A Comedy Of Exploitations: Incendiary New Play By Sam Brooks Takes No Prisoners

“Is he gonna die?”
“Yes.”
“I mean, is he going to die tonight?”
“Oh.
Yes.”

As an old man’s death rattles ring out through a mansion late at night, four young men consider their future. A black comedy written and directed by award-winning playwright Sam Brooks, A Rich Man premieres at Karangahape Road’s iconic Old Folks Association from August 5-9.

The bar has run dry, the hors d'oeuvres are stale, and reality is starting to set in. What happens when the man upstairs dies? Are these men who knew what they were doing? Or are they boys who signed a contract they could barely even read?

Following Brooks’ critical successes with Burn Her and From Another Woman, A Rich Man exposes what it means to be complicit in your own exploitation - if you really can be at all - and what happens when people sit idly by and do nothing. As the coughs get louder and the night runs on, the power dynamics amongst the four men shift as they reckon with what their choices have cost them.

A Rich Man stars a banger ensemble cast consisting of Dan Cockerill (You’re Out), Max Crean (n00b), Sean Rivera (Scenes from a Climate Era), Mark Chayanat Whittet (The Perfect Image), Sheena Irving (The Effect) and Alice Pearce (Twelfth Night), and features design from multiple award-winner Jennifer Lal (O Le Pepelo).

This punk rock production strips the murky mire of denial back to its grubby core, asks for no permission and takes no prisoners. If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry. “A Rich Man has been in development for seven years,” says Brooks. “When I first wrote it, it felt like it was too soon, but I think the arts community is finally ready to have these conversations about exploitation, complicity, and what silence costs the most vulnerable people in our society.”

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A Rich Man
Written and Directed by Sam Brooks
Starring Dan Cockerill, Max Crean, Sean Dioneda Rivera, Mark Chayanat Whittet, Sheena Irving and Alice Pearce
Designed by Jennifer Lal.

Old Folk’s Association
August 5-9, 7pm
Tickets through Eventfinda

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