What makes men do the things they do? Why do women so often end up as collateral damage in their struggle to prove their manhood? The Wreckless Stage Company presents the world premiere of Viewer Discretion Advised, a contemporary psychological thriller which tackles these questions.
Written by Kennedy Center award-winning playwright Ed Stevens, this Actors' Equity Showcase production is directed by Cynthia Dillon. Performances will be held at The Kraine Theater, 85 East 4th Street in New York City from September 9 to October 2, 2010.
In this startling contemporary drama, a seemingly casual encounter between strangers Norm and Bud slowly reveals a menacingly dangerous play for power and ruthless competition for Norm's girlfriend Anne. Playwright Ed Stevens explores what happens when "men behaving badly" spirals out of control, forcing the characters to confront how far they will go to prove themselves to one another.
Director Cynthia Dillon states, "Viewer Discretion Advised is in the tradition of plays that have explored male aggressiveness coupled with sexual insecurity and the lengths to which men can be driven by these forces. For instance, we can see this in some of the plays of Shepard, Mamet or LaBute. In the play, humor often masks an underlying menace, lies and evasions are revealed and a Pinteresque use of language as a weapon builds. Viewer Discretion Advised's power lies not only in its ability to shock, but also in the disturbingly familiar nature of the characters, which in spite of their extreme behavior, are not unlike ourselves. Its content is both raw and complex, and will linger in the minds and hearts of the audience long after they leave the theatre."
Cynthia Dillon directs a cast of three, Carson Alexander, Bob D'Haene*, and Katelin Wilcox*. (More about the cast can be found at www.ViewerDiscretionAdvisedThePlay.com).
Director Cynthia Dillon was resident director and artistic director for the American Southwest Theatre Company, founded by Tony Award-winning playwright Mark Medoff, where she directed contemporary drama by Shepard, Vogel, Pinter and Guare, as well as Mr. Medoff's musical, A Christmas Carousel. She also spent 6 seasons assisting productions at The Colorado Shakespeare Festival. More recently, Cynthia's directing in New York City has included the American premiere of Push-Up, by German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig and The First Quarto of Hamlet for New World Theatre at the Stella Adler Studios, remounted as Q1: The Bad Hamlet as part of the Brick Theater's Pretentious Festival.
Playwright Ed Stevens: His play After, a post-9/11 drama, received the Kennedy Center's 2005 David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award. Ed's work has been produced in New York City, Provincetown, St. Petersburg and San Diego and has received honors at the George R. Kernodle Playwriting Contest, Attic Theatre's One Act Marathon, Kennedy Center Ten-Minute Play Competition, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, Actors Theatre New Works Festival, American Theatre Co-op, Valencia Character Company, Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, Hidden River Arts Playwriting Award, Ashland New Plays Festival and Bay Area Playwrights Festival.
Viewer Discretion Advised opens Thursday, September 9 and runs through Saturday, October 2. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and on Monday, September 13 at 8pm. The play is performed in 90 minutes without an intermission and contains adult language, violence and sexual situations. More information is available at www.ViewerDiscretionAdvisedThePlay.com.
Tickets are $18.00 and can be purchased online at www.smarttix.com, or by visiting www.ViewerDiscretionAdvisedThePlay.com. Tickets are also available in person at the box office one half hour before show time.
The Wreckless Stage Company is the producer of Viewer Discretion Advised. Director: Cynthia Dillon; Technical and Stage Manager: Sean McCain; Publicist: Paul Siebold.
* Member, Actors' Equity Association
