Motel Destiny

By George F. Walker

...a night of two dark comedies set in the same seedy motel room, involving a collection of lovable losers colliding with fate....

"These plays are water that actors can walk on." -Daniel DeRaay

Problem Child

Directed by Matthew Poulson

The story of Denise and her ex-con husband R.J.. They are holed up in their motel room trying to get their child out of foster care. Helen is the social worker assigned to their case. Though she likes R.J., Helen righteously disapproves of Denise and sparks fly. Denise decides on an alternate plan to get their child back and enlists the help of Phillie Phillips, the alcoholic manager of the motel. What follows is hilarious mayhem complete with hidden bodies, TV talk shows, and acts of drunken heroism.

The cast includes Meredith Berlin as Denise, David Pausch as R.J., Catherine Green as Helen, and Kevin M. Boseley as Phillie.

Criminal Genius

Directed by Marty Mulhern

This play marks the return of father/son petty thieves, Rolly and Stevie Moore. These are perhaps Walker's favorite buffoons, who also appeared in Mercury's Escape from Happiness in 1997.

In this tale the Moores badly botch an arson attempt and then must answer to their fiery boss Shirley "The Pearl" Kataki. The more the Moore boys try to dig out of their predicament the wilder it careens out of control. Phillie Phillips, the drunken motel manager once again becomes part of the action. A kidnapped crime boss' daughter, Amanda Castle is the fifth character in Criminal Genius. She ultimately takes charge of this motley crew in a descending spiral of comic despair. (Gogo and Didi meet Thelma and Louise.)

Mercury veterans Jake Jacobson and Pete Selbo are back to reprise their roles as Rolly and Stevie Moore. Nancy Streckert plays Shirley, Clare Mayo Sorman is Amanda, and Kevin M. Boseley returns as Phillie.

Produced by Mercury Players at Brave Hearts Theater, 1988 Atwood Ave. At Schenks Corners, corner 2nd St. and Winnebago, next to Wonders Pub

Thur
Fri
Sat
April 22
8 pm
April 23
8 pm
April 24
8 pm
April 29
8 pm
April 30
8 pm
May 1
8 pm
May 6
8 pm
May 7
8 pm
May 8
8 pm

Admission: $9.00 (pay what you can on Thursdays). Reservations: 242-0150

For more information call Marty Mulhern (242-9808) or Matthew Poulson (257-9741).

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George F. Walker was born in Toronto in 1947. His career as a playwright began in 1970 when he wrote his first play in response to a lamp-post bill soliciting scripts for Toronto's Factory Theatre Lab, then a fledgling, shoe-string operation housed in a former candle factory. He spent the next five years as playwright-in-residence at the Factory Theatre, where he wrote Beyond Mozambique, which premiered there in 1974. He has written over twenty plays, including two series featuring recurring characters: the Power plays and the East End plays. Mr. Walker has twice won the prestigious Governor General's Award for Drama, first for Criminals in Love, and East End play, and again for Nothing Sacred (1988), an adaptation of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, which has since been widely produced in the United States. Problem Child and Criminal Genius are from his most recent collection, Suburban Motel.

Matthew Poulson (director) is an original member of the Mercury Players Theatre. He acted in Little Slices in 1994 and Beirut in 1995. He has also performed in Broom Street Theater productions. Matt then spent three years in Seattle, working as an administrator at Theater Schmeater. He is now back in Madison working on his Master of Arts in Arts Administration at UW-Madison. He happily returns to Mercury Players Theatre to direct and produce Motel Destiny.

Marty Mulhern (director) has written and directed a number of plays, including Buck Mulligan's Revenge, Bon Voyage Brendan, and The Sitcom Family. He appeared as an actor in the Mercury Players productions of Little Slices, Savior of the Universe, and Temp Slave, the musical, and directed Mercury's Raised in Captivity, Savior of the Universe, and George F. Walker's Escape from Happiness. Marty's play, The Man Who Laughs, adapted from Victor Hugo, was produced at New York's Thirteenth Street Repertory Theater in 1998.