Sunny Side Up!

Okay okay. I started this blog with the best of intentions. Unfortunately my "diner budget" is low, so I have not been able to regularly partake in my weekly meals, as I thought I would. In an effort to keep writing, regardless of eating out, I will blog about other things.

When I wrote "things," just now, right there, I lied. Should have written the singular. Thing. I will blog about other "thing."

The thing in question is Percival's Big Night! It is an original play written by my friend and colleague, Jarret Kerr, and it has been the solitary focus of my life for a while now. The script is incredible. Unlike anything I would expect to see on stage, but not out of the realm of Mr. Kerr's abilities, clearly.

The story surrounds four twenty-somethings on a hot summer night. Percival, an actor only in the sense that he has a B.F.A. in Drama, returns home from work to find his pot-dealing roommate Sal lying in his trash heap of a room watching Jim Henson's Labyrinth. A typical night, except that Percival isn't so typical anymore. After the day he's had, Percy is ready to forgo logic, jump in the face of Sal's unending criticisms, and get something he truly wants- a girl. Chloe is the gir...woman he wants, and he's unwavering in his belief that she's the right one for him. She is beautiful and cool and everything Percival sees as perfect. Too bad he's only had one conversation with her. Ever. Chloe's hard-edged friend, Riku- a half-Japanese NYC party girl- unexpectedly arrives with Chloe to pick up an eighth, and Percy's plan is foiled, as the situation gets ever more complicated, until Sal and Percy are again left in their apartment smoking weed, playing video games, and discussing... THE FUTURE.

It is rare that I read a script I can really relate to, but Mr. Kerr's text jumps of the page easily, and translates into a tale that resonates with people of all generations, while adeptly handling the issues of our own. In the fucked up world we've been handed, today's twenty-somethings continually plod through an unending adolescence, never knowing which is the right way to turn and, often, without the wherewithal to take the first daunting step into mature adulthood. No one is blameless, and no one is at fault, but this hesitancy is getting us nowhere. When, why, and how do we make the transition? What does it take to finally push us far enough to take a stand? Are we ready to make this world our own? In Percival's view, we are not only ready to to do it, but we have to.

Directed by Will Sullivan and starring Mr. Kerr as Sal, Sarah Wharton as Chloe, Angelica Reeve as Riku, and myself (!) as Percival, this show is definitely one you'll want to see! Audiences will have the chance to party in Sal's bedroom with the cast before the performance, playing Bop-It, dancing, drinking, and coming together as a community to celebrate youth and propel ourselves into the ever-closer future.

The event begins at The Monkey (37 West 26th Street, 12th floor) January 25 at 8:00 PM. The show runs Jan. 25-Feb. 6 (dark Monday & Saturday). Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com. Party at 8, Performance at 9- or whenever you want to put your ass in a seat.

Here is a sneak preview of the night to come...

Come play with us!

 

Sarah Wharton as Chloe

Angelica Reeve as Riku

Tommy Nelms as Percival

Jarret Kerr as Sal