While I was hunting and pecking around the web, looking for playwriting sites that call for — “new play submissions” (if you’re a playwright, you need to subscribe to a site or two. I’m a member of the Playwright’s Center in Minnesota and the Dramatist Guild out of New York) — anyway while I was taking a tour around both spots I was reminded about a short play I wrote ages ago that’s had three productions, and each production was in a completely different part of the country. The play was “Cultural Diversity Ate My Lunch”. It was produced in Houston, TX as part of the FADE TO BLACK series. Below the pic is a quickie review:
“CULTURAL DIVERSITY ATE MY LUNCH written by Alonzo D LaMont, Jr. and directed by S. Denise O’Neal is the final play in this year’s series. It is an absorbing commentary on the power of “agenda” in American social understanding and the illogical ideals of victimhood. The power of this work lies in the question posed by Ty Fisher’s Bartender, “What’s your disadvantages?” Both Bran Don Morgan as Professor and Ty Fisher as Bartender are superb in their roles.”
BranDon Morgan and Ty Fisher rehearse Alonzo D. LaMont, Jr.’s CULTRAL DIVERSITY ATE MY LUNCH.
And waaaay back in 2007, in Charlottesville, VA “Cultural” was performed as part of a Barhoppers series of short plays. And yes, the series was performed in a bar. Also, as part of their “Attitudes on Race” series, it was performed at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center on the lower east side of New York for the ID America series.
(With that link keep scrolling down, it’s there)
Each audience was so profoundly different. At Houston, audiences were a bit hesitant to laugh. In Charlottesville, VA audiences provided hearty laughter and in New York (where I expected NO laughs) they were over-the-top with laughter. The play is about a college professor who believes his contract is not being renewed, and steps into a local bar to rant against the current politically correct system of academia. It is decidedly anti-pc-in-nature content. But, I gotta say, IT’S TOO DAMN FUNNY! I recently submitted it to a festival in Atlanta and we’ll see how things turn out. If something good happens, I’ll explain more about the journey this play is taking.
Happy belated 2018!
Life of Alonzo / Playwright 