniel Wilde, Production Assistant
Our anchor production is inspired by the work of Jean Genet. Created by Founding Artistic Director David Herskovits and a cohort of artists, THIS IS REAL brings the transgressive spirit of Genet to life for America in 2026. This new work features Genet’s obsessions: power, sex, and revolution.
A theater. A brothel. A business. In Target Margin’s new work THIS IS REAL, performers enact fantasies of American power while an insurrection rages just outside. As the dust settles, who among us will be left wearing the crown? And what sacrifices must be made?
Genet was a thief, drifter, prostitute, who wrote from prison; his work affronted convention and challenged audiences to question their own lives. We admire Genet’s unflinching honesty in confronting power. He does not judge. He is never prim or pious.
Above all, Genet is committed to representing the outsiders of our world, the COUNTERCULTURE, MISFITS, LOSERS, and CRIMINALS. These are Genet’s heroes.
THIS IS REAL asks audiences to consider what is the beauty and wisdom of the outsider. Aren’t we, all of us, outsiders in our own ways?
Nudity. Flag Burning. Drones. This is a patriotic play.
This is Real runs 75 minutes without intermission
Photos by Whitney Browne