Friday, November 14, 2025 | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 15, 2025 | 7:30 p.m.
Cousins Studio Theatre
Modlin Center for the Arts

Tonight's performance will last approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, without intermission.

There will be a post-show Q&A with the artists immediately following the performance.

Created in collaboration with Lois Weaver, Peggy Shaw, Nao Nagai, Vivian Stoll, and Morgan Thorson 

Lois Weaver and Peggy Shaw Writers and Performers 

Lois Weaver Director
Nao Nagai Visual/Lighting Design
Vivian Stoll Sound/Music Design
Morgan Thorson Choreography

Susan Young Costumes
Matt Delbridge Design Consultation

‘Not just one of the 40-year-old company’s best pieces,
 but among the most evocative art to emerge from the Covid era.’ – The New York Times

Equipped with a virtual bulletproof vest, some know-how and a touch of irony, two icons of lesbian-feminist theatre use spoken word, movement and humor as a call and response to urgent global predicaments.

Acknowledging her own narcissistic tendencies, fragile identities and privilege, Peggy Shaw’s poetic musings are interspersed with Lois Weaver’s micro dance essays in which she wryly upends ‘how to’ mania. Solo yet somehow interdependent, more than a hint of Narcissus and Echo emerges onstage. Last Gasp brings prickly conversations literally to the table in episodes entitled ‘The Trump in Me,’   ‘How to Dance with a Narcissist’,  How to Have More Charisma’ and offers some survival strategies for a world collapsing around them.

Last Gasp started as a live performance but became the digital Last Gasp WFH film during the height of pandemic lockdowns.  It now lives on as the hybrid live and digital performance, Last Gasp, A Recalibration. This live performance sets out to question demise: the demise of ageing bodies, civil conversation, and a sustainable planet. The pandemic arrived and knocked the breath out of all of us, as did a period of civil unrest that marched under the banner of ‘I can’t breathe.’ The ironies were not lost as we locked down, stayed in and continued our investigations resulting in a digital performance, Last Gasp WFH. Now, Last Gasp: A Recalibration is our way of facing head on the new question of what it means to be together in a theatre and what it means to perform in the aftermath of a foundation shattering crisis - to not only face demise but also consider strategies for moving on.

The film Last Gasp WFH will be available to ticket holders of Last Gasp: A Recalibration until December 15, 2025 at this link: https://bit.ly/ModlinLastGasp

Last Gasp: A Recalibration was developed by the collaborative team, adapting Last Gasp WFH to the stage and for the current moment with the addition of costumes by Susan Young and design consultation with Matt Delbridge.

Thanks to our friends, Joy Tomchin, Susan Thames, Eric Hammerstrom, Mermer Blakeslee, Arwen Wilder, Eleanor Savage, the Department of Drama at Queen Mary University of London, the Theatre and Performance Department at Goldsmiths, University of London and to our family at La MaMa ETC (NYC) and the Barbican Centre (London) for their ongoing support.

Last Gasp: A Recalibration is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, in addition to the Wellcome Trust, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with the New York Foundation for the Arts. Research residencies for the development of Last Gasp were completed with the Guthrie Theatre; Metal Culture, Peterborough; Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and the Barbican.

Electronic Devices

Thank you for helping us create a distraction-free experience. Please silence all electronic devices. We also ask that you refrain from taking any photos or videos. 

Hearing Assistance Available

Modlin offers complimentary Assistive Listening Devices for use by patrons at any seat. Receivers may be obtained from any house management staff.

H. G. Quigg Fund

University of Richmond Cultural Affairs Committee

This week's performances and residency are presented in partnership with the University of Richmond Department of Theatre & Dance.

Support the Modlin Center for the Arts at University of Richmond as we continue setting the stage for creative experiences that deepen our understanding and bring us together. Donations help bring renowned artists to our stages, support the creation of new works, and expand engagement opportunities. 

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Paul Brohan
Executive Director

Shannon Hooker
Director

Jo Bachman
Artist Services Manager

Ray Breakall
Piano Technician

bri conley
Assistant Production Manager

Sean Farrell
Production Manager

Shawanna Hall 
Front of House Coordinator

Annaka Meadows
Marketing Manager

Cal Meadows
Patron Services Manager 

Chris O'Neil
Business & Operations Manager

Kevin Willoughby
Assistant Production Manager

House Managers
Agyeiwaa Asante
Kim Chiarchiaro
Sharon Chandler
Madelaine Dye