Half Moon Theatre Caps Off its 10th Anniversary Season with cul-de-sac, a New Dark Comedy and Psychological Thriller

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Half Moon Theatre Caps Off its 10th Anniversary Season

with cul-de-sac, a New Dark Comedy and Psychological Thriller

by John Cariani, Tony-nominated Actor and One of North America’s Most-Produced Playwrights

Hyde Park, NY – Three suburban couples desperately trying to lead perfectly happy lives are at the heart of a cul-de-sac, a new dark comedy by John Cariani that opens Saturday, April 29 at Half Moon Theatre. Cariani, a Tony-nominated Broadway actor (Fiddler on the Roof, Something Rotten!), is also one of North America’s most-produced playwrights, best known for his plays Almost, Maine and Love/Sick.

Directed by Michael Schiralli, cul-de-sac features an all-star cast of six actors from New York City and Chicago: Michael Borrelli, Katie Hartke, Sean Hayden, Samantha Jones, Molly Renfroe Katz and Bruch Reed.

They play the three married couples in the play -- the Smiths, the Johnsons, and the Joneses -- who live on a nice little street in a nice little suburb in a nice little state in a nice big country. As the play begins, it is an ordinary spring evening and they’re all very happy -- or trying desperately to be. The extreme measures they take to achieve happiness -- or at least look happy -- are both hilarious and haunting.

Cul-de-sac “is a psychological – and real -- thriller that examines the American dream and the nightmare it can become,” Cariani says.

Half Moon Theatre audiences will be the first to see this very new version of a script the playwright has been revising and re-working, on and off, since 2006. Even in its early phases, the play captured the theater world’s attention. The New York Times called it “charming, witty and macabre,” noting that Cariani has a “gift for the banality and comedy of despair.” NYTheatre.com has praised the play for its “clear-eyed profundity. . .[and] an equal amount of laughs,” adding that cul-de-sac serves as “a potent wake-up call.”

Half Moon Theatre is delighted to collaborate with Cariani for a third time, having previously produced his plays Almost, Maine (in 2010) and Love/Sick (in 2013). Half Moon’s Artistic Director, Michael Schiralli, is looking forward to entering the world of John Cariani. “Working on a new piece with the author is a luxury. Hearing firsthand how he sees and hears it, is both a gift and a challenge. . . the possibilities seem endless.” Schiralli notes that in the play, “Everyone's ‘jonesing’ to keep up with everyone else – they’re all chasing their tails in pursuit of the magical happiness their neighbors seem to have.“

Carian’s previous plays have been tremendously popular with high school students. In 2013 Almost, Maine replaced Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as the top play performed in high schools. Up to 1,600 high school students will see cul-de-sac at school matinee performances and participate in discussion forums with the playwright, thanks in part to a grant from AT&T in memory of the late Valerie MacKay, local resident and former Half Moon Theatre board member.

Cul-de-sac will be performed at The Culinary Institute of America’s Marriott Pavilion from Saturday, April 29, 2017 through Sunday, May 14, 2017, with two special weekday matinee performances for schools and community groups on Wednesday, May 10 and Thursday, May 11 at 10 a.m. Tickets range from $20 - $40 and discounts are available for groups of 8 or more. Opening night audiences will enjoy a complimentary reception with the artists immediately following the show.

What: cul-de-sac, a new dark comedy and psychological thriller by John Cariani

Where: The Culinary Institute of America–Marriott Pavilion, 1946 Campus Drive, Hyde Park, NY

When: Saturday, April 29, 2017 through Sunday, May 14, 2017

Tickets: $20 - $40. Info & sales: halfmoontheatre.org or 845-235-9885