FringeNYC Previews

Heaven Forbid (s)!

Produced by Martice Enterprises

Author: Marco Antonio Rodriguez

A multi-cultural comedy; a bunch of dead people convene in a little place called "Purgatory" to share their stories and try to convince the man upstairs to let them in. Heaven doesn't want them and hell is at capacity. God and the Universe appear respectively as a Cholo gang-banger and a 60’s bohemian love child. Audiences should expect lots of thought provoking comedy and audience participation.

Why should this show be the one to see? One word: GENTRIFICATION Remember the New York City of yesteryear? The prostitutes, pimps, crack addicts on the sidewalk, that woman on the #1 train that rubbed her bare breasts in my face while chanting a Hail Mary... Where did all the social outcasts go? Yonkers? What if the rejection these folks experienced in this life extends onto the "next"? Did anyone really take the time to get to know these folks and what misfortunes shaped their lives? Gentrification has taken over places like Harlem and Times Square. One’s first thought is: "Hell yeah! Why not get rid of the XXX movie houses. These individuals degrade the city!" But they are a part of our world and, like it or not, they deserve to have their say. With a series of comedic monologues and sketches we explore multiculturalism, identity, and the similarities between outcasts and those who try to ignore them. IT'S COMEDY FROM BEYOND!

Webster's New World Dictionary defines FRINGE as:  "... the unconventional, extreme, or marginal wing of a group or sphere of activity." Our show is a perfect match for FringeNYC. You can't get any more marginal, unconventional, or extreme than a show whose characters include a love stricken pimp, a transgender Dominican boy, and a credit card obsessed homeless man.

Marco Antonio Rodriguez, writer/director/producer