Metropolitan Playhouse and Elephant Run District Present GREEN

Metropolitan Playhouse and Elephant Run District present
the world premiere of Chris Harcum's Green- A sci-fi solo performance adventure

Written & Performed by Chris Harcum
Directed by Aimee Todoroff

February 10, 11, 12 and
February 17, 18, 19
All shows at 8 p.m.

THE METROPOLITAN PLAYHOUSE, 220 EAST FOURTH STREET
(between Avenues A & B, in the Connelly Center)

Tickets may be purchased online at www.metropolitanplayhouse.org
or by phone at (212) 995-5302

Tickets are $18; students and seniors, $15; under 18, $10;
TDF vouchers are accepted.

Green is a simple man living in complicated times. He's criminally poor, illegally artistic, and--as one of the last full-blooded humans in the universe--isn't welcome anywhere, except on the oxygen farms of the penal colony on Planet Plymouth Rock. But no one counts on Green being quite so human, and a trip to the interplanetary pokey soon turns into an epic misadventure with crooked politicians, rigged elections, double agents, bickering robot lovers, supernova recording artists and the sweetest Scottish Mercenary in the galaxy.

Chris Harcum (creator) is an actor and a playwright. Previous solo shows include Some Kind of Pink Breakfast, Anhedonia Road and American Badass, which was published in the Plays and Playwrights 2009 anthology. He recently co-adapted and played the title role in The Hypochondriac at the Cell Theatre, and starred in The Apostles of Park Slope, an award-winning indie comedy feature. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for the League of Independent Theater.

Aimee Todoroff (director) is an award winning performer and director. Most recently, she directed Chris Harcum in Cusi Cram's one-act, Jump, which is currently being adapting into a short film. Other favorite directing credits include the East Coast premiere of Martin Blank's The Law of Return and Wendy Wasserstein's Isn't it Romantic. Her directing work has been seen in many traditional and non-traditional venues, including The Manhattan Theatre Source, The American Theatre of Actors, cafes, parks, a corner in the West Village, and the public space at Lincoln Center.

Scott Garapolo (original music) is a drummer and composer who has worked with musicians Steve Albini, Alexa Ray Joel, Nona Hendryx, Ronnie Drayton, LaLa Brooks, Pheobe Legere, Paul Ruderman, Rain Pryor and many others.

Metropolitan Playhouse, now in its 19th season, explores America's theatrical heritage through forgotten plays of the past and new plays of American historical and cultural moment. "Indispensible" (nytheatre.com), "invaluable" (Back Stage), Metropolitan has earned recent accolades from The New York Times, The Village Voice for its ongoing programming of plays that illuminate who we are by revealing where we have come from.
Green is the fourth in a continuing series of solo presentations at the theater, and a part of a season devoted to exploring Stereotypes in American theater and culture. Recent productions include Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Drunkard, Dodsworth (Agnes Moorehead Award), and the NYIT award winning The Return of Peter Grimm. Past solos in the series include Steve Scionti's Life's a Pizza, Stu Richel's Mortal Decisions and Brandt Johnson's Give and Go: Learning from Losing to the Harlem Globetrotters.

Elephant Run District is a producing organization devoted to providing artists creative space for new work. The District, like any community, is in a constant state of evolution, becoming more diverse and exciting as collaborators move in, set up shop and offer their creative wares to the world. By creating this space, the District aspires to productions that--like elephants in the city--challenge our expectations, are utterly unique, and have a beauty that inspires.

Praise for some of Chris Harcum's previous solo performance work:

"It's not easy making an audience laugh and think at the same time, but Harcum accomplishes exactly that." -Martin Denton, NYTHEATRE

"An excellent, charismatic storyteller." -Angela Ashman, The Village Voice

"There's something so natural and honest about his acting; he puts up no emotional barriers between himself and his audience, which makes his storytelling all the more affecting and effective." -Lauren Snyder, offoffonline

"The most charming aspect of Harcum's style - the ability to be warmly human and exceedingly vulnerable." -Andy Propst, American Theater Web

"This is a very hard show to pull off, even if there had been an ensemble to shoulder the load, so the fact that Harcum is able to do it alone makes his work one of the most vital stage performances of the year." -Doug Strassler, offoffonline

"Harcum is able to be very personal, but avoids being embarrassing; the poignant moments in the midst of hard-edged comedy are never injected or contrived ... smart, funny, edgy, angry, silly, and sad-- utterly and transcendentally human. Not to be missed." -Dalton Cormier, Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal

 

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