Arts Eclectic: Down the Drain
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Writer and director A. John Boulanger describes his new play Down the Drain as a “bleak comedy.” That’s because, while it began in Boulanger’s mind as a staight (and fairly light) comedy, it’s morphed over the months into something with dramatic elements and plenty of dark humor. In a fairly literal interpretation of the phrase “toilet humor,” Down the Drain takes place in a New York bathroom, where our down-and-out protagonist finds himself able to talk, through his plumbing, with a woman in her own Utah bathroom.
The play’s life began when Boulanger, while taking a shower, began to imagine characters played by Martin Burke and Meredith McCall talking to him. Before that day was over, he’d written 60 pages with his stars in mind. Burke and McCall quickly came on board, and then things started to change a bit. Over the next few months, the writer and the actors worked together to shape the play into what it is now. In fact, when we talked with Boulanger a week before opening night, he assured us that more changes would come before the curtain rises.
Down the Drain
At Hyde Park Theatre, 511 West 43rd Street
August 11 – 28
Thursday – Saturday at 8:00 pm. Sundays at 2:00 pm
Podcast: Download (1.7MB)
