Stage Left Studio and Cheryl King Productions have added performance dates for their new edgy comedy FEARLESS MORAL INVENTORY: 12-step Walk Up, starring Drama Desk Award-nominee and celebrated monologist Frank Blocker. With sixteen (16) preview performances already done, the producers decided to extend the Sunday evening weekly performances into December, despite the fact the play has yet to open. The show opens this Sunday, November 20, at 5:00pm. The daring decision to extend a solo show wasn't taken lightly in this economy, but given the subject matter of the play dealing with change in our turbulent times-as well as the plotline of tenants versus the evil landlord-producer Cheryl King felt the show prescient.
Says Ms. King: "I am proud of the fact this theatre is getting noticed for a stream of strong work. When one of the best monologists I've ever seen wants to perform something this funny and poignant, I want to be the one that says ‘I helped him when....' The physical, vocal, and literary work he achieves with this play, the word of mouth will spread. And it's resonating with audiences on many levels, so the idea of a limited run had to change. Plus, he brought the first of two Drama Desk Award nominations to my theatre. He's an artist dedicated to growing, and he always surprises."
Taken from conversations and situations witnessed while living and working in New York, Blocker has compiled twenty characters that audiences will recognize, regardless of residence. "I know the evil landlord is pretty standard, and who couldn't love an 80 year old sex addict? What I really enjoyed from the critical response to workshop productions was twice being accused of telling so much about myself. Really? I thought I'd written about twenty people who were not me-or anything like me. The last thing I want to put out there is another show about a writer or a playwright. NO offense!"
Here, Blocker makes light of one of the continuing mantras heard throughout the play. "'No offense' is always a prelude or postscript to something offensive. ‘Here we go' is used selectively, but is a phrase from almost every ethnic background-usually meaning the same thing: life just started sucking on a whole new level. And ‘Who knew?' begs that very question...or it's a drinking game, you decide. But Stage Left only serves sodas and water, so keep those flasks in your purses, please. The title is based on the fourth step of Anonymous programs, after all."
The play features 20 characters centering on a 5-floor walk-up apartment building in New York City, ruled by a vindictive landlord. Next door to a church ("for Christ's sake") where 12-step programs are a regular occurrence, each character must face change in a changing world.
Blocker says the intention of his play is to introduce the likeable along with the most irritating of City characters so that audiences might return home from the theatre with more empathy for their fellow man, having walked in their shoes and listened to their agendas.
"I used characters I knew and met to create the cast, but the plotline is based on my own nightmare with a typical City landlord. When I found out just how un-unique this is in the Big Apple, I realized, ‘I have something universal!'" And in this economy, the number of troubled landlords is sure to rise. Yet, the economical styling of this production allows theatre-on-a-budget at only $20.00.
Director Kathy Kelly Christos has been working with Blocker for the past year on the continued development of the show. "What I saw early on was something akin to an artists' character study or sketchbook, but I've known Frank's work for a while. He loves to pull you in with stereotype and sucker punch you with fascinating twists. We worked on physical characterization and found him a great vocal coach (Amy Jones) to alleviate the stress. And we owe the ghost of William S. Burroughs an incredible debt for his suggestions on story arrangement. Burroughs was the king of cut and paste long before computers hit desktops."
Christos is pulling double-duty, not only helping with finalizing sound on this production, but she is busy volunteering with The Not-Ready-For-Downtown Players (NRFDP), a new community theatre group in Inwood. "It's been great going back and forth, from working with a trained pro on great material, then going uptown and working with a community of passionate people creating a new group of neighborhood artists. Both seem to be doing it for the shear love of it."
FEARLESS MORAL INVENTORY plays every Sunday at 5:00 pm at Stage Left Studio.
