Hotbed of Drama in The Common Air at Theatre Asylum
Theatre Asylum (6320 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90038)
- Full Price:
- $20.00
- Our Price:
- FREE - $10.00*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for The Common Air have expired.
The last date listed for The Common Air was Saturday April 26, 2008 / 8:00pm.
Currently at Theatre Asylum:
Improvatorium's Pure Improv: Scenes, Songs and Games
- Full Price:
- $10.00
- Our Price:
- $5.00
Improvatorium, the company that brought you Zombience and Hitchcocked, brings you Pure Improv, a hilarious short-form improv show at Theatre Asylum. With long-form improv currently in fashion, Improvatorium returns to improvised scenes, songs, extended scenes, and traditional improv games that are now almost considered retro. The show is directed by Patrick Bristow (Ellen, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Who's Line is it Anyway?) and stars a rotating cast with a new special guest each show. Learn More
13 Goldstar Member Reviews
Ellen M.
Fantastic show. The actor/writer structured the play beautifully and gave interesting, multi-dimensional characters. The acting was superb. Very well done.Written on Mar 10 2008
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PK
It was incredible. One man plays six different roles in a very unique way, each with a different personality and a different outlook. He does it all very well and the story weaves together in a way you would not expect. One of the best works I have seen recently!Written on Feb 11 2008
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Fabulous acting job.. Amazing portrayal of many characters.Written on Feb 11 2008
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Victor B.
This was an excellent one man performance. There were six roles each leading to the other. The actor was able to morph from one character to another. I felt that in places the plot line dragged. But for the most part the show held my interest.Written on Feb 11 2008
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More Information About The Common Air
Website
Quotes & Highlights
- CRITICS CHOICE "A Must See Show" - LA Times
- The show is transferring from a run at the Lillian Theatre, where it was a success with Goldstar's members.
- "A complex network of ideas... Characters are developed with subtlety and depth... Punctuated with precision and sensitivity." --Backstage West
- “There's not an ounce of fat on writer-director Robert McCaskill and writer-performer Alex Lyras' tightly structured one-person show.” --LA Weekly
- “An appealingly inventive structure. Mr. Lyras brings a physical robustness to characters who are nicely delineated New Yorkers.” --New York Times
Description
From the authors of Unequalibrium, Alex Lyras and Robert McCaskill, comes The Common Air, selected for Best Plays 2002 and Best Men’s Monologues for the Twenty-First Century.
The Common Air links six distinct characters during an airport delay. The reason is unknown. But rumors insinuate a terrorist conspiracy.
The first character, an Iraqi Cab Driver, has an idea for a reality series which he pitches with no inhibition to his passenger, an Art Gallery Owner, the second character.
The Gallery Owner is struggling with a long buried personal issue: to return or not to the boyfriend he abandoned seven years ago. Two key-lime martinis has made him spill his dilemma to a Corporate Attorney, the third character.
The sleep deprived Attorney evokes the reality show "Nanny 911" to illuminate the point that "following the rules" is for children. He imparts his rapid-fire, multi-fragmented, ethically grey advice to a hipster DJ, the fourth character.
DJ PJ is in the throws of his own crisis: a lawsuit over illegally sampling a client's music. PJ's point of view is severely challenged by a university Philosophy Professor, the fifth character.
The Professor is fighting a custody battle for his 11-year-old son, via cell phone, with his soon-to-be-ex-wife. He presents his argument with a sinister mix of logic and irrationality to the sixth character, an Iraqi-American just returned from Baghdad.
The Iraqi American brings us full circle as he articulates his journey to the Cab Driver from the top of the show. His arrival in the middle-east began with a government catering contract to feed U.S. Troops and ended up in recruitment to a Shia terrorist organization.
The Common Air is a comedic/dramatic exploration of the perpetually changing narratives we arrive at, and depart from in trying to make sense of life's ever-evolving present tense. What happens when the cell phones die, when iPods and laptops lose their charge, when we are forced to revert to the non-high-speed way of communicating? Are we even capable any more? Or have our minds devolved into hard drives that crash at the slightest wave of turbulence?