Black Gold by Seth Rozin
from:ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery category:Arts and Entertainment posted:October 4th, 2008
ArtsWest proudly presents the World Premiere of Black Gold, October 22 through November 15. This wildly political farce from Seth Rozin asks: What happens when an African-American man living in Detroit’s inner-city purchases an oil rig on eBay and discovers one of America’s largest oil reserves right under his own backyard? Will the poor get rich or will the rich just get richer?
Christopher Zinovitch (I Am My Own Wife) directs six actors playing over 80 roles in this fast-paced, vaudevillian satire of class, race and greed in a country that will go to dangerous lengths to keep the cheap crude flowing. Pulling no punches, the award-winning Black Gold (2008 Smith Prize, Best New Play) is the perfect play for the days immediately preceding – and following – the 2008 presidential election.
“Black Gold is about oil, oil companies, the federal government, Israel, Palestine, jealousy, greed, and ultimately, freedom,” said Executive Director Alan Harrison. “It’s a circus of a play, a fugue of ideas so powerful that we jumped at the chance of joining the National New Play Network, a powerful group of national theaters that are giving it a rolling world premiere.”
“The idea for Black Gold came to me in the wake of hurricane Katrina,” said playwright Seth Rozin. “I wondered how the government might respond if, instead of being devastated by a natural disaster, the same region was discovered to be sitting on an untapped reservoir of riches.”
“This script is so exciting because it is a cautionary tale of what can and will happen if we as a nation don’t get our heads out of the sand,” said Director Christopher Zinovitch. “Since Seth wrote the play last year, a lot of things have already changed, for the worse, making the play even more powerful.”
Black Gold features performances by Nancy Calos-Nakano, Beth A. Cooper, Alex Garnett, James Lyle, Aaron Washington and Bob Williams.
“The play is by turns hilarious and frightening, hyper-real and fantastic; it is a contemporary spectacle that audiences will not soon forget,” said Harrison.
Black Gold is made possible in part by The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.
What: Black Gold (National New Play Network World Premiere) by Seth Rozin
When: October 22 – November 15
Time:
Wednesdays-Saturdays, 7:30pm
Sundays (Oct 26th, Nov 2nd & 9th, 3pm)
Price: $29 (Under 25? Only $10!)
Where:
ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery
4711 California Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98116
www.artswest.org
