DICTATORS FOR HIRE Starts 2/21 at Midwinter Madness

Playwright Joseph Beck "takes on the proliferation of reality shows and the struggling U.S. economy in the very timely political comedy Dictators For Hire."

This one-act work will be performed on February 21, 25 and 26 at Roy Arias Theaters, located at 300 West 43rd Street as part of the 2nd Annual Midwinter Madness Short Play Festival. Midwinter Madness is presented by John Chatterton and the Midtown International Theatre Festival.

With the economy in the toilet and jobs scarcer than Republicans in New York City, an executive staffing service struggles to make ends meet. Enlisting the aid of former U.S. Gubernatorial Candidate Jimmy ("the rent is too damn high") McMillan, they convince Donald Trump to back a celebrity reality show where the agency can get anyone the job they seek. The program becomes a runaway hit, thanks to celebrity recruiters Joan Rivers, Sarah Palin and Barney Frank finding jobs for everyone from former lobbyists to recently paroled criminals at institutions ranging from the New York Public Library to the United States Marine Corps. But when Saif Ghadaffi, son of Moammar, stops by to inquire about a job in corporate America, and Hosni Mubarak becomes a continual presence on the phone, things start getting out of hand. As calls and resumes from other former despots start coming in, the agency struggles to prevent their cash cow from going completely off the rails. 

 

The cast of Dictators for Hire features Philip Waller, Amy Losi, Sanjay Sahni, Tom Watson, Brandye Kemp, Mary McBain, Kat Lee, Pamela Bell and Bradley Sumner. 

 

Joseph Beck's plays include Saddam The Musical, Thanksgiving, A Birthday Party, Don't Leave Tracks andMurderous Huntington. He has also written three novels, over a dozen short stories and numerous published articles. His latest book, Against The Odds, is a memoir whose research took him to Miami, Panama and Costa Rica. 

 

Philip Waller is a recent graduate of Oberlin College where he received a BFA with Honors in Theatre. He has directed productions of Legal Infidelity (Thespian Productions), a previous version of Dictators for Hire (Manhattan Rep), The Brothers Savage (The Dramatists Guild), This Is Our Youth, Love's Labour's Lost, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, and Seven Jewish Children (all at Oberlin College) among others. Philip has also trained at SUNY Purchase, The American Academy for the Dramatic Arts, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Dictators for Hire will be performed on Tuesday, February 21st at 9pm, Saturday February 25th at 9pm and Sunday, February 26 at 8 pm at the Roy Arias Theaters, located at 300 West 43rd Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues). Tickets: $17.00. Reservations: 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com Additional information can be found on the Midwinter Madness web pages at www.LocalTheatreNY.com.

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