When does an uneasy feeling suddenly morph into fear and paranoia, and when does "doing the right thing" lead to tragedy and recrimination? And there's also the question of just who, if anyone, is actually doing the right thing. These are some of the issues examined in Scott Pardue's very timely, provocative, and "ripped from the headlines" drama, THE AMERICAN BLACK BOX. Directed by Vincent Scott, the play begins performances on July 15th at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street, as part of the Midtown interNational Theatre Festival.
In the American Southeast, an employee working for a German-based chemical corporation stumbles upon a repeating pattern of shortages in shipments of a weed killer compound, a compound that can also be used to make bombs. Suspicion quickly falls on Syrian-born manager Yasser, who is taken from his home to an unknown location where a maddeningly calm and patient interrogator is determined to get some answers. Yasser, on the other hand, simply wants to know where he is and why he can't have a lawyer.
Meanwhile back in the "real world," Yasser's co-worker Eric soon finds himself promoted to Yasser's job. But as the days and weeks go by, Eric becomes beset by personal demons as he desperately tries to convince himself that whatever happened to Yasser was all for the "greater good" so that Americans could be safe. But since Yassaer is an American citizen, doesn't he belong in that category as well, with all the legal rights that supposedly come with it?
More than trying to determine guilt or innocence, THE AMERICAN BLACK BOX looks at questions of personal reasonability, conscience, and the price we pay when the law is bent (if not broken) in the name of safety, expedience and security -- and when terms such as "due process," "legal representation" and "basic human rights" are all-too-easily disregarded. Based on actual events.
The cast of THE AMERICAN BLACK BOX features Reuben Goldman, Katrina Ylimaki, Iftiaz Horoon, Jarett Karlsberg, Paul Kelly* and Antoinette Dailey. The production is an Equity Showcase.
In 2007 Scott Pardue directed his own play THE AMERICAN BLACK BOX and won the 2007 IRAM for Best Director from the Iowa Playwrights' Workshop. His other directing efforts include Melissa Leilani's An Experiment in Sainthood, which won Best New Play in Iowa New Play Festival in 2005 and Austin Bunn's play Timberland, which was selected in 2007 for workshop by the New Harmony Project. Scott received an MFA from the University of Iowa in May, 2007. Since the early nineties, he has focused on new play development for live theatre. In 1991 he was instrumental in realizing Stranger Theatre, a company consisting University of Wyoming students focused on improvisational performances and original one-act plays. In 1994 he helped develop Poor Playwright's Theatre in Las Vegas, a theater company focused on performing original works in a local coffee shop called Café Copioh. In 2001 he realized New World Stage in Raleigh, North Carolina where he developed a process called The PlayFactory - a workshop engine that used improvisation to help playwrights identify and overcome obstacles in their scripts.
Vincent Scott has directed well over 200 plays since the early 1970s. In 1985 he began his directorial tenure with the 13th Street Theatre where he directed Israel Horowitz's Indian Wants the Bronx and Line. Other works include Dillon, Raspberries, A Trip to the Orient, Boomers, Off side (LA), Rack, Hold Up at the Continental Garage and the Barbed-Wire Minute, which was nominated for the Best Play and Best Direction at the Endtime Underground Festival 2008. In 1993, he directed the original opera House, written by Christian McLeer, at the Manhattan School of Music. In the summer of 2001, he directed Aesop's Rocks, a new musical at the Kraine Theater in New York City. Earlier this year, he directed THE AMERICAN BLACK BOX and Lori Marra's Continental Garage at the American Theatre of Actors in New York City. Vincent's works have been seen throughout the United States and Europe.
Running through July 28th, THE AMERICAN BLACK BOX will be performed at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues), on the first floor. Show times are Wednesday, July 15th at 8:30pm, Saturday, July 18th at 9pm, Monday, July 20th at 6:30pm, Friday, July 24th at 9:30pm, Sunday, July 26th at 6pm, and Tuesday, July 28th at 6:30pm. Tickets are $18.00, $15.00 for students and seniors. Reservations: 866-811-4111 or www.midtownfestival.org.
