an evening on the porch

"an evening on the porch" was performed at Circle Players in Piscataway, NJ on July 13, 14, 20 and 21.

Zebulon Calling

Drop

Part 1

Part 2

Coffee Break

A Man of Cortes

Some Colors on a Wall

Part 1

Part 2

Early Morning in the Tenement

At the SAG Registry

The Fruppum, Alabama, Chamber of Commerce

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

 

Past Stage Works

The Porch Room's theatrical division has to date produced two critically-acclaimed stage productions:

Five Cornered Thinking

First performed at THE NEW YORK COMEDY CLUB, September, 2000

A collection of one-act plays written, directed and performed entirely by the Porch Room. The highly successful show combined the elements of comedy, music, dance and the bizarre to delight audiences at Manhattan's famous New York Comedy Club!


The Pieces

Body

BODY - by Pete - a comic set of variations on an unlikely (outside New York, at least) discovery in a public restroom.

The Clive Way

THE CLIVE WAY - by John - What happens when a motivational speaker mistakenly lectures a group of anger-management patients? This play, that's what.

Riff's Lament

RIFF'S LAMENT - by Adam - A musical duo encounters a somewhat interesting third individual. Wild antics ensue.

Hangman


HANGMAN - by Pete - A darkly comic piece about five boarding school students and their drug-induced enlightenment.

BURT REYNOLDS' AMAZING NAPALM-POWERED OVEN and OTHER PAID PROGRAMMING

First performed at THE NEW YORK INT'L FRINGE FESTIVAL, August, 2001

Another collection of one-act plays written, directed and performed by the Porch Room. This play marked the Room's first foray into the wild, wooly world of the NY Fringe Festival, and also brought the group to the attention of the press.

The Pieces...

Burt Reynolds' Amazing Napalm-Powered Oven

BURT REYNOLDS' AMAZING NAPALM-POWERED OVEN- -by Zack - An infomercial that will only seem extreme to those who have never actually witnessed this altogether unintentionally mirthful form of entertainment.

The Fruppum, Alabama CHamber of Commerce

THE FRUPPUM, ALABAMA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE- by John - Zeke and Rufus discuss the meaning of life, the nature of Evian, modern economics and pure evil (aka Wal-Mart).

At the SAG Registry

AT THE SAG REGISTRY- by Adam & Pete - What's in a name? Don't ask the Screen Actors Guild. Or George Lucas, for that matter...

Early Morning in The Tenement

EARLY MORNING IN THE TENEMENT- by Pete - Dublin -1, Microsoft - 0. Gotta see it to figure out what the hell that means. Later developed into The Porch Room's first short film.

The Banderscott

THE BANDERSCOTT- by Pete - A sales pitch for what may be the greatest invention in the history of mankind.

Reviews

The Porch Room's efforts occassionally catch the attention of America's finest institution, the free press guaranteed by the First Amendment. This page includes just some Room reviews that have appeared in print...

Reviews of 'Burt Reynolds' Amazing Napalm-Powered Oven...
Reviewed by Esther Tolkoff on August 30, 2001 in Backstage & Backstage.com

This series of vignettes is fun. The audience laughed in all the right places and cheerfully joined in when asked to participate. In one skit, a surprise serious moment leaps out like a fireball, making its shocking "zap" that much more powerful. But for the most part, this production consists of hilarious satire.

The basic premise uniting the various segments is that Burt Reynolds (Zachary R. Mannheimer) may well be the Messiah. The opening skit is a send-up of your standard infomercial--in this case for the product for which the play is named. The program handed out to audience members is a mock "TV Guide," a "special, all Burt Reynolds issue" complete with an insert requesting one's credit card numbers and other useful data.

Except for Mannheimer, all of the players--Faith Agnew, Pete Barry, Tony Galarza, Adam B. Kaufman, Skip Moore, and Ruben Ortiz--take on several roles and do so well. The characters include the chef/pitchman for the wonderful oven; two Southern redneck gas station owners; a gay Web site designer; a seemingly nerdy Irish computer game addict and his roommate; several actors signing up for their first SAG card; a slimy business executive; baseball player Alex Rodriguez; and a pitchman for an entirely different, bizarre product and its inventor. There are also "plants" playing television audience members (James Angelo, Brian Corr, John Kowalski), who leap up to recount their outrageous experiences to the supposed millions watching. Kowalski was particularly hilarious, earnestly recounting an endless, exceedingly ridiculous dream.

The skits were written and directed by Mannheimer, Barry, Kaufman, and John P. Dowgin. It all worked. If you're looking for a light, good laugh, this show will provide it.