Black Comedy 'A Behanding in Spokane' Opens Dec. 2 at Sixth St. Theatre

RACINE -- Over Our Head Players opens the three week run of the black comedy A Behanding in Spokane on December 2. A darkly-comic new play by acclaimed playwright Martin McDonagh, A Behanding in Spokane runs weekends December 2 - 18 at the Sixth Street Theatre, 318 Sixth Street, Downtown Racine.

In A Behanding in Spokane, Carmichael has been searching for his missing left hand for 27 years. Toby and Marilyn, two bickering lovebirds, claim to have his long-lost appendage. They meet up in a small town hotel, where Merwyn works reception and has an aversion for gunfire. Life and death are up for grabs, and fate is governed by imbeciles and madmen in this darkly comic new play. Like a farce, it moves rapidly from comic shock to comic shock.

How to Go:

• A Behanding in Spokane runs December 2, 3, 4; 9, 10, 11; and 16, 17, 18.
• Friday shows are at 8:00, Saturdays are at 5:30 and 8:00, and Sundays are at 2:30.
• Tickets are $17.50 on Fridays and Saturdays and $15.00 on Sundays.
• For reservations or information, please call the box office, (262)632-6802.
• Tickets are also available online at www.overourheadplayers.org.
• All performances are at the Sixth Street Theatre, 318 Sixth Street, Racine.
• A Behanding in Spokane includes strong language.

Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s play premiered on Broadway in 2010. His first American-set play, it shares the brutality and dark humor of McDonagh’s previous works. “In a strange way, it is rather like a twenty-first-century version of a farce—strip away the various brutalities, and you are left with a precisely constructed drama of mistake and misapprehension…I found it irresistible." —Telegraph (UK). "Insane yet also fiendishly funny. McDonagh is a specialist in unleashed violence, in which he shamelessly revels. Here the violence is comical, and we are kept guessing throughout a farce that is as irresistible as it is improbable…moves at farce speed from shock to comic shock." —Bloomberg.com.

Director Rich Smith likes to think of playwright McDonagh as “the Quentin Tarantino of the stage, mining comedy from shock, strong language, and just a bit of gore.” In A Behanding in Spokane, Smith finds the humor is character-driven and the laughs come from unexpected places. He also notes, “Over Our Head Players continues to bring America’s edgiest new comedies to our audiences; we are proud to present this challenging and unique production.”

The A Behanding in Spokane cast features A.J. Laird, Nicholas Hoyt, Anne Mollerskov, and Robbie Shaw. Rich Smith directs and production manages, Joseph Piirto provides technical direction, and Paul Reese is stage manager for A Behanding in Spokane. The staff includes Sea Daniel, Skip Carlson, Jim Smith, Jerry Horton, Diane Carlson, Ron Schulz, Kevin Hlavka, and Janine Anderson.

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image: patch.com file photo