Furious Theatre Co Presents NO GOOD DEED

Furious Theatre Company is back with a gritty and savagely humorous live-on-stage action adventure that is part theater and part graphic novel. The world premiere of No Good Deed, written by Furious playwright-in-residence Matt Pelfrey, directed by Dámaso Rodriguez and featuring graphic illustrations by Ben Matsuya, opens at [Inside] the Ford on January 21. Pay-what-you-can previews take place on January 18, 19 and 20.

Furious Ensemble members Nick Cernoch, Katie Marie Davies, Dana Kelly, Jr., Shawn Lee and Robert Pescovitz are joined by Adam Critchlow, Brian Danner, Stefanie Demetriades, David Hernandez, Danny Lacy, Johanna McKay and Troy Metcalf in the company’s bold exploration of the way junk news and media hype thwart the best efforts of real life heroes.

“I became fascinated by stories of Good Samaritans whose lives are ruined when a media frenzy leaves them unable to return to their former lives,” explains Pelfrey. “The dark irony, for example, of Richard Jewell who was hailed as a hero, only to be crucified in the media as a suspect before being exonerated. I wanted to combine that idea with the mythology of superheroes. What if the act of performing a heroic deed could transform someone into a superhero – with the power to turn back time, undo that good deed and restore one’s life to normalcy? And what does the desire for a power like that say about our society?”

“This play is an emotional, visceral, darkly comic experience,” says Rodriguez. “Matt has created a piece that borrows from popular culture, but is grounded in serious themes and emotional realism.”

No Good Deed revolves around the interconnecting stories of three troubled heroes, including a Richard Jewell-like security guard; a firefighter who has rescued a toddler from a well; and lonely teen Josh Jaxon, a budding graphic novelist whose “Hellbound Hero” comes to life as his alter ego. Pelfrey and Matsuya see the play as an origin story for a full-blown series. They’ve already begun work on a companion comic featuring Hellbound Hero’s next adventure. Visit www.iamhellbound.com to find animated video clips and graphic novel illustrations.

No Good Deed was commissioned by Furious in 2007, following their award-winning production of Pelfrey’s An Impending Rupture of the Belly, and was given its first reading as part of the Pasadena Playhouse Hot House series in 2008. Now, nearly four years later, the company has assembled the resources necessary to bring this ambitious project to life on stage. Scenic design for No Good Deed is by John Iacovelli; lighting design is by Dan Weingarten; video projection is by Jason Thompson; sound and composition are by Doug Newell; costumes are by Christy Hauptman; and fight choreography is by Brian Danner.

The critically acclaimed Furious Theatre Company marks its 10th Anniversary with No Good Deed, the ensemble’s first production since losing its resident space at the Pasadena Playhouse earlier this year. Since 2002, Furious has produced 22 productions including the world premiere of Alex Jones' Canned Peaches in Syrup, Los Angeles premieres of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things, Yussef El Guindi's Back of the Throat (LA Weekly Award winner: Best Playwright), Craig Wright's Grace (Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award recipient: Best Production, Best Direction, Best Writing), Gina Gionfriddo's US Drag (7 LA Weekly Award nominations), Bruce Norris’ The Pain and the Itch (3 Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle nominations) and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Hunter Gatherers (Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle Award winner: Best Ensemble). Furious was named as one of the "Best of the Decade" by the LA Weekly. No Good Deed is the company’s first commissioned play.

Matt Pelfrey is the writer-in-residence for Furious Theatre Company. His plays have been produced around the country and overseas to critical acclaim and include Cockroach Nation, Terminus Americana, An Impending Rupture of the Belly, Pure Shock Value, Freak Storm, and stage adaptations of In the Heat of the Night and The Basketball Diaries. He is the winner of The Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Heidman Award and a Back Stage Garland Award for Playwriting, and has been nominated for LA Weekly and Los Angeles Ovation awards. He received his BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State and his Master in Fine Arts in Playwriting from UCLA, where he currently teaches undergraduate playwriting. Matt also writes for film and television and was most recently a staff writer on the MTV television series Skins.

Dámaso Rodriguez is a co-founder of the Furious Theatre Company. He has received numerous directing awards and nominations including LADCC, LA Weekly, Garland and NAACP with credits ranging from new works to revivals and original performance pieces. Furious production credits: The Pain and the Itch, Hunter Gatherers, Canned Peaches in Syrup, An Impending Rupture of the Belly, Grace, Back of the Throat, The Fair Maid of the West Parts I & II, The God Botherers, The Shape of Things, Scenes from the Big Picture, Chimps, Saturday Night at the Palace, The Playboy of the Western World and Improv Stunt Show Spectacular.

No Good Deed is the second production in the 2011-12 Winter Season at [Inside] the Ford, a three-play curated series of new works from three L.A.-based theater companies that is supported by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Ford Theatre Foundation.

No Good Deed runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays @ 8 pm and Sundays @ 2 pm & 7pm, January 21 through February 26. Three previews take place on Wednesday, January 18; Thursday, January 19; and Friday, January 20, all at 8 pm. There is one additional Wednesday performance on February 1 @ 8 pm, and one Saturday matinee on February 4 @ 2 pm. There are no performances on Sunday, February 5. General admission is $25 except Opening Night (Jan. 21) which is $34 and includes a post-performance reception with the actors. Seniors and full-time students with ID are $12. Previews and all Thursday performances are pay-what-you-can (subject to availability). Discounts are available for groups of eight or more, available online or by calling 323-769-2147.

[Inside] the Ford is located in the Ford Theatres complex at 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068, just off the 101 Hollywood Freeway across from the Hollywood Bowl and south of Universal Studios. On-site, non-stacked parking is free. For reservations and information, call the Ford Theatres Box Office at 323.461.3673 (323.GO1.FORD) or go to www.FordTheatres.org.

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