Year of The Rooster

by Olivia DuFault
directed by McKerrin Kelly
Scenic Design – Amanda Krehans
Costume Design – Michael Mullen
Lighting Design – Bosco Flannagan
Sound Design – Warren Davis
Prop Design - Kelby McClellan
Fight Choreographer - Jen Albert
FEATURING: Keston John, Gregory Nussen, Travis Moscinski, Amanda Celine Miller, Kathleen O'Grady, Christopher Neiman
Produced by Theatre of NOTE in Los Angeles, CA
"Director McKerrin Kelly keeps the pace tight and the tension tightly wound...Keston John delivers an explosive and physically charged performance as prized cock Odysseus Rex. His imaginative exploration of the rooster’s gestures, thoughts and feelings is worth the price of admission. Christopher Neiman finds deep-seated resentment beneath the slick showman facade of Dickey, a slimy cockfight promoter who desperately wants to be the biggest, meanest guy in town. Kathleen O’Grady delivers a well-measured performance as a self-centered, emotionally manipulative and generally terrible mother, Lou. Amanda Celine Miller shines as Philipa, the feisty McDonald’s manager with ambitions of her own. Travis Moscinski is the backbone of the play, as a bullied young man with a lot to prove. A lovable loser with a bad case of bloated ambition." StageRaw.com
Director's Notes
I’m going to hazard a guess that most of you have never been to a cockfight. Many of you may feel a visceral aversion to the idea of blood sport and find it hard to understand why anyone would participate. I’m with you.
So how did we end up here, watching a play (that's actually kinda funny) about cockfighting? Because ultimately, this play is not about cockfighting.
The playwright says that “at its core, this play is something of a Greek tragedy.” But in this story our protagonist is not a man of high standing or importance, but an everyman. Which makes it ultimately about us.
Recently, our country has been forced to acknowledge a longstanding vein of anger, pain and fear that many people have been privileged enough to not even know existed. The racism, homophobia, misogyny, religious intolerance, and all around bullying of anything ‘other’ that has been a through line of this nation suddenly has a spotlight shown in its darkest corners.
The people in this play are in the middle of that spotlight. They are all desperately trying to keep their world view intact despite all evidence to the contrary. The struggle to avoid pain makes them behave in ways most of us insist we would never do. But this Greek tragedy encourages us to look at how the little guy behaves when pushed to the edge. Not the king or the warrior. The everyman.
Us.
So, here we are watching a play about cockfighting. Or not.
Maybe it’s about keeping your humanity in the face of constant dehumanization. Or discovering who you need to be to be courageous enough to see what’s really in front of you.
The choice of what to see is yours.
Place your bets.
directed by McKerrin Kelly
Scenic Design – Amanda Krehans
Costume Design – Michael Mullen
Lighting Design – Bosco Flannagan
Sound Design – Warren Davis
Prop Design - Kelby McClellan
Fight Choreographer - Jen Albert
FEATURING: Keston John, Gregory Nussen, Travis Moscinski, Amanda Celine Miller, Kathleen O'Grady, Christopher Neiman
Produced by Theatre of NOTE in Los Angeles, CA
"Director McKerrin Kelly keeps the pace tight and the tension tightly wound...Keston John delivers an explosive and physically charged performance as prized cock Odysseus Rex. His imaginative exploration of the rooster’s gestures, thoughts and feelings is worth the price of admission. Christopher Neiman finds deep-seated resentment beneath the slick showman facade of Dickey, a slimy cockfight promoter who desperately wants to be the biggest, meanest guy in town. Kathleen O’Grady delivers a well-measured performance as a self-centered, emotionally manipulative and generally terrible mother, Lou. Amanda Celine Miller shines as Philipa, the feisty McDonald’s manager with ambitions of her own. Travis Moscinski is the backbone of the play, as a bullied young man with a lot to prove. A lovable loser with a bad case of bloated ambition." StageRaw.com
Director's Notes
I’m going to hazard a guess that most of you have never been to a cockfight. Many of you may feel a visceral aversion to the idea of blood sport and find it hard to understand why anyone would participate. I’m with you.
So how did we end up here, watching a play (that's actually kinda funny) about cockfighting? Because ultimately, this play is not about cockfighting.
The playwright says that “at its core, this play is something of a Greek tragedy.” But in this story our protagonist is not a man of high standing or importance, but an everyman. Which makes it ultimately about us.
Recently, our country has been forced to acknowledge a longstanding vein of anger, pain and fear that many people have been privileged enough to not even know existed. The racism, homophobia, misogyny, religious intolerance, and all around bullying of anything ‘other’ that has been a through line of this nation suddenly has a spotlight shown in its darkest corners.
The people in this play are in the middle of that spotlight. They are all desperately trying to keep their world view intact despite all evidence to the contrary. The struggle to avoid pain makes them behave in ways most of us insist we would never do. But this Greek tragedy encourages us to look at how the little guy behaves when pushed to the edge. Not the king or the warrior. The everyman.
Us.
So, here we are watching a play about cockfighting. Or not.
Maybe it’s about keeping your humanity in the face of constant dehumanization. Or discovering who you need to be to be courageous enough to see what’s really in front of you.
The choice of what to see is yours.
Place your bets.