Infectious Opportunity Photos!

All by Aaron Epstein, featuring David Ian Lee and Andrea Marie Smith. That one with three people feature the same folks plus Daryl Lathon.

More to come!

And it looks as though we're sold out for tonight's "closing" performance.

Being all cryptic with the air quotes,

James "Mysterious and Alluring" Comtois

Final Show, Three-Day Weekend

I'm quite happy about the impending three-day weekend (which, for me, technically starts at 3 today, as my office is releasing us early). Also very happy to have the show back up and running, with last night's show being quite ass-kicking, if I do say so myself. Many thanks to everyone who came out last night in droves (and even being fine with sitting on the floor)!

We still have some (but not many) tickets left for our Friday (final) performance, so I hope to see you there!

So, until Monday, have a great weekend, folks, and have a happy Fourth of July!

Cramming as many hot dogs as he can into himself,

James "Whatever Holes Work" Comtois

Two More Performances

That's right. There are just two performances left for Nosedive's latest, Infectious Opportunity: this Wednesday at 9 and Friday at 7.

Tickets are selling fast. So if you haven't already, get yours now.

I gotta say, after three weeks off, I'm really anxious to get this show back up in front of people. Thanks to everyone who's said very nice things about it so far. I'm looking forward to hearing what more people think.

Rarin' to go,

James "Antsy-Pants" Comtois

At The Antidepressant Festival: Adventure Quest

Note: Be forewarned that this entry on the play, Adventure Quest, contains some (very) minor spoilers.

If Beckett ended up writing and designing those DOS-based adventure video games from the late-80s and early-90s, he'd probably give us something like Adventure Quest, Richard Lovejoy's play that starts as a send-up of this very specific subgenre of old school gaming and (deliberately) devolves into a meditation on the pointlessness of existence and the thin gruel of choices life has to offer you. It's a funny, bleak and (for those of a specific age group, of which I'm part) nostalgic romp.

In Adventure Quest, Kent Meister plays an unnamed hero on a quest to save the mayor's daughter from captivity, a variation on the done-to-death "Save The Princess From The Evil War Lord" trope. In order for him to move forward with the quest, he has to say (instead of type) commands like, "Talk to Beggar," or, "Climb Rope," and discovers through trial and error which commands are the correct ones to say (he occasionally tries to offer commands like, "Piss on Beggar," and a disembodied voice (Alley Scott) well tell him, "You Cannot Do That," or, "I Don't Understand").

The way the voice responds to the hero's more inappropriate commands is also very funny: I particularly liked one instance where, completely at a loss as to how to proceed, gives the command, "Stab Self With Knife." The voice's response: "Things Aren't That Bad Yet."

The irony about these types of "explorer" games is that there's no hope of any real exploration. Despite being given the appearance that you can type in any command and go anywhere in the game's world, you have very, very narrow parameters that allow you where to go and what to do. There are only a handful of houses in the village you can enter and only a couple rooms in the castle you can wander into. You have to ask very specific questions to characters you meet in order for them to respond. You can't move forward unless you do exactly what the game wants you to do. This isn't adventure; this is bureaucracy.

Adventure Quest deftly portrays this (in one scene, quite literally, when the hero has to wait to make an appointment in a reception hall) as the hero moves along, realizing his interest level in the quest at hand has shrunk down to zero. He really wants to bang the peasant girl (Sarah Engelke), a minor character he ran across during the course of his adventure. The disembodied voice calmly threatens that he'll be sorry if he doesn't complete the quest. But what else can he do? The more he progresses, the answer is clear: nothing. Absolutely nothing. (Even killing himself results in the game just resetting back to where he last saved the game, not unlike Phil's fate in Groundhog Day.)

Everyone in the cast and crew, which also includes Danny Bowes, Anne Carlisle, Lovejoy, Timothy Reynolds and Jesse Wilson, is excellent. As director, Adam Swiderski does a marvelous job creating the show's aesthetic and sense of place and style. Within seconds, you know exactly what type of game Adventure Quest parodies (this is also of course due to Lovejoy's script). The cast's physicality is also pitch-perfect: they way they move and talk instantly reminds you of two-dimensional pixilated video game characters (a prime example is Lovejoy's beggar, who vaguely bobs his head and arm back and forth when the hero isn't talking to him, and Reynolds' cemetery man, who's hands are in constant "beckon" mode).

Kudos must also be given to Marc Borders' and Jim Hammer's costume design, Jamie Marshall's rear screen projection graphic design and Chris Chappell's original computerized musical score for making the show look, sound and feel like an old school video game.

I think my only criticism of Adventure Quest is that the script could benefit from a few judicial cuts: it feels about 10 minutes too long. To be fair, the play deliberately demonstrates the redundancy and tedium in the hero's quest, so it's a very fine line to evoke tediousness and repetitiveness without being tedious and repetitive, a line the show succeeds at walking 99% of the time.

Adventure Quest is a funny and sometimes unnerving demonstration of how life is often like a video game: frustrating, endless and constrictive.

Adventure Quest is playing at the Antidepressant Festival and later the Game Play Festival, both at the Brick Theater on 575 Metropolitan Ave. in Brooklyn. Tickets for this are going fast, you you should get them here soon.

Stabbing random passersby in frustration,

James "Restore Button" Comtois

Next Week: Round Two of Infectious Opportunity

Well, Round Two of Infectious Opportunity goes up in a week, so I guess I'll resume blatant plugging.

Nosedive Production’s latest, Infectious Opportunity, is upon us for two more shows before it goes up to the Great Production in the Sky.

REMAINING PERFORMANCES:

Wednesday, July 1 @ 9 p.m.

Friday, July 3 @ 7 p.m.

At the Brick Theater on 575 Metropolitan Ave. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

We're really freakin' happy with this one and hope you can make it. If you haven't already, check out this very nice review from nytheatre.com.

You can also hear me natter about the show in audio form here and read me blather about it here and here.

Since tickets are already going pretty fast (there are, after all, only two more performances), it’s a good idea to get your tickets NOW so you won’t miss out.

I'll see you there.

Infecting your hearts and minds,

James "Love Monkey" Comtois

Sean Williams on Glee Club, Endings and Instant Gratification

Sean Williams has written a very compelling and thought-provoking post on Blue Coyote's show, Glee Club, and gets into a rumination on the indie theatre scene, and that pervasive, "What Happens Next?" feeling that invariably happens once you open and close a show.

Sean writes:

"[If] we make a play and every blogger shows up, and all the online reviews are great, and the actual print media comes, and the New York Times says it's great... then, what? It's a little easier to put on the next show? You can walk in to an agent's office with some hot papers, they sign you and then... what? You're writing a spec script for Grey's Anatomy, a show you've never even seen, in a medium you care nothing about, where there's a lot of money but where you do nothing but pine for the days you were writing off-off shows and cast your friends?

I mentioned in a blog post recently that our community is freaking me out with how good everyone's work is, but it wasn't until I saw the play yesterday that I kinda understood why. Glee Club sold out the performance I was at, and if there's any justice in the world the next show will sell out too, and then the run will end. And then what? It's a terrifying question, and it's one that every one of us asks ourselves three or four times a year. Of course that's what we're all writing about. The incredible horror of the fruition of our work.

I told Matt that I was hit by just how small the stakes were for the characters in Glee Club. I don't mean that in a disparaging way: it's what makes Glee Club all the more tragic (and simultaneously hilarious). The characters spend the bulk of the play convincing another character to do something really, really horrible for such a small and petty reason. (I'm reminded of the old joke about professors and academia: "The in-fighting is so fierce because the stakes are so small.")

Sean's post also resonates with me, especially when I think about the incredibly limited run Nosedive's show Infectious Opportunity has (I can't speak for Matt, Kyle & Co., but I'm guessing they may be having similar thoughts, as the run of Glee Club is also so short). These shows go up to the Great Production in the Sky much, much sooner than usual, so that question of, "Now What?" is much, much more pervasive.

Usually when we close a show, the answer to "Now What?" is, "We have preproduction meetings for the next show." For Infectious, I think the answer to that question is, "We remount in late 2010 or early 2011."

Why? Not for money. Or getting an agent. Or a TV writing gig.

I simply want more people to see it.

Anyway, read the whole thing here. Then buy your damn tickets to see Glee Club. I've seen it twice now.

Then when you're done seeing Glee Club, get your tickets for Infectious Opportunity. You'll like them both.

Wanting to know what happens next,

James "Now What?" Comtois

Friday Roundup

In addition to having fun seeing two shows yesterday - my friend and old college roommate Damian Wampler's Twin Towers at the Planet Connections Theater Festivity and Nosedive vet Ben Trawick-Smith's & Caitlin Simkovich's 41 Degrees North - I did something I haven't done in over 12 years.

I auditioned for a show.

Yes. That's right. I auditioned for a role in a play I didn't write: Mac Rogers' latest, VIRAL.

My disadvantage: well, I haven't really acted in a very long time (discounting the small roles I've played in my own stuff) and have been very out of practice with auditioning.

My advantage: the role I read for is the older brother of a character my younger sister is playing.

Regardless of the outcome, I had a lot of fun auditioning for Gideon Productions and am fortunate enough to be fine with the outcome no matter what. It'll be absolutely awesome to act in this, and I won't be even remotely upset if I don't get the part and will be excited to see the show as an audience member.

Definitely a win-win situation.

This weekend I plan to catch a few more shows at the Antidepressant Festival and debate which summer movies to see (I'm bummed to see that the critics are hating Year One and Whatever Works). I'll let you know how it all pans out.

In the meantime, have a great weekend, folks. I'll talk to y'all on Monday.

Sorry that I barfed all over
Mac and Jordana at the audition,

James "Stage Frightful" Comtois

Antidepressed

Although I won't be able to see all the shows at the Antidepressant Festival — I've already missed two one-night-only shows — I'm continuing to see as many as I can. The tally of shows I've seen so far (not including my own, obviously): eight.

(Considering the Brick Theater is a couple blocks away from where I live and I get to see the shows for free, being a participant, this constant theatergoing isn't as Herculean a feat as you may think.)

I'm hoping to catch a couple more, although I have some other obligations outside the festival that will make my attendance this week a bit less omnipresent than last.

I really dug Blue Coyote's Glee Club. I had enjoyed reading Mr. Freeman's script, but the cast and director Kyle Ancowitz brought a bunch more to the table to make this a bleakly funny show that leaves you with a dopey grin on your face and a slightly queasy feeling in your gut.

(I'm still giggling to myself over Stephen Speights' role as the choir's conductor when he blurts out, "FUCK IT!" as he convulses with rage during one portion of the rehearsal. There's something about unprovoked, not-quite-justified rage that I find funny as all hell.)

The blurb on the Antidepressant site (deliberately) doesn't accurately describe the show. And, to not offer any spoilers, I shan't describe it much more on this site, either, except to say it's about, er, a glee club (duh) in Vermont getting ready to do their most important gig of the season. And of course, in the case of all good drama, there's a wrench in the plans. It really is the feel-good tragedy of the year.

Also had a fun time with Suspicious Package: Rx, Gyda Arber & Aaron Baker's follow-up to last year's very fun and successful interactive iPod noir show. Whereas last year's Suspicious Package show was an interactive old school film noir, this year, it's a Twilight Zone-style science fiction story an apocalypse, a bunch of clinically depressed survivors and tiny robots in our brains forcing us to be happy all the time.

Cheery stuff, ain't it?

It's actually a whole lot of fun.

I played the Colonel.

Yeah, I know. You can say it, it's cool. I look like the military type.

I still have a few more shows at the festival I'd like to see, and I'm still hoping to offer a few more shout-outs to other shows I have seen.

So, hey. Since we've still got some time before July 1 (when Infectious Opportunity re-opens), you could do well to check out Glee Club, Suspicious Package: Rx or any of the other dozen or so shows playing at the Brick.

Popping his pills,

James "All Better Now" Comtois

Another Interview!

Patrick Lee interviews my pals Gyda Arber and Richard Lovejoy, as well as Yours Truly, on our respective Antidepressant shows.

Kissing on the first date,

James "Media Whore" Comtois

More Showgoing

There are actually a large number of shows I’m hoping to catch in the next week or so. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to all of them, as I’m now pretty much all booked up.

I’m continuing to see the shows at the Antidepressant Festival, catching both Movement Pants Dance’s WILM 690: Pirate Radio and Five Eduardinos’ How to Fight Depression (When You Don’t Even Know its Symptoms last night. Tonight, I’m hoping (emphasis on the word hoping) to catch both Everywhere Theatre Group’s Big Girls Club and Blue Coyote’s Glee Club, by Mr. Matthew Freeman and featuring Infectious Opportunity cast member Matthew Trumbull.

It also looks as though I've now been officially signed up to check out the Sunday performance of Suspicious Package: Rx, which I'm very excited for.

And of course, I need to figure out when I’m going to see my friend Damian Wampler’s Twin Towers, which opens tonight. Have a great opening, Damian!

And all of you have a good weekend.

No time to watch Horny Trannies VIII,

James "Arts Hiatus" Comtois

Fearlessly Cracking Open the Antidepressant Festival

Had a real fun time seeing my first Antidepressant Festival show (that wasn’t my own, obviously) last night: Ten Directions’ ...and the fear cracked open, a funny and creepy dark comedy about a young couple in Minnesota finding their relationship on rocky ground due to petty and abstract fears. The show, created by Lynn Berg and Audrey Crabtree, uses multiple styles and methods (puppets, abstract dance, videos, and mask work) that range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Speaking of mask work, there's one brilliant sequence that conveys some crucial information about the couple in a way that's so disturbing and hypnotic it could be worth the price of admission alone.

What’s fun about this show, which features the very watchable and delightful Gavin Starr Kendall and Becky Byers as the couple, is that is deals with a subject everyone can relate to (the cold feet and anxieties inherent to a long-term relationship) in a unique and fresh way. Everyone knows this story, but I don’t think anyone has seen it told this way.

Anyway, I plan to check out a few more shows at the festival now that I have the time off. I don’t think I can make it to all of them, but hopefully most of them.

...and the fear cracked open is playing a few more times at the Brick Theater as part of the Antidepressant Festival: June 18, 21 & 27. Get your tickets here.

Wondering if Fear Bag is available for parties,

James "Shitty Party Host" Comtois

First Half of Infectious Down

Well, our first two performances for Infectious Opportunity are over and done with and we're off for three weeks before we reopen on July 1. We’ve had an absolutely amazing response from people to this show, and I’m so glad to be showing this to folks. The cast is doing a stellar job, and I’m definitely hoping we can restage this again in the not-too-distant future.

I've been pleasantly surprised that many audience members seem to really identify with the main character of Wes. For a while, although I wanted and hoped people would relate to Wes and the show to some degree, I was expecting that audience members would find Wes's actions far too batshit crazy to be seen as universal. Although I think we can all relate to lying to gain things from other people, or doing stupid and self-destructive things, or breaking someone’s heart, or wanting to be loved and revered, I originally thought that the means and context in which Wes does these things would make him one step removed from being Joe Everyman.

Apparently that's not necessarily the case.

I think it helps that Pete directed and David is playing the role in a very realistic and down-to-earth way. But it’s definitely interesting to hear a number of people saying afterwards that they could see themselves getting caught up in Wes's situation in the same way.

I think that’s pretty cool. And I'm excited to see how other people respond to the show in the latter half of the run.

Until that happens, I think I’ll be checking out as many shows by my Antidepressant Festival brothers and sisters as I can, and you should, too.

So, thanks to everyone who's come out so far to see Infectious, and I hope to see the rest of you in the beginning of July!

Antidepressed,

James "Brick Shithouse" Comtois

Game On

Well, we've opened.

I'm quite relieved and pleased.

The cast and crew brought it, and the audience was very generous in showing the love.

In short, opening fucking rocked.

Many thanks to everyone who came out on a Sunday evening to see Infectious Opportunity, and mad props to everyone in the cast and crew for making this show awesome. I'm super proud of this show and everyone involved in it.

So seriously, we’ve just got the one show on Tuesday before we're off for the rest of the month (returning Wednesday, July 1 and closing on Friday, July 3), so get your tickets if you haven't already.

Still feeling that opening-night rush,

James "Giddy Little Schoolgirl" Comtois

Waiting Until Sunday

Well, we just had our tech for Infectious Opportunity, and it looks like we've got ourselves a show. And a very good show at that. The weird thing now is, with our one and only night of tech over and done, we don't all meet up until we open on Sunday.

So I guess now all I can do is wait.

Hmmm.

Yeah, this is weird.

I really have nothing to do until it's time to show up at the Brick Theater a little bit before 5 p.m. I mean, I have things to do, including seeing this tonight and going to Atlantic City for my college friend Steve's bachelor party on Saturday, but in terms of stuff for the show?

Well, I guess I could do one last push right here and now before Sunday: there are still tickets available for the shows, so if you haven't done so already, buy them here.

And...yyyyeah. I'm done.

Have a good weekend, folks. I'll see you at the show.

An infectious opportunist,

James "Jittery Punsmith" Comtois

Top 10 Reasons to See Infectious Opportunity

Well, gang. Infectious Opportunity opens this Sunday, and it's really shaping up to be a pretty kick-ass show you won't want to miss. In fact, I'm gonna follow Brother Qui's lead and, just as he often offers Top 10 Reasons for seeing the Vampire Cowboys shows, offer you the Top 10 Reasons why you need to see Infectious Opportunity:

1. The cast. Yeah, everyone in the cast for this show is amazing. The Dream Team has been assembled here. Hell, our two leads, David Ian Lee and Andrea Marie Smith, have not only appeared on my annual Top Ten list multiple times, they've each been in shows that have made it to my #1 slot (David in Universal Robots and Andrea in both A Beginner's Guide to Deicide and Fight Girl Battle World). I've been hardcore fans of everyone in this cast for a while now. So have you. I'm pretty damn thrilled to be having all them on board for a Nosedive show, most of them for the first time.

2. The story. Seriously. It's about a guy who fakes having HIV. Don't tell me you've seen this story told in a play, film, or TV series before.

3. It's funny as all hell. Yes. It's a show (tangentially) about AIDS. And it's funny. Don't look at me like that. You know you're intrigued.

4. It's serious and thought-provoking in a non-lame way. It's not all shits n' giggles here at Nosedive Central. Sure, we like to make milk shoot out your nose, but also make you feel sad and introspective while milk is dribbling down your front from your nostrils. And we're not all freakin maudlin or heavy-handed about it. I mean, come on. It's Nosedive, after all.

5. The set is badass. Ben VandenBoom and Kid Sister Comtois have created a unique and kick-ass set. So in addition to it being fun to watch, it'll also be pretty and fun to look at.

6. The music is also badass. The multi-talented Mr. Itai Sol from the righteous indie rock band Bella Watt has written some awesome original music to underscore the show.

7. Chicks making out with dudes, dudes making out with dudes. I mean, this is why we all go see theatre, right?

8. It's written by me, and directed by Pete. You have crushes on both of us. And the feeling is mutual

9. It's a Nosedive show. This one's blatantly obvious but I think it bears repeating.

And finally...

10. It just may be one of the best shows Nosedive has ever done. Period.

So if you haven't already done so, get your tickets, and come check out Nosedive's latest, Infectious Opportunity.

The David Letterman of
the indie theatre world,

James "Kind of a Dick" Comtois

20 Questions From nytheatre.com

Over at nytheatre.com, the Antidepressant Festival preview is up, which you can check out here. This year, Martin asked participants in the festival to fill out a 20-point questionnaire.

My answers to the 20 questions for Infectious Opportunity can be found here.

Read them, weep openly, then buy your tickets.

Have a good weekend, folks. I'll blather at you soon.

Citing Groucho Marx and Bugs Bunny in a play
about someone faking being HIV-positive,

James "Utterly Conventional" Comtois

Interviewed by Matthew Freeman

Matt Freeman interviews me for the latest nytheatrecast, which you can listen to here.

We chat at length about heist movies, dickish behavior, HBO series, whether or not I prefer to be called James, Jimmy, or Jim and of course, the Brick's Antidepressant Festival and Nosedive's latest production in it, Infectious Opportunity.

I had an absolute blast recording this with Matt. Hopefully you'll enjoy listening to it.

Dare I say, you might find it...Infectious?

No. No, I wouldn't dare. Seriously. Scratch that last bit out. Seriously, the last thing this blog needs is a reputation for finding lame puns.

So just listen to the podcast here.

Digging heist films,

James "Big Jim" Comtois

Cheer Up, Bitches!

Rather than solely plug my own stuff (buy your damn tickets already), I'd like to offer a few shout-outs to some of my fellow Antidepressant Festival brothers and sisters.

Just read Matt Freeman's Antidepressant play, Glee Club last night. It's definitely a play that starts off seeming like a lark and goes into quite dark territory, but not in the way that you'd expect. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it and really curious to see how people respond to it (as I'm sure Matt must be, too). I most certainly won't be giving anything away about it here, but I suspect folks will be divided on it.

When I say Glee Club gets dark but not in the way you'd expect, I mean those expecting violence or some graphic sex scene or some profanity-laced climactic monologue won't get anything like that (although there is swearing in it). Some folks may find it silly. Some may find it horrifically offensive and in really poor taste. Some may find it a darkly funny comment on the need to fit in with people you shouldn't be interacting with in the first place.

And of course, this is my guess based solely on reading the script. I can't comment on how it'll look and feel before the cast and director Kyle Ancowitz bring their goods to the table.

Another show I'm looking forward to is the latest installment to Gyda Arber's Suspicious Package interactive show/walking tour, Suspicious Package: Rx. Whereas last year's show was an interactive noir story, this one takes its cues from the Twilight Zone and E.C. Comics' Weird Science-brand of sci-fi. Last year's show was so much fun, so I have complete confidence that this year's incarnation will be no different.

Full disclosure: I actually wrote some filler scenes/monologues for this, and Kid Sister Becky Comtois acts in some of the flashback scenes as well, though I still have no idea what the final product will look like.

And of course my good pal Danny Bowes is involved in not one but two shows at the Festival. He's written and is performing in Booze, Sports and Romance, about said substances that's apparently part aural essay and movement piece. As the press materials put it, "You know, just like every other show you've ever seen in indie theatre." Directed by Chris Connolly and choreographed by Guinevere Pressley.

Mr. Bowes will also serve as actor for Richard Lovejoy's Adventurequest (directed by Adam Swiderski). Here's what the press materials say about this show: "The town of Perilton has been invaded by an evil wizard, and only our hero can save it! Cheer as he fights for the hand of the mayor's daughter! Gasp as he infiltrates the bloodthirsty Octopus Cult! Watch as he meticulously collects inventory items! Shift uncomfortably in your seat as the narrative gradually implodes! Glance around nervously as characters are brutally murdered for no particular reason! Despair as your faith in a meaningful, ordered universe is shaken! Evoking the Golden Age of home computer gaming, Adventure Quest is both a nostalgic treat and a glimpse into the yawning Void."

Yeah, I'll freakin see that.

There are a bunch of other shows going on (17 mainstage shows in all), so check them out here. I'm hoping to see as many as possible.

Cheering you bitches up,

James "Rapey The Clown" Comtois

Plundering Freeman's Blog For Infectious Opportunity Content

What Mr. Freeman said about Glee Club goes for Infectious Opportunity: our show, too, opens June 7th. We have a large cast and very few performances, so I'd suggest getting your tickets well in advance. You can get them here.

You should also get tickets to see Glee Club as well. Odd little fun-fact, not only are both of our shows part of the Brick Theater's Antidepressant Festival, but they both share a cast member: Mr. Matthew Trumbull.

Speaking of Mr. Freeman, he and I will be nattering at length in an upcoming podcast for nytheatrecast. I think rather than a traditional Q&A, it will be more like the one he recently did with Adam Szymkowicz. Hopefully, our chat will be as interesting as theirs. As always, we shall see. I’ll keep you posted.

Freeman's pilot fish,

James "I Prefer Captain Fish, Actually" Comtois

Renewing the Plug for Infectious Opportunity Tickets

Since the original plug and link to buying tickets has now been pushed down to the bottom of the page and now into the archives section, it's time to renew the plug.

Yeah, I'll be doing that a lot in the ensuing months.

There are only four shows, so buy your tickets now.

Sunday, June 07 at 5 p.m.

Tuesday, June 09 at 8 p.m.

Wednesday, July 01 at 9 p.m.

Friday, July 03 at 7 p.m.