The Players Theatre to Present the Return of THE SKETCHY EASTERN EUROPEAN SHOW

The cast and dates have been revealed for the return of the downtown theatre comedy The Sketchy Eastern European Show, a new play by Naren Weiss. The piece, directed by Vas Eli (formerly Vasile Flutur) will have a three week engagement March 8th-24th, 2024.
The piece, developed by Weiss during a residency at The Players Theatre, follows a Romanian comedian as he attempts to find his footing in an American industry that has seemingly forgotten all about "people like him." Naren Weiss is also an actor and recently appeared in Clubbed Thumb's Obie Award-winning production of Grief Hotel, which is set to be remounted at The Public with performances beginning next month.

Vas Eli (TFANA's Tamburlaine) will star as Corneliu "Kal" Caliniuc, the protagonist who will
stop at nothing to succeed in his one final shot at "making it." Perri Yaniv (Lin-Manuel
Miranda's Vestments of the Gods) will play Ion "John" Breivik, a DJ from London. Rounding out the cast is newcomer Lexie Shoaibi as Becky.

"I've always been interested in the concept of divide-and-conquer under white supremacy," says Weiss, who grew up in India and identifies as South Asian, Indigenous (Kodava), and white American (he is the only known living Kodava playwright). "To me, the great tragedy is that it has succeeded to a point where communities paint other communities that would-be-friends into enemies. Having grown up amidst a certain level of poverty that most Americans would simply not comprehend, I've found that there are other developing countries that outwardly appear to have privilege, but who intrinsically understand the depths of poverty that all members of the Global South can relate to. Ultimately, I'm standing with fellow oppressed communities and am actively looking for allies - not enemies."

About The Sketchy Eastern European Show

Kal (a thirty-something-year-old, out-of-work, Romanian comedian) fears his window has
closed... and with it, all of his childhood dreams of stardom. Then, he stumbles upon John, a charismatic, half-Romanian DJ from London who code-switches, subverts stereotypes, and challenges what the establishment thinks they want. Kal enlists this rising young star's help to put together one last shot at making it... but quickly discovers how in over his head he actually is.

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