Censored Worlds

Two controversial playwrights working in highly contrasting styles -one work is dark and poetic while the other is "pleasantly daffy and purposefully ribald like the best of Aristophanes" Hal Gelb, The Nation- share their visions of the underside of small town America.

Sincerity Forever

by Mac Wellman

Sincerity Forever, Mac Wellman’s "nasty little parable," garnered the author two Obie awards, a repudiation by the NEA, and a denunciation by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) who called the final speech by Jesus H. Christ, here portrayed by a black woman, "a four-letter version of the Sermon on the Mount." The play depicts a group of young people, members of the Invisible Nation, who are blinded by their belief in their own sincerity and their true American optimism. "It is a harshly satiric work enlivened by [Wellman’s] superb sense of stage language-both the clichés of ordinary speech and a kind of demonic poetry." Gerald Weales, The Georgia Review.

Cassandra Cato-Louis stars in Sincerity Forever in the role of Jesus H. Christ. In addition to her work as a poet and actor, she is the co-author of "How to Marry a Black Man: The Real Deal." Her life story was optioned in February by Whitney Houston who will be producing a film based on the book this fall. Cassandra has been seen recently as a spokesperson for VIBE Magazine on MTV. She is currently workshopping her political, inspirational, and erotic poetry into a choreopoem entitled Angels & Disciples.

Holly Hughes’ The Well of Horniness is a wry, campy, and irreverent film noire soap opera detective spoof. "She offers the prospect of a lesbian lust riot running just beneath the surface of the most ordinary of New England villages--a kind of sapphic Peyton Place." Hal Gelb, The Nation. Hughes, an Obie award-winning performance artist and playwright, became a central figure in America’s culture wars as one of the "NEA Four" when her funding was rescinded due to the lesbian content of her work.

Cast

(In order of appearance)

Sincerity Forever by Mac Wellman

Judy--Evelyn Holley
Molly--Juliet Gowing
Tom--Matt McLaughlin
Hank--Nick Linsky
Jesus H. Christ--Cassandra M. Cato Louis
George--Dave Rabinow
Furball 1--Gigi Mederos
Furball 2--Bill O’Regan
Lloyd--Sean Lilly
Melvin--Sean Hickey
Jesus H. Christ u/s--Mia Anderson

Well of Horniness by Holly Hughes

Narrator--Debra Crosby
Georgette/Garnet--Mia Anderson
Vicki--Valerie Madden
Rod--Emily Culver
Babs--Anne Maxwell
Saleslady/Inmate/Ranger--JulieAnn Wilks
Doctor/Inmate--Nydia Colon
Al/Inmate/Louise--N. Jean Sheikh
 
Production Staff:
Director--Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Set & Costume Designer--Gigi Mederos
Musical Compositions--Alain René Perez Duharte
Stage Manager--JulieAnn Wilks
Assistant Stage Manager--Sean Hickey
Lighting Board Operator--David Doucette
Sound --John Johnston
House Manager--Emil Kreymer
Master Carpenter--Paul Argiro
Set & Costume Crew--Mariana Duimovic, Sean Lilly
Make-up--Kim
Lighting Crew--Lynda Newton, Rick
Well Running Crew--Juliet Gowing, Eleonora Holley, Evelyn Holley, Sean Lilly