A Southern Gothic Space Cult Peddles a Shorter Life in KEYNOTE AT NECRO-CON at The Brick Theater This March

Max Keane's Keynote at Necro-Con is landing at The Brick Theater in Williamsburg this March; directed by Nick J. Browne (Song of Joy, Punk Rock, HIT THE WALL).

Keynote at Necro-Con is a sci-fi solo show, a speculative keynote speech-turned-exorcism about cults and climate change set on a distant-future Earth.

It stars High Priestess Vee, the figurehead of an isolationist nation-state called Ophanim's Gate. Her people believe that reducing one's life by 1/3rd elevates a person to a higher vibrational, neo-human, "star-born" state of being. The play chronicles the Gate's first attempt to recruit more followers from the Outside world, and the subsequent intervention of Vee's insurgent, estranged brother, who is on a ruthless quest to find and rescue her.

This is an evening of music, meditation, slideshows, and sideshows delineating a mind submerged in bad faith, and the consequences of a culture of violence pushed to the extreme.

Keynote at Necro-Con explores (and explodes) the ways language can reprogram our brains and normalize violent, unnatural, radioactive ways of thinking and living. It asks: What happens when you no longer recognize someone you love?

The production is joined by set designer Joyce Lai (For(give) Me, Theater for the New City); projection designer Euxuan Ong (The Skriker, Brooklyn College); lighting designer Jon DeGaetano (Lacey Rose and the Starling Quartet, HERE Arts); costume designer Sara Vandenheuvel (Berserker, Right Down Broadway Productions); and sound designer Marc Jablonski (The Gym at Judson, the Drama League).

About the Artists:

High Priestess Vee: Izzy Marinucci

Izzy is a New York City based actor and singer. Most recently, she has been a featured vocalist in shows such as Broadway's Rising Stars (The Town Hall) as well as 54 Sings Broadway's Greatest Hits and Love Song Saturday Night at 54 Below. Theater credits include the shes (The Public Theater), Gi60 International One Minute Theatre Festival (The Tank), Gloria (Department of Theater, Brooklyn College), and Tick,Tick...Boom! (Department of Theater, Brooklyn College). Since graduating from Brooklyn College's BFA Acting Program, she has starred in award-winning short films and filmed her first national commercial! Izzy is most excited about stories that challenge societal norms and allow us to explore our own humanity. She always finds humor and joy in life and art while striving to create work that changes people.

The Bruise/"Keith"/Flint: Nik Duggan

Nik is excited to support this special Keynote at Necrocon and collaborate with Nick Browne once again! THEATRE: "Chessman" (B Street Theatre), "Fire On the Mountain" (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley), "A Child's Guide to Heresy" (Pittsburgh Playhouse REP), "Noirtown" (Witness Theatre), "Every Brilliant Thing" (The Tribe). FILM/TV: "The Etruscan Smile" (Po Valley Productions, LLC), "Most Addicting Games Showdown" (Nickelodeon), "Cow-Boy" (NYU Tisch). When not acting, he creates films with NAPtime productions. Nik holds a BFA in Acting from Point Park University. Much love to family and friends!

Additional cast members include Suzanne Savoy, Sarah Jae Leiber, and Kevin Herrera as voice over artists.

Director: Nick J. Browne

Nick (he/they) is a freelance director, producer, and educator based out of New York City. Previous credits include the world premiere of Carol Mazhuvancheril's Song of Joy (2023 Core Production, The Tank), Simon Stephens' Punk Rock (Chinatown Soup), a site-specific production of Ike Holter's HIT THE WALL (National Historic Landmark; The Stonewall Inn), Chair by Joey Merlo (The 2022 Weasel Festival, The Tank), Jordan Tannahill's Concord Floral (Department of Theater, Brooklyn College), Platforms (LAByrinth Theater Co. Barn Series), HIT THE WALL (NYU, A Streak of Violet). They have directed internationally in the PEI Island Fringe Festival, studied with the 2022 La MaMa International Directors Symposium in Umbria Italy, were a part of LAByrinth Theater Company's 2019 Intensive Ensemble, and the 2015 SITI Summer Intensive in Saratoga Springs. Nick holds a BFA from Point Park University and an MFA from Brooklyn College. www.nickjbrowne.com

Playwright: Max Keane

Max is a playwright building worlds that are rooted in Gothic or sci-fi traditions, often using monstrosity as a palette to investigate and liberate alternate queer pasts, presents, and futures. Previous credits include: Break Room (The Wild Project), Number Six Down (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), Psychodrama (Muhlenberg College), and Goodnight, Sweet Polonius (Shakespeare on the Sound). He graduated from Muhlenberg College with a BA in Theatre and English, and will graduate in a couple short months with an MFA in Playwriting from Brooklyn College.

Costume Designer: Sara Vandenheuvel

Sara is a New York based costume designer with over ten years of experience in the field. I love getting wrapped up in the meticulous research that goes into expressing a character through dress. While I appreciate the specificity and detail found in realism, I'm far more excited by experimental theater. I will always consider myself a costume designer first, but recently I have also explored sound, puppetry, set decoration, and prop construction.

No matter the genre, I am committed to work that pushes boundaries. I believe that theater is most interesting when it has something to say and when it says it in a way that fully embraces the suspension of disbelief that only theater can get away with. You can see more of my work at saravandenheuvel.com

Sound Designer: Marc Jablonski

Marc is a theater artist and anthropologist who has composed/sound designed for a few dozen productions in NY, NJ, and PA at venues including The Gym at Judson, the Leslie-Lohman Museum, HERE, the New Ohio, Dixon Place, the Brick Theater, and 54 Below. Marc's musicals and sound plays have had developmental readings and workshops at the PIT Loft, the Drama League, Dixon Place, and NJ Rep. As a researcher and anthropologist, Marc is the Head of Business Intelligence at the theater/museum/arts agency AKA NYC, bringing audiences to over 100 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows.

Set Designer: Joyce Lai

Joyce Lai is a production and set designer based in New York City. She has designed for music video, short and feature film. Her work for live performance has been presented at Theater for the New City, The Muse, and the New Workshop Theatre at Brooklyn College. She is currently an MFA student in the Design & Technical Theater program at Brooklyn College, and holds a BA in Studio Art from Wesleyan University. http://joycelai.art

Projection Designer: Euxuan Ong

Euxuan Ong is an interdisciplinary designer from Malaysia whose work merges digital and spatial. She has worked in architectural and installation design, as well as graphic and video. She is currently pursuing her MFA in scenic design. Euxuanong.com