NO BRAINER OR THE SOLUTION TO PARASITES Announced For Theater For The New City's Theater Tour

Theater for the New City's award-winning Street Theater Company will open its 43rd annual tour August 3 with "No Brainer or the Solution to Parasites," a rip-roaring musical which portrays our road to national madness as a bad trip to Hades. Free performances will tour parks, playgrounds and closed-off streets throughout the five boroughs through September 15. Book, lyrics and direction are by Crystal Field; the musical score is composed and arranged by Joseph Vernon Banks. (Schedule follows at bottom of this document.)

A Social Service Provider (working for the NYC Department of Social Services) is not interested in politics at all. He is fighting valiantly in the natural world to protect families facing eviction, children in temporary housing and immigrants struggling for citizenship. But the mythic world, headed by Mr. Pluto, is set on edge because a raging, somewhat drunk real estate magnate from a TV reality show has invaded its sacred sanctuary in Hades. There he has drunk deeply from the cauldron of woes--a vessel where the underworld gods cleanse a nation's soul by boiling out its historically tragic mis-steps, including those of genocide, slavery and war. Ravenous for notoriety, he slurps down the steamy stew, gobbling down all the horrors and recklessness to which our time is heir. The bubbling brew, extracted from the garbage of history, is full of parasites, which infect his brain and direct the would-be dictator/strongman toward the highest office in the land.

The heroic Social Worker accepts the challenge of helping to save the world from this grandiose charlatan. But he can't just chant, "Circle, circle, dot, dot - now you've got the cootie shot!" Our champion must survive the horror of Russian spies, drone warfare, faceless armies and man-made climate change. What ensues is a battle of light and dark, respect and protection versus corruption and power madness. Finally, in closing the borders, the imperious fraudster becomes embedded in his own Wall and finally repents. We learn that his businesses owe so much money that they are bankrupt and he is actually stone cold broke and homeless. He grovels for the succor of public assistance and--surprise!--the Social Worker takes his case. He will find him a home! Mister Pluto arrives to reveal that he, too, is a social worker. The Underworld Gods, together with the Social Worker, will take care of this mythical ogre down below. They will find him a home in the cauldron of historical garbage. Up above, the people dance! Once again we have saved our planet and our history through brother-and-sisterhood, and through history we have saved ourselves.

The production will be staged with an elaborate assemblage of trap doors, giant puppets, smoke machines, masks, original choreography and a huge (9' x 12') running screen or "cranky" providing continuous moving scenery behind the actors. The company of 30 actors, ten crew members, two stage managers, three assistant directors and five live musicians (led by the composer at the keyboard) will share the challenge of performing outside and holding a large, non-captive audience. The music will vary in style from Bossa Nova to Hip Hop to Musical Comedy to classical Cantata. The play is a bouncy joyride through the undulations of the body politic, with astute commentary couched in satire, song and slapstick.

TNC's free street theater productions are delightfully suited for family audiences, since complex social issues are often presented through children's allegories, with children and neighborhood people as the heroes.

SCHEDULE (AS OF JUNE 24, SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Saturday, August 3 - 2 PM - Manhattan - TNC, East 10th Street at 1st Avenue
Sunday, August 4 - 2 PM - Bronx - St. Mary's Park, 147th Street & St. Ann's Avenue
Saturday, August 10 - 2PM - Manhattan - Tompkins Square Park at E. 7th St. & Avenue A
Sunday, August 11 - 2 PM - Manhattan - Central Park Bandshell, 72nd Street Crosswalk
Friday, August 16 - 6:30 PM - Brooklyn - Coney Island Boardwalk at West 10th Street
Saturday, August 17 - 2 PM - Brooklyn - Maria Hernandez Park at Knickerbocker Ave &, Starr St, Brooklyn
Sunday, August 18 - 2 PM - Manhattan - Jackie Robinson Park, West 147th Street & Bradhurst Avenue
Saturday, August 24 - 2 PM - Brooklyn - Sunset Park at 6th Ave. and 44th Street
Sunday, August 25 - 2 PM - Queens - Travers Park, 34th Avenue Between 77th and 78th Street
Saturday, September 7 - 2 PM - Manhattan - Washington Square Park
Sunday, September 8 - 2 PM - Manhattan - Sol Bloom Park, 32 W 92nd Street Upper West Side
Saturday, Sept. 14 - 2 PM - Staten Island - Corporal Thompson Park, B'way & Wayne St., West New Brighton
Sunday, September 15 - 2 PM - Manhattan - St. Marks Church, East 10th Street at 2nd Avenue

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