The Mercy Seat August 25, 2006

Tricklock Theatre Company’s fall season opens with the Southwest Premiere of The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute, who is best known for his films In The Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, and The Shape of Things. LaBute’s gripping drama about two New Yorkers making a moral choice against the backdrop of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 will be the first theatrical production at the Orpheum Arts Space at 500 2nd Street Southwest, and runs from August 25 through September 24, 2006.

“The Mercy Seat is an exploration of the often brutal realities of the war between the sexes and explores whether one can be truly opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness,” says Joe Peracchio, artistic director of Tricklock Company. “It seemed appropriate to commemorate the 5th anniversary of September 11 with this production.”

In a time of national tragedy, the world changes overnight. On September 12, 2001, Ben Harcourt finds himself in the downtown apartment of his lover, Abby Prescott - who also happens to be his boss. His endlessly ringing cell phone haunts their conversation as the couple explores the choices now available to them in an existence radically changed from the one they knew just one day before.

The Mercy Seat received its world premiere in November of 2002, and was possibly the first artistic response to the 9/11 tragedy. In LaBute’s own words, “The destruction of the two buildings in New York City and the unfathomable loss of life that followed hangs like a damaged umbrella over the events of The Mercy Seat. Yet it is not a play that concerns itself with the politics of terrorism. Perhaps it does, actually, but it is a particular kind of terrorism: the painful, simplistic warfare we often wage on the hearts of those we profess to love...I don’t think of this piece as a significant response to the attack, [but] the particulars of the plot mechanics could have been put into motion only by the catastrophic events of that notorious Tuesday. In The Mercy Seat I am trying to examine the ‘ground zero’ of our lives, that gaping hole in ourselves that we try to cover up with clothes from The Gap, with cologne from Ralph Lauren, with handbags from Kate Spade. Why are we willing to run a hundred miles around simply saying to someone, ‘I don’t know if I love you anymore’? Why? Because Nikes are cheap, running is easy, and honesty is the hardest, coldest currency on the planet.”

Below are some press comments about The Mercy Seat and Neil LaBute:
“The sharply funny and incisive Seat is not a response to September 11, but a response to the response of September 11 - an emotionally jarring consideration of the self serving exploitation of tragedy for personal gain.” -Jason Zinoman, TimeOut New York

“LaBute is an original voice, and the best new playwright to emerge in the past decade.” -John Lahr, The New Yorker

Tricklock’s production is directed by Denise Schulz, an instructor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of New Mexico for the last 27 years. Along with teaching acting and directing there, she has also served as chair of the department and as associate dean in the College of Fine Arts. Schulz directed the Tricklock Company’s 2004 production of Dracula; and her recent shows at UNM were Laramie Project, Piece Of My Heart, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and The Madwoman Of Chaillot. She is retiring in the spring of 2007.

Actor Chad Brummett plays the part of Ben. Also a writer, director and producer with Tricklock Company, Brummett’s theatrical work has been seen on stages in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Belgrade, Krakow and Cologne. Credits with Tricklock include The Glorious and Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid, Dracula, Fool for Love, and Macbett. In April, he appeared at the Vortex Theatre in the title role in their critically acclaimed, five-week, sold-out run of Hamlet.

Brummett received his BA degree in Theatre from the University of New Mexico in 2001, and has additionally trained with Anne Bogart of SITI Company, KJ Sanchez of the Civilians in NYC, Ron Sossi and the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble of Los Angeles, The Staniewski Center for Theatre of Poland, and members of the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver.

Dodie Montgomery plays the role of Abby. Her theatrical experience spans 20 years, including eight years in Seattle acting, teaching theater, and working for such prestigious companies as Book –It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Repertory Theatre and Open Circle Theatre Company. She teaches acting part-time at UNM, participates actively in the Albuquerque theatre scene, and is working on a movie with Brummett titled The Faithful and the Foul, directed by Aaron Hendren, produced by Egg Murders Film Productions. Montgomery received her BA degree in Theatre and Dance at the University of Wyoming in 1991, and completed her MFA degree in Acting in 1996 at the University of Texas at Austin. In her “real life,” she’s the Operations Director for the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation.

The Mercy Seat runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. For reservations call 254-8393. Tickets are $15 adults, $10 students.

Tricklock Company is an international theater organization founded in 1993 whose mission is to create, tour, and produce theatrical productions as a permanent resident company committed to artistic risk, physicality, absurdism, and poetic work. In June of this year, Tricklock became the Theatre Company in Residence at the University of New Mexico. The company’s website is www.tricklock.com.

Official Website: http://www.tricklock.com