This past weekend I saw The Amoralists’ production of The Cheater’s Club written and directed by Derek Ahonen at Abrons Arts Center (deep into the Lower East Side). Known for their large casts and big team of artists, this theatre company was founded by AMDA grads (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) on November 2006. Their mission statement goes like this:
"The Amoralists are a theatre company that produces work of no moral judgment. Dedicated to an honest expression of the American condition, our ensemble explores complex characters of moral ambiguity, plumbing the depths of the social, political, spiritual and sexual characteristics of human nature. "
My recent introduction to this theatre company was a real pleasant surprise. Impressed by such a full-scale production with backing solely through personal donors and amused that a ticket cost FIFTY DOLLARS! I was very grateful for the free ticket from my friend who had auditioned for the Amoralists and since they liked him, graced him with two free tickets! Hint: Audition for more theatre companies, which in turn (if you’re good enough) gets you free tickets to their productions.
The Cheater’s Club
Liked:
Their ability to make me scared in a live theatre event. This equals success in my eyes. Yes the play is a comedy. Four spouses leave their significant others in order to have a ‘no strings attached’ weekend at a haunted Inn. I was caught in the anticipation of the action. For example wondering where the grim reaper character will appear….
High quality set design. I really felt like I was at a Broadway production with the level of construction. The two-story Inn had four specific rooms, a hidden down stairs, a trap door, and a detailed bar. And a piano!
Disliked:
Cinematic elements… I’ll explain myself. The more I think about it, it’s not the set designer’s fault that he needed to focus the audience from the massive plot it was the playwright’s fault. The overwhelming story takes place in a bar, hotel lobby, four different hotel rooms, hotel basement, a graveyard, and an ambiguous theatre. There was too much going on...
Inconsistency of accents... There were Russian, Irish, Italian, Spanish, New York, Southern and more... I found that the accents being thrown around that weren’t fully realized.
Mixed feelings:
Shout-outs to my FringeNYC people
- Thoughtful and well crafted direction by Max Reuben of Sheeple
- Seductive and charming acting by Michael Kingsbaker in This is a Play About Artists
- A little birdy told me that Padraic Lillis won best direction for his play Bully. Congrats!
- Amazing directing by Dan Cooley in the production of BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD
- Malachy Silva played a very convincing crazy man in Strange Rain
- Sweet and beautiful Margy Love killed it in Adventures of Boy and Girl
- The whole production team of Slaughterhouse-Five… looking forward to the extension! Here are the details: www.bit.ly/SH5encore
Huge shout out to Patrick Scheid for writing his own one- man show on Nietzsche’s Zarathustra called Zara Notes performed at HERE arts center and killing it, plus for sharing his ticket with me!
Coming soon… Mama’s critique of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
