The Hole in the Wall Theater, New Britain's home for edgy and intriguing plays and musicals, takes on four world premiere one-act comedies by Connecticut playwright Jacques Lamarre. In a riotous evening entitled Jacques Lamarre Has Gone Too Far, characters push beyond the boundaries of normal, everyday situations into some rather bad behavior. Inspired by John Waters, Saturday Night Live and the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, Jacques Lamarre Has Gone Too Far is a whacked-out look at life today. The production, not suitable for younger viewers, runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. November 18 through December 10. There are two Sunday Matinees at 2 p.m. on November 27 and December 4.
In Jacques Lamarre Has Gone Too Far, the playwright looks at life in modern America and finds it a little stomach-churning. Four short plays make up the evening and each reflects our inability to maintain polite behavior. In Mignonette, directed by Bethany Sanderson, an encounter between two women in a dog park turns into a cat fight. In The Buck Stops Here, directed by Michael Daly, a frustrated housewife engages the services of an ad agency to give her husband a marketing makeover. In Cain DisAbeled, directed by Terri D'Arcangelo, a FarmVille fracas between brothers turns into a battle of biblical proportions. And in Jacques Lamarre Has Gone Too Far, directed by Kit Webb, the Disneyfied town of Celebration, Florida gets turned on its Mickey Mouse ears when the title character moves in next door to a pack of Tea Party Patriots.
The production features a mix of Hole in the Wall veterans and new faces: Kathleen-Marie Clark, Terri D'Arcangelo, James DeMarco, Jillian Dion, Roy Donnelly, Joan DuQuette-Aresco, Devin Horner, Angie Joachim, Rebecca Meakin, Charles Merlis, Johnny Peifer and Matthew Skwiot.
Jacques Lamarre is the Director of Communications and Special Projects at The Mark Twain House and Museum, where he co-adapted an evening of R-Rated Twain at the Hole in the Wall in August 2011. For the museum, he also adapted Twain's The Diaries of Adam & Eve for a one-night-only performance by Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker. He wrote the full-length comedy Gray Matters, which was performed by the Emerson Theater Collaborative at New York's Midtown International Theatre Festival (nominated for five awards including Outstanding Playwriting). The production was subsequently remounted at the Mystic Arts Center and the Charter Oak Cultural Center. Gray Matters had a reading as part of Little Theater of Manchester's Evenings at 7 series. His short play Stool was premiered at the New Works New Britain Festival and was a Top Ten finalist for the New York 15 Minute Play Festival. His short comedy The Family Plan was a semi-finalist for Fusion Theatre's "The Seven" and has been recently adapted into an opera by composer Philip Martin. It will be receiving its premiere on November 13th as part of Hartford Opera Theater's "New in November." As a member of the Floating Theater Company, Jacques will make his showcase debut on November 11th with the short work The Rub at Middletown's Buttonwood Tree. As a co-writer for international drag chanteuse Varla Jean Merman, he has worked on eight shows including The Girl with the Pearl Necklace, Anatomically Incorrect, The Loose Chanteuse, and The Book of Merman. Their shows have been performed around the globe including the Sydney Opera House, Joe's Pub and ARS NOVA in New York, Le Chat Noir in New Orleans, the Victoria Theater in San Francisco, the Theatre Offensive in Boston, and more. Jacques also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads, which has been screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival, the New York Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. His most recent project with Varla Jean was writing a series of online commercials for Fleet Enemas. Seriously.
Jacques Lamarre Has Gone Too Far runs at the Hole in the Wall Theater, 116 Main Street in New Britain, November 18, 19, 25, 26 and December 2, 3, 9, 10 at 8 p.m. and Sundays November 27 and December 4 at 2 p.m. The performance on Saturday Nov. 19 will be followed by classic Hole in the Wall festivities and a meet and greet with Jacques Lamarre. Tickets are $20 General Admission; $12 Students (with I.D.) and Seniors. To purchase tickets, visit www.hitw.org or call 860-229-3049 for reservations. Economy got you down? Join Hole in the Wall for Second Fridays and Second Sundays performances on our second Friday (Nov. 25) and our second Sunday (Dec. 4) are free of charge on a first come, first served basis. Hole in the Wall Theater is supported in part by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism and the Greater New Britain Arts Alliance.
