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Upcoming
This ‘walkabout’ production, based on Ronn Smith’s short story collection and Thom Fogarty’s reimagining for the stage, is a series of 10 overlapping scenes for 10 characters in the time of AIDS dealing with love, loss and life.
RONN SMITH is the author of Ten Tall Tales About the Men I Love: Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Three or Four Poems; Nothing But the Truth: A Play (based on the YA novel of the same title by Avi); Unquote Comma or REQ: A Play; American Set Design: Interviews with Twelve Contemporary Set Designers; and many articles about theatre, film, and television design. While living in New York, he performed in numerous theatre productions by Stuart Sherman, Cindy Lubar, and Mel Andringa (The Drawing Legion). Ronn now lives in Boston, where he is an independent fundraising/development consultant, working with cultural, humanitarian, and educational nonprofits that are committed to creating positive social change.
Director THOM FOGARTY brings his particular sensibility to this thought provoking piece. His work, based in movement and told in an inherently theatrical style, has always dealt with the vastness of human conditions as told through the observance of small everyday gestures and their meanings. This shorthand movement vocabulary (consisting of traditional miming and gestures that are easily identifiable) allows the actors to be both profane and profound at the same time, constantly creating a duality, that can allow one viewing to laugh while another is moved to tears.
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Recent
ACCIDENTALLY, LIKE A MARTYR
THE NEW YORK TIMES:
"Though these men are only sometimes good to one another, they are good company for 80 minutes in the theater, especially Mr. Blasius’s warm, wounded Edmund. You find yourself rooting for him, whether or not he’s rooting for himself."
"Bars can be comforting refuges. They can also be lonely as hell. Grant James Varjas gives us both in his effective new ensemble play about the denizens of an East Village gay bar. The cast is winning."
THE VILLAGE VOICE:
"It’s quite refreshing to see a gay-themed play that features not only a mostly middle-aged cast, but nary a flash of skin or a well-muscled backside to create a reason for existence."
"...a taut ensemble who create believable archetypes, especially McDermott’s weary, grasshopper-sippin’ elder and Brett Douglas’s warm, sassy, over-it bartender."
THEATERMANIA:
"Varjas mixes humor and melodrama, while also embedding some pointed commentary... Bittersweet but still affectionate portrait of aging gay men dealing with love and loss."
SHOW BUSINESS WEEKLY:
"An excellent job of recreating the feel of a Lower East Side dive. Clifton Chadick’s set design smartly positions the audience as the mirror running along the back of the bar. Succeeds in reproducing an intensely relatable environment for anyone who has spent any time in a gay bar..."
"Charles could easily have been a caricature, but as compassionately interpreted by Keith McDermott, he is a heartbreaking, recognizable figure often misunderstood or written off today."
DC THEATRE SCENE:
"The Boys in the Band created a stir forty years ago when it introduced us to a world about which most of us knew little. Now comes Accidentally, Like A Martyr to bring to vivid life the survivors of that band of boys, now worn and scarred..."
THEATER IS EASY:
"A sharp-witted dramedy that speaks of this discord between older and younger generations of gay men."
"Accidentally, Like a Martyr gives a fresh voice to the growing body of gay-themed plays, and brings a seldom discussed problem to the stage in a way that invites a conversation from all generations. Varjas's direction is thoughtful, and he writes with a finesse that juggles sarcastic humor and sincere concern. Accidentally Like a Martyr is just like the drinks being imbibed at the bar -- a strong mixture of sweetness and bite, that is never watered down."
GAY CITY NEWS:
"Delivers a number of affecting moments."
"Blasius and McDermott are superb."
"Special mention goes to Clifton Chadick for his evocative set design of the aging and ageless dive."
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