Washington Premiere
THE TRICKY PART
A One-Man Play
Written and Performed by Martin Moran
Directed by Seth Barrish

A true story of sexuality, spirituality, and the mystery of the human experience, The Tricky Part is “a translucent memoir of a play... shattering” (New York Times). Between the ages of 12 and 15, the author had a sexual relationship with an older man, a counselor he met at a Catholic boys’ camp. Now 42 and an established New York actor, Moran has transformed his story into a riveting, often funny, and always surprising journey through the complexities of Catholicism, desire, and human trespass. Winner of the 2004 Obie Award.
January 29 – February 17, 2008

GET TO KNOW THE CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND THE AWARD-WINNING ONE-MAN PLAY THE TRICKY PART
Martin Moran (Author, Performer) Broadway: Spamalot, Cabaret, Titanic, Bells Are Ringing, Big River, How To Succeed in Business…, A Christmas Carol, Oliver! NATIONAL TOUR: Doonesbury. OFF-BROADWAY:Lincoln Center Theater: A Man Of No Importance; Atlantic Theater Company: The Cider House Rules; Playwrights Horizons: Floyd Collins. REGIONAL: Long Wharf, Williamstown Theater Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, American Conservatory Theater, The Intiman, San Jose Rep, Shakespeare and Company. FILM/TV: The Next Big Thing; Private Parts; Law &Order; Law & Order Criminal Intent; Dellaventura; Mary and Rhoda. AWARDS: 2004 Obie and two Drama Desk Nominations for The Tricky Part,2005Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers and 2005 Lambda Literary Award for memoir: The Tricky Part: A Boy’s Story of Sexual Trespass, A Man’s Journey To Forgiveness.

Seth Barrish (Director) Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of The Barrow Group—a non-profit theater company in New York City.  Mr. Barrish has worked as an actor, director, composer, and musical director internationally, Off-Broadway, Off Off Broadway, and in regional theaters for over 30 years.  Directing Credits include:  Stephen King’s Misery, David Edgar’s Pentecost, Martin Moran’s Obie Award-winning The Tricky Part, Nicolette & Aucasin, Old Wicked Songs (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award & Garland Award for Best Direction), Thy Kingdom’s Coming, Lonely Planet, Good (Straw Hat Award for Best Direction), Ghost in the Machine, Tales From Hollywood, Greetings, BeauJest, Three Sisters, and When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder?.  Theatres: Asolo Center for the Performing Arts, The Promenade, McCarter, Long Wharf, Sundance theatre lab, The Geffen Playhouse, Playhouse 91, La Mama e.t.c., The Perry Street Theatre, Provincetown Rep, Capital Rep, Miniature Theatre of Chester, and The Barrow Group.  Mr. Barrish has made numerous film and television appearances and is a professional acting and directing teacher in New York City.   He recently served as a Master Teacher at the International Director’s Symposium in Spoleto, Italy.  He is author of the book An Actors Companion–99 Bits of Craft.

Click here to buy tickets to see this talented creative team at work. 

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Q&A WITH THE TRICKY PART AUTHOR MARTIN MORAN

Direct from the acclaimed New York production, Martin Moran shares his heartbreaking memoir The Tricky Part based on his own life experiences. This limited engagement special event is “a translucent memoir of a play... shattering” (New York Times) and won the 2004 Obie Award.

Q: Which came first, the book or the play?
A: Work on the memoir began first but the play crossed the finish line and became public (2004) a year before the book was released. In one way or another, I was putting words to the story for years. I came to believe that this intimate material was meant solely for the page. But in the summer of 2003, I was asked to do an hour-long reading of my material. So I put together chunks of the memoir that I thought would make the most compelling evening. I decided to read it to a director friend, Seth Barrish, in his living room. He insisted it could be a powerful piece of theater. From that day on I was shaping the same story in two very different forms.

Q: Was it hard to write out your story?
A: The story lived inside me like an imperative, a knocking at the ribs demanding to be heard. It was as though my psyche, my spirit, knew that by telling, I might come to understand what happened. The long process of excavating memories, of piecing together the narrative of my life was, at times, agonizing. But then also, there’s that wonderful dividend of creating work. The joyful possibility of glimpsing the transcendent, of experiencing how the deeply personal might reveal to us what is beautifully, universally human.

Q: What gave you the idea of performing it yourself and how hard is it to relive your life on stage?
A: Since I make my living as a performer, at a certain moment the theatrical telling of my own story presented itself as a viable option. I was terribly hesitant, riddled with doubt, but the doors kept opening and, however nauseous and terrified, I walked through. And one of the greatest surprises has been learning how the play is not at all a “Reliving Of My Own Life On Stage.” It is, rather, a vivid and communal event that takes place squarely in the present.  That provokes the many paradoxes and complexities of being human.

Q: What do you want people to leave the Theatre with?
A “Is it possible that what harms us might come to restore us?” This is a question, a paradox, in the play. In one way or another, many of us think of ourselves as damaged. The tricky part, I think, is cracking through to a place where we are able to let go of what we think of as ‘damaged.’ I once heard a guy say that he thought the truest definition of forgiveness was “…a complete letting go of all hope, of having had a different or a better past.” There’s a lot to ponder in this notion and it is this kind of transformative pondering I hope people wrestle with as they leave the Theatre.

Q: What has been the most enlightening thing about the experience?
A: To realize how much light and laughter can be uncovered from what we think of as ‘dark’ material. And how amazingly the creation and performing of this play has released the grip of the past from around my throat and brought me squarely into the present.

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