The Drunk Monologues

For Immediate use 09 January 2006

The Drunk Monologues
...fresh from a stunning stagger at the New York Fringe...

Written & Performed By Diane Spodarek
Directed By Karen Ludwig (New York)

BATS Theatre
6.30pm, 7-11 February 2006
$15/12/10
Bookings 04 802 4175
Book@BATS.co.nz

“Contrary to the title’s suggestion, you won’t come away from this wishing you had a vagina or feeling like a drink.” – The Village Voice, New York

Take a ride with Dangerous Diane as she gets a second chance from God to relive her wild & boozy Rock 'n’ Roll life... without alcohol! Written & performed by international New York artist, writer, and actor Diane Spodarek.

Spodarek’s one woman show chronicles a life spent drunk with music, fast cars, transsexual guitar players and run ins with Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and lots of booze. The Drunk Monologues are drinking stories told from birth to death evoking a raw account of an accelerated life. Spodarek reveals an amazing story of life about addiction without judgment reliving her dreams of growing up in Motown and wanting to be black, to punk rock and single parenthood in New York.

Now in New Zealand don’t miss this hilarious and thought provoking show as Spodarek entertains the audience recreating the people in her life with stories abut gender, identity, sex, love, motherhood, music, and . . . even alcohol.

Diane Spodarek was part of the Detroit, (U.S.A), punk scene in the 80’s, which was part of a global movement of women in punk like Debbie Harry, Patti Smith, Exene, and Chrissie Hynde.

“Unabashedly autobiographical and undercut with black humor”
– Art in America

“I was born in motion/Train rocking & surging/Metal against metal/I popped out on a double seat in a little town called Puce/which is French for flea/Or so they tell me/Fifteen miles east of Windsor Ontario/Canada/Water blood afterbirth and my mother’s tears mixed with clapping and cheering and a champagne toast/Some fell on me/And at birth I was already moving ... and drinking.” - Train Birth

The production was presented by
THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL
A production of THE PRESENT COMPANY

ENDS

DIANE SPODAREK

Diane Spodarek is a Canadian American artist, writer and actor. She was the singer and rhythm guitar player in The Dangerous Diane Band in Detroit (Motown) where she participated as a performer and promoter in the Detroit punk scene in the 80’s as part of a global movement of women in punk. In 1983 she moved to New York. Her performance credits include PS 122, LaMama, the Nyorician Poets Café and as the lead Vivian Bearing in the Pulitzer Prize winning play WIT. Her writing is published in “Even More Monologues for Women by Women”, “Young Women’s Monologues from Contemporary Plays” and “Millennium Monologues”. Diane has received numerous awards for her playwriting and video art.

Diane has made her home Wellington New Zealand since June 2005. In November, her original art works were exhibited at Pataka Museum in Porirua. Currently a 10 minute version of her play about New Zealand, “Winter”, has been short listed for the Sydney Short & Sweet Festival and her one page play “Two Trans-sexuals at the Airport” has been selected by Couch Soup Mini Festival, and will be performed in Hamilton at the Meteor and at the Paramount Theatre Wellington February and March.

“The Drunk Monologues” were performed at the New York International Fringe Festival and in Tokyo Japan.

Selected Career Highlights
THEATRE/NY
The Drunk Monologues One-person Show - Fringe Int'l Festival Dir. Karen Ludwig
WIT Vivian Bearing (lead) Dir. Janice Oliver
The Drunk Monologues Horse Trade Theater Dir. Russell Dobuler
Chicago Pulp Betty& Nun Goeghetter Productions
Freakin’ Giuliani! Missa (Radical Hippie/Principal) None of the Above

THEATRE/REGIONAL
WIT Vivian Bearing (lead) Summitt Theatre, NJ
Dreamtime for Alice Alice (Abandoned Tourist in Australia) Todd Mt. Theatre, NY

TV
Sex & the City Final Episode with Kim Cattral HBO

TV PILOT
Welcome Home Maureen Dir. Jan Schmidt

VIDEO
Hair Cut Title Role/Narrator Dir. Jay Yager
No Pain No Gain* Body Builder/Lead Spider Shack Prod.
Tools & Lingerie* Traveling Reporter/Lead Dir. Jay Yager
*Awards

www.dianespodarek.com