LaBute's startling and challenging
September 12th play.

FEATURING:
Chey Kennedy & Katherine Prenovost

February 25 - March 20

CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW #1

FULLERTON, CA – The Hunger Artists Theatre Company is proud to present the Southern California premiere of Neil LaBute’s scathing examination of opportunism and betrayal in the face of national tragedy, The Mercy Seat, February 25- March 20, 2005. Directed by Margaret O’Hora, The Mercy Seat stars Chey Kennedy and Katherine Prenovost.

Jill Johnson will design sets for The Mercy Seat. Lighting is by Christina L. Munich and Mark Garfinkel designs sound. Melissa Petro is props coordinator. Costumes will be designed by Jessica Beane, who also serves as production stage manager.

On September 12, 2001 a man sits in the Lower Manhattan apartment of his boss, who is also his lover. The man and the woman explore the choices now available to them in an existence different from the one they had lived just the day before. The ringing of his cell phone calls him back to the life he desperately wants to escape from. Can one be opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness?

“There are no heroes in The Mercy Seat,” says O’Hora. “There are two scared, traumatized people trying to make sense of a life and a world that seem to be collapsing around them. LaBute refuses to sentimentalize or mythologize an event that has already seen its fair share of both. His unflinching determination to tell the other side of the story makes this a perfect Hunger Artists show and we are truly honored to present it.”

“The Hunger Artists are committed to presenting challenging and compelling contemporary works,” says Artistic Director Kelly Flynn, “and The Mercy Seat certainly qualifies. Like Harold Pinter and Edward Albee, Neil LaBute doesn’t hesitate to examine the dark undercurrents of so many contemporary relationships. He compels us to face the emotional damage we inflict on each other in our desperate struggle to find our way in the world.”

The Mercy Seat continues Neil LaBute’s unflinching fascination with the often-brutal realities of the war between the sexes that began with his debut film, In the Company of Men and carried through the lacerating Your Friends and Neighbors. He cemented his reputation as an unparalleled contemporary moralist with such theatrical works as bash: latterday plays, The Shape of Things and The Distance from Here. His latest work, Fat Pig, is currently playing Off Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater.

For more information, please call the theater at 714.680.6803
or email hungerartists@yahoo.com

Photo Images By Deidre Schoo