Play of the Week, March 28, 2008Bad Jazz by Robert Farquhar

BAD JAZZ by Robert Farquhar

Ever found yourself at a bar, saying lines from a play you were working on? Maybe you’ve gone on a bender to help you learn more about your alcoholic character. Or maybe you’ve fallen desperately in love with your scene partner, only to have it all end with the final curtain call. At the very least, as an actor, you have probably searched for parallels between your personal experiences and those of a character.

In “Bad Jazz,” Robert Farquhar experiments with what happens when reality and theatrical art become blurred. As his characters put on a play, the boundaries between the play and the play-within-the-play are jostled and blurred until the world of the stage and the real world are almost indiscernible. The actress playing a prostitute comes to rehearsal strung out after a night of turning tricks; the actor playing a junkie shoots heroin backstage; the relationships of the characters in the play merge with those of the actors playing them.

In scenes ranging from loving to cruel and from sexy to violent to violently sexy, we are presented with a group of highly passionate artists who are willing to sacrifice almost anything for their art. If you are looking to explore darker sides of yourself, this play is filled with opportunities to play with extreme emotions and frustrations that actors experience both on and offstage. Method actors beware!!

Plus, the play’s got an enormous fake penis.

Scenes/Monologues: Scenes for a man and a woman or for two men. Monologues for women (20s/30s) and men (any age).

Bad Jazz by Rober Farquhar October, 2007. Paper: $12.95

Recommended by: Aynsley