8 O’Clock Buzz host Jonathan Zarov interviews actor, singer, director, writer, and producer Ned O’Reilly and actor/performers Britton Rea and Laura Paulson.
Left of Left Center proudly announces The Old Apartment, an original comedy written and directed by Ned O’Reilly. The Old Apartment makes its world premiere in Madison on May 13.
Inspired by the eponymous Barenaked Ladies song, The Old Apartment tells the story of Dekker, portrayed by Britton Rea. Feeling undervalued and unappreciated, Dekker tries to cheer himself up by breaking into his old apartment. When the new tenants come home and find him sleeping on their couch, it sets off a chain reaction of home invasions and uninvited visitations that threaten relationships and keep the local locksmith busy.
The Old Apartment is a study of marriage, motives, memory, and disillusionment, silliness and biliousness, even in the same exchange.
All performances will take place in the MercLab on Madison’s east side, at 930 N. Fair Oaks Ave.
Performance dates and times:
Friday May 13 7:30 PM
Saturday May 14 7:30 PM
Tuesday May 17 7:30 PM
Friday May 20 7:30 PM
Saturday May 21 7:30 PM
Sunday May 22 4:00 PM
Runtime is approximately 90 minutes. Reservations accepted at www.leftofleftcenter.com/reservations.
Ned O’Reilly has been active in the theater for fifty years as an actor, singer, director, writer, and producer. Most recently, he has performed with a half dozen Madison community theaters and several others in the area. He formed Left of Left Center in early 2015 as an outlet for what he calls Guerilla Theatre. Taking a some-frills approach, the company performs in smaller, unexpected venues like bars, restaurants, coffee houses, and rehearsal spaces. Ned’s scripts are always contemporary, so the actors provide their own costumes, props, and furniture or they utilize whatever they find in their performance spaces. As a writer, Ned is committed to never using violence or terminal disease as plot points, preferring instead to emphasize the drama of everyday confusion, self-doubt, and desire to fuel his stories. Originally from northern Illinois and part of a large, performing family, Ned makes his home on Madison’s northside with his physical therapist and gardener wife.
Britton Rea is a multi-talented performer, most recently seen tearing up the Bartell stage in The Rocky Horror Show as Eddie. He also recently appeared in The Mousetrap for Strollers, and both Spirits to Enforce and Beta Blockers for Left of Left Center.
Laura Paulson is an actress and burlesque emcee. She also works as a rental agent, so she knows a *lot* about moving in and out of an old apartment. She recently appeared in Spirits to Enforce and Beta Blockers: The Refill with Left of Left Center, and Waiting for G-Dogg at Broom Street Theater.
