ACCIDENTALLY, LIKE A MARTYR

December 15, 2011 – January 7, 2012
Paradise Factory Theatre

CAST & CREW

Written and Directed by: Grant James Varjas

Cast: Chuck Blasius, Kevin Boseman, Brett Douglas, Ken Forman, Keith McDermott, Cameron Pow, and Grant James Varjas.

Stage Manager: Michael Friedlander

Assistant Director: Kate Hodge

Scenic Designer: Clifton Chadick

Lighting Designer: Brian Tovar

Sound Designer: Roger Anderson

Costume Designer: Melinda Basaca

Fight Coordinator: Ben Newman

Graphic Designer: Alex Munson

Press Representative: Sam Rudy Media Relations

REVIEWS

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.