Wings Theatre will present Clint Jeffries' new drama, The Jocker, which won First Prize in the John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Awards and was a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writer's Conference Competition. The Jocker will play a limited engagement at the Wings Theatre beginning May 11th and running through June 9th. Opening night is May 21st. Jeffrey Corrick directs.
Press notes state, "Based on historical fact,
The Jocker explores relationships between men riding the rails during the great depression. It is 1931. In a hobo jungle near Flagstaff, Arizona, hobos and tramps begin to congregate, lured by the promise of work on a nearby rail spur. Early arrivals include Biloxi Billy, a tramp in his late 40's, and Nat, around 16 -- a Jocker and his 'Gunsel,' (combination servant, apprentice and catamite, a common and amazingly well documented relationship among hobos and tramps of the period.) They soon encounter 'Bama Boy and Shakespeare, two men in a very different sort of sexual relationship. It's the men's conflicting and ever-changing dependence on one another that help them survive – but when Nat makes a desperate move to get away from his abusive jocker, he sets in motion a devastating chain of events that leaves two dead and other lives shattered. Nat may ultimately get what he wished -- but not at all in the way he could of imagined."
The Jocker stars Stephen Cabral, Jason Alan Griffin, Michael Lazar, Nick Matthews, and Stephen Tyrone Williams.
Tickets are $20, $16 for students & seniors with ID. Tickets are available online at
www.wingstheatre.com or by calling (212) 627-2961.
Photos by Carol Rosegg
Michael Lazar (as Shakespeare) and Jason Alan Griffin (as 'Bama Boy)
Stephen Cabral (as Billy) and Stephen Tyrone Williams (as Lucky)
Nick Matthews (as Nat) and Stephen Cabral
Jason Alan Griffin and Nick Matthews