Ladies and Gentlemen: Four contestants have been transported to an actual U.S. battle zone in order to entertain the troops and take care of the Enemy. Every square inch of action and desire is surveiled in order that it might be edited later for maximum entertainment. Inspired by survival-style reality programming, the inimitable playwright Ruth Margraff pits a quartet of gifted patriots against each other to win the honor of wearing Evel Knievel’s magical outfit and take a shot at the world’s most destructive forces: Godzilla-like adversaries seeking to corrupt the supreme American global freedoms and industrial Democracies that we enjoy today. A paranoid frenzy of gory hallucinations, obstacle courses, and competitive consumption which turns into an intimate, simple and sincere attempt to address ourselves to “real” reality and sacrifice. Features an original orchestral score composed by Graham Reynolds inspired by Shostakovich, Blue Oyster Cult and Chinese percussion.

Reviews:

“…[the actors] unleash torrents of text, fevered arias fueled by Margraff’s astonishing sense of language, words spilling forth at mach speed, sentences in overdrive, their evocative images and provocative meanings barely glimpsed as they rocket toward the horizon… Sides’ canny direction, supplemented by Graham Reynolds’ thundering, adrenaline-rush score, keeps the work focused and compelling.”– Robert Faires, Austin Chronicle

April 22 – May 22, 2004 at The Off Center (Austin, TX)

written by Ruth Margraff

directed by Shawn Sides

original music by Graham Reynolds

ensemble: E. Jason Liebrecht, Lana Lesley, Robert S. Fisher, Joey Hood and Shawn Sides.

design: Brian Scott (Lighting), Leslie Bonnell (Costumes), Robert S. Fisher (Sound). Stephen Pruitt (Scenic).