Okay one more WILD to do for the week: The War of Woo, a new play from Emmy Award-winning writer, artist and cartoonist Dean Haspiel. The play, starring Seth Gilliam (The Walking Dead, The Wire) and Samantha Simone (Blue Bloods) and directed by Philip Cruise, was to have debuted in the pandemic year of 2020.
Long delayed, but you can finally see it in the flesh! I’ve seen Haspiel’s previous plays and they are unforgettable, to say the least. This one sounds like the wildest yet. The play runs until October 15th at New York’s Gene Frankel Theatre. More details below:
In The War of Woo, a Demon recruits a quartet of New Yorkers to help kidnap Satan in hopes of brokering a treaty with God to merge Heaven and Hell. Can a rebellious actor, a brazen assistant director and two best friends on the brink of breaking up ally long enough to alter the afterlife?
Says Haspiel: “A global pandemic may have postponed THE WAR OF WOO for over two years, but even a deadly virus couldn’t snuff my play about the complicated, violent, and passionate relationship between Hollywood, Heaven, and Hell.”
In addition to Gilliam and Simone, the cast includes Olivia Baseman, Philip Cruise, Tad D’Agostino, Alfred C. Kemp and Christopher Lee. The War of Woo marks Haspiel’s fourth foray into NYC theater and will be produced by Thin Duke/Sparkplug Productions, a theatrical collective created by Cruise, Lee and producer/actor Edward Miller.
“It’s provocative and profane,” says Gilliam. “It’s gonna be an hour and a half of gut-punch entertainment.”
Lighting, sound and props for the production will be managed by Gemini CollisionWorks, the creative team of Ian W. Hill and Berit Johnson. Set design and construction will be led by Joe Kay, with costumes by Holly Pocket McCaffrey.
“Seth, Dean, Ed and I have been friends and colleagues since we met as teenagers at SUNY Purchase,” says Cruise. “When the cast has such a deep understanding of the author’s material, the possibility for fireworks onstage is increased exponentially.”
PRELUDE TO THE WAR OF WOO is a cinematic prequel to the play, written by Dean Haspiel. The short film stars Seth Gilliam and Philip Cruise and was directed, edited and produced by Shannon Goldman at Super G Films. Watch it here: https://vimeo.com/395580445
Tickets for THE WAR OF WOO are on sale at https://thewarofwoo.brownpapertickets.com/. The Gene Frankel Theatre is located at 24 Bond Street (between Bowery and Lafayette) in NYC.
I saw it last weekend. Definitely worth a look.
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