Savage in Limbo
Notes from the Attic:
Welcome to this ornery little gem. It is with perverse pleasure that the Nasty Attic Players present this dark, razor blade comedy by John Patrick Shanley. It has been odd doing a cult piece as it’s being mythologised. But that is exactly what is occurring with his work. This play is being performed all around New York City in small venues, bars, or restaurants. It’s caught the spirit of our generation and is being used to wash away the taste of last year’s Broadway. At first glance, it might seem weird because his words are not pretty. His jokes are in foul taste. His characters are often out of their minds. They swear and speak about things best not mentioned in daylight. And it’s exactly because of these bad traits that I have come to love this shoestring piece of mayhem. For it speaks to me...not the television’s idea of who I am. After all, “I’m thirty two and I wanna change!!!”
Backstory.
After our success with Dracula, we decided to immediately strike out on our own. LOL! Two years later, in May 1990, the Nasty Attic’s production of John Patrick Shanley’s ‘Savage In Limbo’ was performed. One of our friends from Dracula, a local actress named Donna McGarry, was in a show and we had driven down to New York city to see her. She had paid an awful lot of money to be in what they called a Theatre Agents Showcase. This was where folks who were taking acting classes down in the city paid a lot of money to be in a single scene with a bunch of other actors, who were also performing single scenes. The money they paid went towards renting the space and there were supposed to be a number of theatrical casting agents in attendance. I was sickened by how the whole thing was just a way to extract dollars out of actors. The scenes were very short, ten minutes and in attendance were mostly just us friends and family who’d bought tickets. I think there was just one ‘Agent’ in the room and she looked like she was only there for the wine and cheese. So, on the way back, I said I’d produce the piece, and I rounded up those old cronies from Elmwood and put the show together around Donna. We had two sell out shows downstairs at the Nyack Library. Which both startled and impressed participants as well as the audience. Thus began many, many years of work under the banner of the Nasty attic players.
Rich Steele & Donna McGarry
Steele Edge
So, I asked Rich Steele to join us as an actor, something he’d not done before. As well as playing the part of ‘Tony’. He also performed and produced the music for our Savage Overture. What he came up with was a rocking way to start a truly wild show. Another Nasty bit of bizness which became a staple of attending our shows were the wonderful ‘Smoking Announcements’ created by Tom Jones. It was a real handmade production. Sets, costumes and sound made by us with the generous help of Elmwood playhouse who allowed us to borrow from their technical depts. The posters and programmes were all designed by myself and Tom. Our house style was striking and compelling images which captured the eye, mixed in with our dark humour.
