Equal parts sad clown, demented cabaret, and crisis of meaning, Sad Boys in Harpy Land confronts anguish through humor, artmaking, and despair.
In this unhinged solo performance, self-proclaimed “experimental clown artist” Alex Tatarsky ushers audiences through an absurdist hellscape of the mind. Sad Boys in Harpy Land confronts anguish through humor in a spiraling narrative of artmaking and despair.
Through a series of existential vignettes, Tatarsky fuses autobiographical bones of their own story onto those of equally tormented protagonists from sources including Goethe, Dante, Amiri Baraka, Helen Adams, and Seinfeld. A coming-apart coming-of-age story, Tatarsky presents a highly calibrated mess in a tour-de-farce performance that challenges the idea of individual malady, and instead embraces the turbulent maze of shared struggle.
Photo Credit: Maria Baranova
About the Artist
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Alex Tatarsky | Writer & Performer
Shane Riley | Live Music & Sound Design
Iris McCloughan | Director
Andreea Mincic | Costumes, Props, Scenic Design
Masha Tsimring | Lighting Design
Payton Smith | Stage Manager
Basie Allen, Lisa Fagan | Dramaturgy
Developed with Eva Steinmentz
Tommy Kriegsmann | Manager
Honorary producer for the On the Boards presentation: John C. Robinson and Maya Sonenberg.
Sad Boys in Harpy Land
November 12-14, 2026
Thursday, November 12 | 7:30pm
Friday, November 13 | 7:30pm¹
Saturday, November 14 | 7:30pm
Tickets for masked dress rehearsal will be available . Limit 100 people.
This is a limited capacity performance.
¹ Post-show Talkback