Rude Mechs award-winning playwright-in-residence Kirk Lynn rocks the house with his first new play since the groundbreaking FAMINLY TRILOGY. With Lynn’s relentless wit and piercing insight, WAR explores the battlefield of our lives as we fight for what we believe at home and in the office. The copier’s broken again, there’s a ghost in the fax machine, and the cups of coffee are getting smaller and smaller, but how will any of that help us win the Big Contest? This visceral multi-media fantasy – complete with slide projections, a live DJ and hip hop dancing – is a compelling meditation, a bold-faced call to action, and an explosive night of theatre.

In many ways WAR was Kirk’s most adventurous and most personal play to date.The extensive multi-media scenic and sound design of the production charted new territory for both Kirk and the Company. But most importantly, the subject matter grapples with both an individual and collective search for meaning and hope in a world where they are often elusive. Inspired in part by the Thomas Hobbes quote “the condition of mankind is the condition of war… everyone against everyone,” Kirk says he wanted to write a play about “the fight for our lives, the fight to make a world we want to live in and a world we want to leave behind.” While the plot centers on family’s attempt to aid their sister struggling with unspeakable demons (drug addiction? prostitution? gun running?), the world of the play expands far beyond its plotlines investigating with Kirk’s trademark wit and visual intrigue the ideals and dreams that we willingly give up our lives for every day. “Perhaps ultimately the play is about escape,” says Kirk, “How to escape the way things are. How to escape without isolation. How to escape into the way things should be.”

Creation Support:

This play received no private foundation or government support. Thank you, arts patrons!

Reviews:

Where might these be?

June 8 – July 1, 2000 at The Off Center

directed by Kirk Lynn

stage managed by Tammy Fotinos

asst. stage managed by Diane Johnson

set design by Morgan Knicely

costume design by Jennifer Kirkland

lighting design by Zach Murphy

livesound design by DJ Aleph

dance moves from Anderson Mills

opening credits by Shawn Sides

Featuring:

Robert Fisher, José Angel Hernandez, Lana Lesley, April Matthis, Michael T. Mergen, Anderson Mills, Derek Mudd, Gavin Mundy, Sarah Richardson, Meg Savilonis