Are We Freaks?

Produced by Comedy Period

Author: Bricken Sparacino

Are We Freaks is a science fiction comedy about what makes people normal. It will be funny and strange and even a little creepy.  The audience will meet four groups of women who all have something in common, at least one of them is "abnormal": a lobster girl, strangely connected twins, psychic co-ed, and a man who used to be a woman. All these people search for the same thing, companionship. But it's funny too, I don't want to get carried away with the deep inner meaning of the piece. I hope you will laugh, have a good scare, and go home talking about the ending.

I think we are bombarded with images of what we should be, how we should act, what we should look like by  commercials, film, and television. Images that no one can live up to. Even the celebrities themselves have face lifts and weird diets to look the way they do.   This play shows that the abnormal is normal, we are all ok just the way we are. The price is high to make your self "Normal". But there is happiness in accepting the strangeness that is you.

Why are we freaks? Good question! I wrote three short plays last year for Groove MaMa Ink's plays in a day festivals. I loved each of  these stories but they were only about 10 minutes each.  I thought long and hard about what I could do with them, could they be combined? They definitely all had a science fiction feel. But I just couldn't think of anything. Then one night I dreamed about these twins who run a side show, woke myself up from the dream and jotted it down. These characters were the missing pieces. I am thrilled they have come together and in the way they did. Also, I have a personal mission to work with women artists and bring them to the forefront. This play has  seven terrific actresses in it, a female lighting designer, stage manager and co-directors. I am so excited to present this play and all these talented ladies at this year's Frigid Festival.

Bricken Sparacino, writer/co-director/actress

Jihad for Vent and Dummy

Produced by Coulter and Star Ventriloquists

Author: Ronald Coulter and Sid Star

Jihad for Vent and Dummy is about you, the audience.  The fun and secrets of ventriloquism invite you to frolic with belief.  Expect a shocking play within a comic show.  You will experience provocative content before it is verbalized.  Is this a solo show?  Yes, but never tell my puppet partner, Sid Star, or our stagehand.

Jihad means holy war.  Jihad is always one collection of beliefs at war with a different collection of beliefs.  Apparently we're going to kill each other over these conflicting beliefs.  Jihad...  explores the process rather than the content of belief.  Here is an opportunity for personal and political discovery embracing hope.  Laughter can so do this.

Actors, ventriloquists and clergy are athletes of belief.  We have robust ability and elaborate techniques to inspire and manipulate belief.  Often this manipulation is in your best interest.  Usually it's harmless; sometimes it's not.  Jihad for Vent and Dummy suggests an alternative human dynamic that is superior to belief's dangerous conceit.  COME PLAY WITH US.

Ronald Coulter, writer/performer

Live!...at the Cockpit

Produced by Loose Moon Productions

Author: Kobun Kaluza and T. D. White

Live! … at the Cockpit … is a look at what back stage, the “tiring house,” might have been like one day in 1599 at the newly built Globe Theatre when Shakespeare was working with his actors, then The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, on new plays such as Henry V and Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and rehearsing certain scenes for upcoming performances such as Henry IV, Part One, a particular favorite of the Queen’s. It’s Shakespeare alright, but this time from behind. Our new, original work for theatre opens back stage in what we now would call a dressing room as we hear a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream ending with the “…lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby” (Act V). Shakespeare plays The Lion but is often seen scribbling feverishly between entrances and exits and “directing” those remaining back stage in a physical imitation of what’s being said on stage — after all, he understands what his words really meant better than anybody! Will will then introduce his actors to new scenes from his new play, Henry V, one of which he will compose right before our audience’s eyes. Then it’s some after show entertainment and a trip to The Mermaid Tavern where Shakespeare will seek out the former boy actor “Joseph” and direct a scene from Hamlet about “… country matters.” For an uproarious conclusion, it’s all about sack and saloon as Shakespeare puts the actors playing Prince Hal and Falstaff through their paces. Where there’s a Will, there’s a way!

Today, curiosity about actors and their processes approaches adoration. We feel that people are fascinated by the craft and art of acting and would appreciate a journey into a most iconic past for acting, the Elizabethan Era, to see how Shakespeare and his ensemble might have worked together, what Shakespeare’s particular role might have been “back stage;” what his relationships with his fellows might have been like; what the acting “styles” or methods might have been like. Modern people seem more fascinated in what goes on “back stage” than in the production being presented! People can come to this show and really enjoy watching actors work with new material, somewhat familiar to them perhaps, but not to the actors. Are actors any different today than they were 350 years ago? We explore that question!

The primary reason for presenting this show at this time is that it’s fun and funny. And people need to laugh. It’s healthy. People respect Shakespeare and his work, of course, but we feel much of the richness is lost on contemporary audiences — quite naturally — because of archaic language and constructions, and lack of knowledge of customs and history easily familiar to Elizabethans. Today’s audience for Shakespeare loses a lot due to some natural self-consciousness when sitting through a two or three hour even well-made production. Our production is meant to reduce this strain and give a contemporary audience the full delightful flavor of Shakespearean theatre in just short of an hour in a modern, most digestible way.

Thomas D. White, co-director/co-playwright

The Black Jew Dialogues

Author: Ron Jones and Larry Jay Tish

Our show is a fast-paced comedy and was written by my dear friend, veteran performer, Ron Jones and me, Larry Jay Tish. The Black Jew Dialogues combines sketch comedy, improv, interactive video, and audience participation. We play a myriad of characters that take the audience on a hysterical and poignant journey through many of our closest held beliefs (and misbeliefs).  The Black Jew Dialogues was born from the dialogue that a black man (Ron) and a Jew (Larry) had when they locked themselves in a cheap hotel room for a couple of weekends to try to sort out why American blacks and Jews don't get along like they used to.  The show reveals the absurdity of hate, racism, prejudice, bias and why chicken livers are adored by both groups. The show is a rollicking ride through the history of blacks and Jews, from the time of the Pharaohs to Barack Obama.

When times are tough it is especially pertinent to laugh and reveal the humor in being human. Plus, the show not only sheds light on complicated issues in a way that resonates with audiences, but also gives them the opportunity to engage in an open and mature exchange of ideas. A great part of the show's success has been that it deals with sensitive and complicated issues in a unique and engaging way. We use humor to knock down barriers and open the path to an honest and real discussion on race, multiculturalism, and prejudice. Is it political theatre? Maybe somewhat. It does come with a message, which I won't give away, you'll have to come see it. One of my favorite emails we received was from a father who took his 17-year-old son to see the show. He said that he went to grab a bite with his son after the show and they talked for three hours! He said that was more than he had spoken to his son in years. He was very appreciative of our work.

We have just finished performing our 110th show... from Edinburgh, Scotland to New Orleans to Chicago! But never New York City? We have always wanted to present The Black Jew Dialogues in New York City (I was raised in Brooklyn and Queens) and the Frigid Festival has been the best opportunity to do so. (read: it makes the most financial sense so far.) But most importantly we continue to tour the show because we are committed to "changing the world one show at a time." We hope you can make it down to the Kraine Theater to participate in the laughter, ideas, and ongoing dialogue. (Plus, we really can use the money.)

Larry Jay Tish, co-creator/performer

The Question House

Produced by Breadbasket Productions

The Question House is the story of a little consulting firm with a big secret: the people who work there must speak only in questions or risk being struck dead by the hand of God. Or, at least, that's what owner and operator Harvey Krytz and his loyal secretary Margaret want everyone to think. Is Krytz crazy? What will happen if someone ends a sentence with a period? Audiences should prepare to laugh and squirm as they're sucked into a world in which the stakes are alarmingly high every time any character opens his mouth.

The Question House is the perfect farce for today's economic climate. It's about a boss who can't quite reconcile some unorthodox business practices with Jewish law (à la Bernie Madoff?), a secretary trying desperately to limit the damage, an agent of the law who doesn't know which end is up, and underlings who will do just about anything to hang onto a job. With the recession in full swing out there, getting to know the employees of The Question House may just make you feel a little better about your own job…or see the upside of unemployment.

I wrote The Question House when I was a college student, apparently filled with anxiety about what the corporate world might hold in store for me after graduation. Now, almost 10 years later, with corporate budgets being slashed right and left, anxiety about employment is a lot more commonplace. It may be a bad time to be a consultant, but it's a great time to revive this play. I am very glad that Catherine Siracusa and the members of the HB ensemble — especially Cam Kornman, who hung onto this script for eight years, waiting for a full production — were up for doing exactly that.

Tara Dairman, playwright

The Surprise

Author: Martin Dockery

The Surprise is a comic, true monologue about a man exploring the expansive ruins of an ancient, powerful world as his own small world — his family, his girlfriend — is busy collapsing into a set of equally spectacular ruins.  

What exactly can we rely on in today's world with its rapidly dissolving foundations? As our nation threatens to crumble into ruin, and our sense of national identity begins to fray, we are faced with either radically accepting and reorienting, or giving ourselves over to history.

These days, particularly, we like to think we at least have our family to rely on. But whose family is truly reliable? The Surprise is the funny story of trying to keep it all together as everything falls apart.

Martin Dockery, creator/performer

End of the Trail

Produced by EXIT Theatre

Author: Sean Owens and Kenny Shults

The show is about best friends, more than anything else, and how important such a relationship can be. It's also about how hard life can be, how ludicrous each of us can be as we struggle through it, and how our warped perceptions of life, and everything in it, often contribute to, or perhaps are responsible for, our collective and respective madness.

Many of us wonder what's next. These times feel so new and uncharted. We are all on the brink of an exciting and perhaps daunting new era. Our desire to know what's on the other side, often paired with our penchant for fear of the unknown, can generate a lot of big questions with no answers. It's how we embrace the questions and the unfamiliar that make us human, frail and small. But it's this understanding that makes us powerful and big — this remembering that we are all a little bit crazy that makes seeing our show worth while.

We chose to present this show to remind ourselves and everyone else that life is a mystery and that the very best we can hope to do is make some meaningful connections and try our very best to enjoy moments of this life.

Kenny Neal Shults, co-author/actor

How Does a Drug Deal Become a Decent 3rd Date?

Produced by Green with Envy Productions

It's a thoughtful, mature and humourous look at the the thoughtless, immature and deadly serious world of dating. One girl and the three funny fellas who fail her. Hey, going out on a limb here, are you free Friday? You are very cute.

There are very few themes that apply to any time in all of mankind's history. War and love come to mind and as we all know, war + love = dating. It's the things on earth everyone has in common — poor romantic choices and math. So about Friday...dinner and a movie? Those jeans are very, very attractive.

There are premises writers return to again and again because they are universal, they are recognizable and above all they are human.  And misery loves company. And company loves hilarious misery. Am I right? Really, the two of them should date. Wow, you have a great smile, you know that?

Carmine Lucarelli, director

On Second Thought

Produced by Wog Productions

Author: Paul Hutcheson

On Second Thought is an autobiographical piece of physical hilarity!  Humorous stories woven under the theme of those "How did I get here??" moments in life that everyone can relate to. 

Often, in this technology driven society we forget to look back on our lives and relive the moments in life that helped shape us.  Whether it be a school yard incident, familial relationship or a near death experience, we all have stories.  On Second Thought reminds audiences to take stock of their lives and to remember that we are all extraordinary.

On Second Thought has toured to a few festivals garnering fantastic reviews and even some awards.  It has always been a dream of this small town Canadian boy to perform in New York City.  I am bringing a show I am confident audiences in the "theatre mecca" will enjoy and relate to.

Paul Hutcheson, performer/writer

The Dysfunctional Guide to Home, Perfection, Marital Bliss

Produced by Dysfunctional Theatre Company

Author: Jennifer Gill, Rachel Grundy, Amy Overman, Amy Beth Sherman, Theresa Unfried

The Dysfunctional Guide to Home Perfection, Marital Bliss & Passionate Hot Romance is the single greatest book on marriage ever written.  It covers over 500 years of recorded history (and some unrecorded history, too).   Our show is about this book.  You can expect to see five women drinking a lot of wine and playing a lot of different, random characters through time.  We wear little black dresses, drink heavily, talk about men and ponder why the hell we're married and why the hell we bother.  It's a bit like Sex & the City, but with one more woman and a much smaller wardrobe budget.

Since 50% of marriages end in divorce, I think trying to figure out why the other half don't is pretty topical.  Plus we're really, really funny.  And smart.  This is a crazy, funny, romantic comedy.  Women will relate to it; men will gain valuable insight into the female psyche.  Plus, what other show features a 15th century English prophet/crazy woman?  No other show I'd bet you.

We love FRIGID and we're proud to have been a part of every FRIGID festival.  We've wanted to do this piece for a long time and FRIGID's open, experimental atmosphere is the perfect place to premier a new work, especially one as surreal as this show.

Amy Overman, writer/actor

The Hefner Monologues

Author: John Hefner

My show's about making a name for yourself when someone else already has. In my case, that name happens to be Hefner. And yes, I do mean THAT Hefner! I''m the black sheep of the white bunny family: the estranged Anti-Hefner, a manic, awkward geek with a tendency to flail his arms and put on impromptu stripteases set to "You Put The Lime In The Coconut!" This is not your typical "identity monologue" show. And it's all true. Even the really crazy parts.

People should see my show because it's funny, honest, and 100% wank-free. Also, because I am poor and would like to eat. Man cannot live on Hot Pockets alone!

I chose to present this show, first and foremost, to entertain people. I''ve always admired performers like Richard Pryor, John Leguizamo, and Christopher Titus: people who can make comic gold out of even the most painful and embarrassing parts of life. I wanted to tell my own story from the sorely-underrepresented awkward arms-flailing geek-boy perspective.

John Hefner, writer/performer

95/Turnpike/95: Chickens in Jersey

Produced by International BTC

95/turnpike/95: Chickens in Jersey is the story of Milo and Jane, two toll booth workers on the Jersey Turnpike experiencing a freakishly slow work day.  As Milo waits for his dream woman and Jane waits for her steam whistle, they're faced with the impending doom of the Rooster of the Turnpike — the horrid Chicken Truck — and the difficult choice of: do I stay or do I go?  Audiences can expect language with no restraints, eccentric characters — both odd and endearing — chicken clucks a-plenty and a whole lotta feathers.

Known as the butt of many a culture joke, this show contains two perspectives of the great Garden State — New Jersey, love it or hate it.  At the heart is a question that everyone faces at some point in life, but on the surface is an absurd funny picture of these two eccentric characters that don't take life too seriously, and neither does this play.  Overall, we feel audiences will want to see this show because it's thoughtful, but mostly, just plain entertaining.

We mainly chose this play because it's a fun piece to experience and in this festival especially, we're granted the chance to experiment and indulge our stranger side… and the show's pretty strange.  When it comes down to it, we figure with seasonal depression and an economic recession (rhyme!) — why not make 'em laugh?

Amanda Sage Comerford, co-playwright

BAGS: Obsessions of a Hoardaholic

Author: Lee Michael Buckman

In BAGS: Obsessions of a Hoardaholic, I explore our obsessive nature by exampling my own bouts with OCD through my life. It's funny, reflective, extremely honest  and a little sad. It's an intimate piece about how you can be taken over by thoughts that attempt to run your life and my attempts to seek the roots of it to further understand myself. I also play and sing a few introspective songs on guitar.

As we  all  look deeper into ourselves to further understand who we are and the things/events that shaped us into who we've become through our triumphs and our flaws, it's important to honestly look at them without censoring or feeling that we are    wrong in anyway. In this piece I unabashedly look at them all.

At first I wrote this show to out myself as a hoarder and an obsessive because I thought it would be entertaining, but as I started to perform it, I started to get responses from people that had either been touched by this same trait, either directly or indirectly or those that had witnessed the passing of a parent. I was trying to alienate myself from people by saying  how different I am but through putting it out there honestly, I'm seeing how alike we all really are.

Lee Michael Buckman, author/performer

Freedom 85!

Produced by Hi-D Theatre

Author: Debra Hale

Freedom 85 was inspired by the late Sybil Collins, a very funny and spirited woman who served in World War II in Britain.  She moved to a retirement home and told me "I didn’t expect it to end like this."  In our play, this poignant situation becomes humorous too as she "breaks out" with the help of an alcoholic waitress. Another actress and I create a community of small town characters in Sybil's life both now and during wartime.  Expect to laugh and be moved as the two central characters find out how much they need each other.  Audiences have told us that our show has a big heart.

Seniors are moving into retirement homes in huge numbers.  How are they coping?  Do we still value their input and seek their connection to our communities and families?  Do we still need them? Judging from the response to the premiere of Freedom 85, we do!

I wrote the show as an acting challenge and it became anchored in the story of this wonderful woman who I still miss everyday. What fun for two actresses to play old men, young British Gals, a Jamaican Cook and a menacing biker, just to mention a few.  To me this is an exciting form of storytelling and theatrical magic that keeps an audience engaged and entertained.

Debra Hale, writer/actress