HOAX Premieres This Month

HOAX, an experiential theatre production and second collaboration between Baltimore based playwright Annelise Montone and actor/magician Brian M. Kehoe, will premiere in July 2016 with tickets on sale July 1st. Mr. Kehoe plays the role of notorious con artist, Maxwell Fink, whose recent reformation (prompted by demonic influence) has scared him into "coming clean" and spilling the secrets of some of the most famous hoaxes, cons and scams of history. But does Mr. Fink's not-so-lovely assistant, Sarah Swanson, also wish to "educate the doubting public"? Or is there something more sinister at work?

HOAX was inspired by research into centuries of conniving men and women who exploit the Vanity, Greed, Stupidity and Hope of their victims. From the bloody Rabbit Woman of Goldaming to the ghost of a Queen, audiences will learn all the double dealings of the rag-and-bone-man's tricks. But as Mr. Fink himself would say: don't be a sucker.

HOAX will be performed at the MAP (Maryland Art Place) building, home of the 14 Karat Cabaret, a Baltimore city landmark for experimental music, dance, video, and art in a performance space located in MAP's former home at 218 West Saratoga Street. The 14 Karat Cabaret is the brainchild of Laure Drogoul, an interdisciplinary artist, alumni of the Maryland Institute College of Art and a graduate of the Rinehart School of Sculpture (1981'.) The Cabaret has been a highly celebrated venue for alternative performance art and music for over 20 years.

"For our second collaboration, I wanted something a little more personal, a little more intense," says Brian M. Kehoe. "Hoaxes are mean, they're mean tricks that, sooner or later, almost everyone will fall for, and that is a very personal experience. I want the audience to be dazzled, amazed, yes, but also to feel a bit ambiguous...do you ever really know if someone's telling the truth? And does that truth always matter?"

"After PLANCHETTE, and the success of that show, I knew that Brian and I had stumbled on a different, electric genre of theater," says Annelise Montone, playwright. "It's a magic show, sure, and there's the thrill of that, but it's so much more, too. We use magic as the jumping off place to explore some very real fears and tell a real story. And that story is carried through the magic, through the venue, through the writing, through the entire experience. It's absolutely exciting to be a part of and it started right here in Baltimore."

Tickets are on sale July 1st. Performances will take place Fridays and Saturdays, July 22nd - August 20th.

For more information on HOAX, visit: MaxwellFink.com.

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