“There is one line after another you will quote to your friends.” – New York Times
Like a hard rock track turned all the way up, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll is a hilarious, clever, and often riveting roast of the American Male. An intimate one-man show explodes on to Plays & Players’ stage, bringing to life 10 off-beat characters in a smartly profane non-stop tour de force about masculinity, capitalism, and the great American way. After a lengthy run Off-Broadway in the 1990s, Obie Award winning playwright Eric Bogosian’s “brilliant” collection of monologues are remounted June 5-21 with Philadelphia’s own Eric Scotolati, bringing characters from top to bottom of the eat-or-be-eaten food chain from the era of cable, wall street, and “just say no” perfectly back to life and reminding us how little things change about the larger issues that define our time.
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About the Playwright
Eric Bogosian is best known as a playwright, novelist and actor. He wrote and starred in the play, Talk Radio (NYSF – 1987; on Broadway starring Liev Schreiber- 2007), for which he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and the Tony award. For his film adaptation of the play, Bogosian received the Berlin Film Festival “Silver Bear.” His six solo performances Off-Broadway between 1980 and 2000, (including Drinking in America, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee) received three Obie awards. In addition to Talk Radio, Bogosian has written a number of full-length plays including subUrbia (LCT, Second Stage, also adapted to film), Griller (Goodman), Red Angel (Williamstown Theater Festival), Humpty Dumpty (The McCarter), 1+1 (New York Stage and Film). He is also the author of three novels, “Mall”, “Wasted Beauty” and “Perforated Heart” and a novella, “Notes from Underground.” He is a Guggenheim fellow.
Ticketing Information
Third Floor Skinner Studio
- Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm
- Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
- Saturdays at 2pm
- Sundays at 3pm
Special Events
The Players: An Actor Talkback
Sunday, June 8th – following 3pm matinee
Join performer Eric Scotolati of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll for an informal talkback after the show, moderated by director Allison Heishman.
Industry Night
Sunday, June 8th – 9pm show
Join us for a special Industry Night performance of Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll to be held in the Skinner Studio at 9:00 PM. Industry priced tickets will be $10 and regular priced tickets will be $25.
Conversation with the Community: Topics at Play in the Real World
Friday, June 13th – following 8pm performance
Plays & Players partners with a local organization, The Mankind Project of Philadelphia, a committed, diverse and vital community empowering men to live in integrity, authenticity and service. They create a world of love, healing and growing consciousness, and stand for Mature Masculinity, Men Helping Men, and Connection to Feelings. The post-show conversation explores the play’s themes in a practical setting of the work they do, allowing the audience to gain a more immediate perspective for how elements of the show play out in today’s Philadelphia.
Post-Show Classroom: Go Back To School with Local Professors
Sunday, June 15th – following 3pm matinee
Wish you could go back to college and really analyze a play, its themes, and its ideas? Stay after the show for a panel of guest professors who will shed light on the play. And pay attention, there might just be a pop quiz at the end. Current guests include: Kathryn Watterson, English Professor at the University of Pennsylvania; Casey J. Miller, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College; Zolani Ngwane, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Haverford College.
Cast and Creative Team
Eric Scotolati (Actor) is happy to be working with such a talented and wonderful crew on this beast of a show! Eric graduated from West Chester University with his B.A. in performance and has been living and working in the greater Philadelphia area ever since. Eric has worked with such companies as: Azuka Theatre, Lantern Theatre Company, Curio, The PAC, Plays and Players, Tiny Dynamite, Inis Nua, Commonwealth Classic Theatre, and The Renegade Company, of which he is also a founding member.
Allison Heishman (Director) is an Artistic Associate at Azuka Theatre, and a freelance ‘theatrician’ throughout Philadelphia. Her work includes Directing, Performance, Script Analysis, Stage Management, and a smattering of Dramaturgy and Writing. She has done work for Azuka (Actor: Long Christmas Ride Home, Director: The Terrible girls, Hazard County, I Love You I Hate You); National Constitution Center (Program Manager/Educator: Living News, AD/Dramaturg: Fighting for Democracy,Director/Writer: Theatre Exhibition Series); The Wilma Theatre (AD; Angels in America, parts I and II); Tiny Dynamite (Director: Spacewang – A Play, A Pie and A Pint); Flashpoint Theatre (Actor: Autobahn, Dead Guy); Madhouse Theatre (Actor: Pounding Nails into the Floor); Quince Productions (Director: Beebo Brinker, Chronicles, Well of Horniness). Up next she will direct: A Taste of History, An Evening with Chef Staib in collaboration with The Kimmel Center and City Tavern for PIFA; and Failure: A Love Story for Azuka.
Set & Props Design by Danielle Ferguson, Lighting Design by Andrew Cowles, Sound Design by Daniel Kontz, Assistant Direction by Erlina Ortiz, Dramaturgy by Lena Barnard, and Stage Management by Lauren Tracy
Adopt-an-Artist “Parents”:
Allison Heishman – Eileen O’Brien and Sam Hopkins
Eric Scotolati – Patrick Tracy
Do you want to adopt-an-artist? A donation of $250 will get you a chance to follow the artist from behind-the-scenes through the final bow. DONATE NOW!