Cringe by Peter J. Nieves
Evidence Room
Dorie Barton and Christian Leffler photo: Jason Adams
Alyssa Bongiorno, Patricia Scanlon, and Christian Leffler photo: Jason Adams
Pamela Gordon, Dorie Barton, Dan Butler, and Don Oscar Smith photo: Jason Adams
Dorie Barton and Christian Leffler photo: Jason Adams
“Modern-day Hollywood is enough to make anyone, well, Cringe – and, naming his play accordingly, playwright Peter Nieves seeks to do exactly that. Completing the Evidence Room's "Hollywood Stories" trilogy of Tinseltown-themed new plays performed in repertory, Cringe is Nieves’ raw, sardonic re-envisioning of the Don Juan story set against the excesses of the film biz..
Hollywood is an easy target for co-directors Nieves’ and Bart DeLorenzo’s Moliere-inspired jabs at hypocrisy, but for all of their obviousness, the blows connect with devastating force, thanks to superb ensemble performances… Without recourse to nudity, the play’s merciless, edgy staging effectively conjures the depths of squalid hedonism, amid an increasingly surreal tone reminiscent of a David Lynch film.” – Philip Brandes, Los Angeles Times
World premiere at the Evidence Room, November 2002