The Amoralists Announce Derek Ahonen Talkback, 7/15

The Amoralists announced today that the group will be presenting a post-show talkback on Sunday, July 15 with playwright Derek Ahonen. Joe Meyers of the Connecticut Post will moderate the discussion, which follows the 2pm performance. The Amoralists are currently presenting the critically acclaimed World Premiere of Ahonen's The Bad and the Better, directed by Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin.

The hardworking downtown theater company began its uptown 6-week Off-Broadway run on June 14 at The Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42 Street) in New York City. Performances continue through July 21, running on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $49.95 and can be purchased online at https://www.TicketCentral.com or by calling 212-279-4200. For more information on the show visit http://www.TheBadandtheBetter.com.

The critics have called Derek Ahonen's The Bad and the Better "an outlandishly twisted thriller" (TimeOut NY), "highly entertaining" (Associated Press), "creative, smart, funny, and gritty" (Huffington Post), "a triumph" (NYTheatre.com), "an enormous achievement" (The L Magazine) and "a rampageous neo-noir with a dirty mouth" (Village Voice). The cast has been called "a well-oiled killing machine" (New York Magazine), while Ahonen was heralded as "part journalist, part philosopher and part saloon poet" (Connecticut Post).

Derek Ahonen is the Resident Playwright, Co-founder and Associate Artistic Director of the award-winning Amoralists Theatre Company. Ahonen is the author of the full-length plays Like the Fog to the Sun, Pink Knees on Pale Skin, Happy in the Poorhouse, The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side, Amerissiah, Pokin' the Bears in a Zoo, Bring Us the Head of Your Daughter and While Chasing the Fantastic.

The Bad and the Better, a riveting detective noir, centers around the Lang brothers. One with everything to lose. One with everything to prove. Both in too deep. Set in the basements, balconies and bars where secrets are whispered and revealed, join a group of local anarchists, law enforcement officials and political power players. All are waging war: against injustice, corruption and, ultimately, the people they love the most. A cautionary tale about the hypocrisy of extreme principles, The Bad and the Better explores the dangers of maintaining loyalty and protecting your family, whoever they are, at any cost. When it comes to the bad and the better, what's the difference?

The cast is comprised of 26 actors and features Amoralists ensemble members ByRon Anthony, William Apps, Selene Beretta, James Kautz, Nick Lawson, Sarah Lemp, Sarah Roy, Anna Stromberg, Jordan Tisdale and Vanessa Vache. The cast also includes first time Amoralists actors Clyde Baldo, Reuben Barsky, Penny Bittone, Regina Blandon, Ugo Chukwu, Wade Dunham, Edgar Eguia, Chris Lanceley, David Lanson, Judy Merrick, David Nash, Cassandra Paras, James Rees, Dan Stern, Kelley Swindall and Chris Wharton.

The creative team includes Alfred Schatz (Set Design), Natalie Robin (Lighting Design), Philip Carluzzo (Sound Design), Moria Clinton (Costume Design), Matthew Pilieci (Assistant Director), Whitney Dearden (Stage Manager), Judy Merrick (Prop Master) and Danica Novgorodoff (Artwork). The production team consists of Kelcie Beene (Producer), Form Theatricals (Anthony Francavilla and Zachary Laks), Sean Bauer (Director of Production), Caroline Hendrix (Director of Development) and Seena Hodges (Director of Marketing).

The Amoralists is a theatre company that produces work of no moral judgment. Dedicated to an honest expression of the American condition, their ensemble explores complex characters of moral ambiguity. Leaving no stone unturned, they plunge the depths of the social, political, spiritual and sexual characteristics of human nature.