DC Players to perform Clown Bar Nov. 5 - 7
October 26, 2015
DEFIANCE, Ohio – Ten clowns walk into a bar. How many make it out alive?
Find out this November, as the Defiance College Players present the regional premiere of Adam Szymkowicz’s 2011 play Clown Bar Nov. 5-7 in the Serrick Center Cultural Arts Room beginning at 8 p.m. nightly.
Clown Bar is styled as a darkly comic “clown noir,” hearkening back to the golden age of film noir, with its hard-boiled anti-heros, sultry and savvy leading ladies, and twisted, sinister villains. But this time around, they’re all clowns. The new production was hailed by the New York Theatre Review as “[H]ilarious and ebullient . . . devastating and pitch-perfect.”
“Your heart is a clown heart . . . Honk, honk. Honk, honk.” Join Happy Mahoney, a former clown who’s turned in his red nose for a police badge, as he investigates the murder of his little brother, an unfunny clown who turned in desperation to the violent and drug-ridden underbelly of clown life. As Happy progresses along his bloody path towards retribution, he uncovers more than he bargained for—an unexpected culprit, a rekindled romance, and some unsettling truths about his own desires and ambitions.
This production is performed by DC students: Jakob Adkins, Mandie Heil, and George Roth, Defiance; Marissa Bramble, Milford, Pa.; David Brown Jr. and Jennifer Repka, Toledo; and Taylor Haydinger, Wilmington. Additional roles are played by Defiance and community member James Young, Paulding, and DC faculty member Dr. Kristin Sorensen. The show is stage managed by DC Student Xavier Blyden, Bridgeport, Conn.
Clown Bar is directed by Dr. Miriam Hahn. Dr. Hahn recently received her Ph.D. in theatre from Bowling Green State University. Her current research centers on interrogating strategic performative appropriations of Native American cultures, histories, and identities by self-proclaimed hippies during counterculture movement of the 1960s. In addition to her work as a theatre historian and performance scholar, Dr. Hahn enjoys directing, acting, and writing for the stage.
Reserved seating is $10 per ticket, or $15 for one ticket and an adult beverage. Tickets may be ordered online here. Due to strong language and adult themes, patrons under 18 will not be permitted. Audiences are also cautioned that the show contains simulated gunfire.
Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate programs of study as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.
