Parables for the One Percent – Location, Tickets, Reviews
Karl Custer’s Parables for the One Percent is a satirical comedy about the nation’s richest individuals, featuring the exaggerated interior monologues of elite one-percenters.
The play has three alternating scenarios. In the first, two wealthy women–both named Jacqueline–savagely compete to be the doyenne of their posh neighborhood (and we mean ‘savagely’ very literally — blood is drawn). In the second, a billionaire couple adopts a stray dog named “Recession,” and go on to adore and profit off their wonderful, rapidly growing pup; they watch giddily as he prances around the nation, gentrifying neighborhoods and transforming public playgrounds into golf courses (an obvious metaphor). The last scene follows a greedy, heartless pharaoh and his pitiful slave. They parody the relationship between the wealthy and the impoverished: the rich claim that if the poor would work harder their situation would improve, yet at the same time insist that the poor ‘pay their dues’ to their ‘masters’ in order to stay alive.
During transitions, funny clips from the media (such as bits from stand-up comedy and the Bethenny Frankel show) are projected to buoy the upcoming scene.
Maxamoo
Parables for the One Percent was a refreshing production with a resonate voice and cool comic appeal. Needless to say, you need to be somewhat in-the-know in order to fully appreciate this play. Though it employs many puns, political jokes, and subtle innuendos that anyone recently emerged from rock dwelling or unfamiliar with basic economics may find difficult to follow, a PhD in economics is not required.
Public Opinion
The play, which boasted a full house on its opening night, opened to a warm reception. A handful of white men in suits chuckled loudly all throughout the show and my companion and I–who are neither white nor manly–also found it amusing. The audience was fairly diverse and yet everyone chortled in unison, an indication to us that the show will appeal to many (minus perhaps the most uptight members of the population it’s parodying and people with a certain strict political bent).
Have you seen this show? What’s your opinion of it? Comment below, or tweet to us at @Maxamoo.
Critics Reviews
None yet — it’s a small production so it hasn’t garnered any reviews, but we’ll keep an eye out.
TICKETS
$19.25 (click here for tickets)
DATES
January 8 – 12, 2014
LOCATION
The Studio Theatre
410 West 42nd Street
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
1 hour and 30 minutes, no intermission
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Written by Karl Custer
Directed by Samantha Lee Manas
Featuring Ari Vigoda, Stephanie Alvarez, David Weinheimer, Casey Bartolucci, Tierney Nolen, Anna Stefanic, and Cameran Hebb
NEWS
News
Indiegogo
Parables for the One Percent Fundraiser