The New Ohio Theatre
presents
The Mad Ones
production of

THE ESSENTIAL STRAIGHT & NARROW

Created by The Mad Ones in collaboration with the ensemble
Directed by LILA NEUGEBAUER

Featuring

MARC BOVINO, JOE CURNUTTE, MICHAEL DALTO, STEPHANIE WRIGHT THOMPSON,
CLARE BARRON, JONATHAN BOCK, BLAKE DeLONG, MAYA LAWSON,
MATTHEW SUMMERSGILL, & MERLIN WHITEHAWK

Scenic Design: LAURA JELLINEK
Lighting Design: MIKE INWOOD
Costume Design: ASTA HOSTETTER
Sound Design: STOWE NELSON
Press Representative: DAVID GIBBS/DARR PUBLICITY

The New Ohio Theatre
154 Christopher Street
New York, NY 10014
(888) 596-1027 or www.NewOhioTheatre.org
May 24, 2014 through June 14, 2014

An October roadside motel layover in New Mexico means too much time on everyone’s hands. The wannabe cast of a yet-to-be-finalized play are getting cabin fever. They are in the mystical American Southwest, so full of free-spirits, yet they are on each other’s nerves and it’s getting worse. Write a country song, host a “craft night”, rehearse your lines, relive the past. No, wait, that last one doesn’t fit. The 1970s are all about today, man. No regrets, live for the Now.

The increasing conflicts are eased by the dynamic arrival of Debbie, barging to look for her cat. Debbie is certainly different. Full of enthusiasm, inquisitive, imaginative, and just a little off-kilter, Debbie proceeds to organize them, inspire them, and cheer them up. Until she asks just a few too many questions. The group falls silent. The past has returned.

The Mad Ones are a New York City-based ensemble dedicated to creating visceral, highly detailed theatrical experiences that investigate cultural memory and nostalgia. Character-driven, THE ESSENTIAL STRAIGHT & NARROW is about regret and reinvention, hope and disappointment. MARC BOVINO is a knock-out as the charming-yet-alarming Debbie. STEPHANIE WRIGHT THOMPSON nails it as the ever-rehearsing, pose-striking star of the hoped-for new play.

It is Halloween, it is Day of the Dead, it is the perfect time for hiding behind your mask, however hideous. The impossible part is hiding from yourself.

-Karen D’Onofrio-