"#BlackLivesMatter at OSF and we will not remain silent in the aftermath and ongoing trauma experienced across the country due to the unconscionable murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sean Reed and countless others in our nation’s history of state-sanctioned violence against black bodies.
We acknowledge that Black people have suffered too long under the racism in America and stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues—artists, staff, volunteers, patrons, supporters—and all Black communities across the country. OSF urges anyone not aligned with the movement, especially if you are white, to educate yourself and your communities to become better, make a positive difference, and be accomplices in the fight against systemic racism through direct action and empowering change. We must all work to end white supremacy and police brutality."
WE WILL NOT REMAIN SILENT!
We will be producing this staged reading when it is safe to,
once again, attend a theatrical performance...
FINKS by Joe Gilford
On the verge of TV stardom, comic Mickey Dobbs meets actress and activist Natalie Meltzer, and their romance blossoms—as does the risk that they'll be blacklisted for their political activities. In the face of the House Un-American Activities Committee, tasked with exposing communist subversion in New York's entertainment world, Mickey and Natalie endure the absurd and tragic process that victimized entertainers and turned friends and colleagues against each other. For some, the blacklist will mean a decade without work. For others, it will spell the end of their careers. And those who willingly testify—naming others to the committee—will be branded as "finks". In Finks, Joe Gilford documents the struggle his parents, entertainers Jack Gilford and Madeline Lee Gilford, endured when they were called to testify.
"Joe Gilford's impassioned, autobiographical FINKS…is a testament to the parents who managed to maintain their indomitable spirit throughout the ordeal." —Huffington Post. "…a bracing play about McCarthyism." —NY Times. "Forget blue jokes; the humor in Finks, Joe Gilford's farsighted yet tender tribute to his blacklisted parents, is distinctly red. But it's part of what makes this play…as Gilford tries to understand why some of the accused betrayed friends to keep their livelihoods, he demonstrates a pluck similar to that of his parents." —Time Out NY.

FINKS by Joe Gifford
On the verge of TV stardom, comic Mickey Dobbs meets actress and activist Natalie Meltzer, and their romance blossoms—as does the risk that they'll be blacklisted for their political activities. In the face of the House Un-American Activities Committee, tasked with exposing communist subversion in New York's entertainment world, Mickey and Natalie endure the absurd and tragic process that victimized entertainers and turned friends and colleagues against each other. For some, the blacklist will mean a decade without work. For others, it will spell the end of their careers. And those who willingly testify—naming others to the committee—will be branded as "finks". In Finks, Joe Gilford documents the struggle his parents, entertainers Jack Gilford and Madeline Lee Gilford, endured when they were called to testify.