Chicken Box Presents Baltimore Premiere of EIGHTYSIX, Now thru 11/8
Starting at age fourteen until her early twenties, playwright Annelise Montone earned her spending money waiting tables. Some places were fancy, some cheap, but they all had one thing in common: the camaraderie of the people in the trenches. The work was backbreaking, but the experiences she shared with others in the business were unforgettable. eightysix brings those experiences to life in a short play with a unique docudrama feel. In just sixty minutes director Diane Appel will orchestrate the chaos as eight actors become dozens of characters, from servers to hostesses to busboys to customers to chefs, to show you what's really going on "behind the line".
"This play is for the downstairs, the invisible, the working class," says playwright Annelise Montone. "I'll never forget what it felt like to have a customer sneeze into a tissue and shove it into my hand while I was waiting tables. The show is funny, for sure, but it also has an undercurrent of comeuppance to it - hopefully you'll walk away with a different kind of appreciation for all the people who serve you, from the Comcast phone operator to the convenience store clerk, every single day."
eightysix opens tonight, November 5th, presenting five performances until November 8th at The Chicken Box, 1 W. North Ave (N. Charles St), Baltimore, MD 21201. Visit http://charmcityfringe.com/tickets/2014/9/10/eightysix to purchase tickets. Tickets are $10 each with the one-time purchase of a $3 festival button.
The cast features: Adeline Sutter, Brian M. Kehoe, Kel Millionie, Thom Sinn, Steven Shriner, Deirdre McAllister, Ann Turiano and Rob Vary
About the Artists:
Annelise Montone and Diane Appel have been best friends and partners in crime nearly a decade. Together, they strive to bring more to their creative passions together than they would alone - they believe the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts! Serving together at Open Space Arts in Reisterstown, Maryland from 2006-2010 (Montone the Creative Director, Appel the Education Director) the duo produced three full-scale family productions written by Montone and directed by Appel: The Stained Glass Phoenix, The Nightingale Dream and The Day the Apple Fell on the Path (in addition to one short play showcase The 2010 Summer Playwright's Festival featuring Montone's short piece Atropa Belldonna). In 2010, they left Open Space and formed Salt Luck Arts in Baltimore, Maryland. With Salt Luck, they produced another short play festival at 14K Cabaret in 2011: @TheMoment: #5shortplaysonlifein2011 featuring Montone's short pieces Con-Text and 140 Characters. Also with Salt Luck, they produced Montone's Oraculous at Mobtown Players in 2012. In 2013, Appel had a baby and they took a year off. But now they're back with eightysix for Charm City Fringe!
Charm City Fringe Fest is an annual event and a staple of the Baltimore performing arts community. Through an annual theatre festival and regular educational community workshops, CCF works to cultivate Baltimore as a hub for theatre and the performing arts and expand and enhance creative learning opportunities for Baltimore's youth. 2014 includes an exciting collaboration for the festival as well, with Baltimore brewing stalwart Brewer's Art producing a special limited release beer for the Fringe Festival. Visit www.charmcityfringe.com for more information.