CASTRATO in NOLA

Brad here. I'm posting from a coffee shop on St. Charles in New Orleans. Swearingen and I have arrived to present Andy Eninger's twisted little play THE LAST CASTRATO at the 2008 New Orleans Fringe Festival.

After the success of Greg Romero's THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LULLABY YOU'VE EVER HEARD back in May and then both Swearingen and I visiting NOLA last month (as the comedy duo FUN GRIP for the 2008 New Orleans Improv Festival), we are thrilled to have come back to New Orleans to make some new friends, watch some good theatre and remount this strange, wonderful little play.

THE LAST CASTRATO is the darkly comic, bittersweet tale of Joseph, who was born without a penis, and his love affair with Elena, who was born with her skin inside out. Elena, though, was blessed with a beautiful singing voice to balance her deformity, while Joseph has no talent whatsoever to make up for his missing member. "A penis," he muses, "in terms of artistic merit is worth nothing."

THE LAST CASTRATO sprang from the mind and pen of Chicago playwright Andy Eninger after initial development as part of a solo performance workshop at The Blue Rider Theatre. Audacity Artistic Director Brad McEntire (me) made contact with Mr. Eninger in October 2004 when they were both featured performers in Chicago's third annual Single File Solo Performance Festival. THE LAST CASTRATO recieved its world-premiere at Single File, performed by its author. The piece was then presented by Audacity Productions at the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival. It was subsequently presented exclusively by Audacity Productions throughout 2005 and 2006 at theatres in Dallas, Addison and Austin, Texas.
The piece runs about 50-55 minutes and is performed by a single actor who portrays nearly a dozen different characters.

Though this is the first time THE LAST CASTRATO will be presented by ATL, Jeff Swearingen returns to act in the piece and I've come back aboard as Producer, Designer and Director.

I love this play so much. It fulfills the bottom-line credo of what I look for in my theatre projects - which is to say, I strive to create the kind theatre I like to see. This is a fast, dynamic, imaginative, phyisical, full-blooded show that runs the gamut from disturbing bizarreness to piss-your-pants funny to tender and heart-breaking. I've loved directing it.

And Jeff Swearingen does an excellent job. He's played the role a number of times now and really "owns" it. And since we mature as artisits, it has deepened since we originally mounted it in 2005. Each time we re-mount it, baby-steps of intensity, clarity, percision and variety layer into an already powerful piece.

If you're in new Orleans, come see us. We're playing at...

The Side Arm Gallery and Theatre,
1122 St. Roch Ave., New Orleans, LA 70117

November 13 and 15 at 8:30 PM
and November 16 at 2:30 PM

For more info and tickets visit: http://www.nofringe.org/shows_last_castrato.html