Review: John J. Wooten's FLAWLESS at Premiere Stages-An Excellent Topical Production

“I can program Percy, but I need ideas.” by Tess in Flawless

Timely and thought provoking! Premiere Stages’ production of John J. Wooten’s play Flawless is now on stage, and you don’t want to miss it. Ingeniously directed by Joe Brancato, the Artistic Director of Penguin Rep, the show features great staging, three talented actors and a riveting story.

Flawless had its world premiere at Penguin Rep and is being produced in partnership with Penguin Rep and Shadowland Stages in Ellenville, NY, where it will run for an additional three weeks in October with the same company.

In the story, Tess, an award-winning playwright, has created an AI software program called Percy to write plays using effective prompts. When she visits Frank, her romantic partner and a seasoned writer, he calls the integrity of her work into question.  Frank’s career has lapsed and Tess attempts to convince him that AI is the future of playwriting. This finely written, fascinating play effectively questions the role of technology in creative expression and the arts.      

Flawless features Ellen Adair as Tess, Michael Frederic as Frank, and Alexander Rios as Percy. The trio of actors completely master their character portrayals. Tess is steadfast in her commitment to AI, while Frank stubbornly rejects it.  The program, Percy is perfectly depicted as a demanding, inquiring robot.

The Creative Team has done a top job of bringing Flawless to Premiere Stages.  The Team includes set and costume design by Christian Fleming; lighting design by Martin Vreeland; projections design by Yana Biryukova; and original music and sound design by Max Silverman. The Props Master is Buffy Cardoza; Fight Director is J. Allen Suddeth; Madeleine Blossom is the Production Stage Manager; Caroline Leberdee is the Assistant Stage Manager; and Michael Notardonato serves as the Assistant Director.

We applaud John Wooten for not only helming Premiere Stages as the Producing Artistic Director but also sharing with metro area audiences his excellent skills as a playwright.  We are sure that Flawless is a play that will go far!

Premiere Stages is committed to producing topical plays and interactive programs that reflect people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, national origins, nationalities, ancestry, religious groups, gender expression or identities, sexual orientation, political beliefs, ages, abilities and disabilities.

Flawless runs through September 20 in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center on the Kean University main campus in Union, N.J. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 3:00pm & 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. A 3:00pm matinee has been added on Friday, September 18. There is no performance the evening of Saturday, September 19. Audience members are invited to engage more deeply with Mr. Wooten’s play in free Community Connections following select performances.  To purchase tickets for Flawless, call the box office at 908-737-7469 or visit Premiere Stages online at  www.premierestagesatkean.com.  There are significant discounts for groups of more than 10.

Photo Credit: Mike Peters

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