Riot and Dishonor

“Riot and Dishonor,” has my love forever because it defies every careful instinct I have about not wanting to sound poor, loud and goofy.

I wrote the play, my first ever full length play, when I was twenty six- almost seven years ago as I type this. I am proud of its heart and I only get prouder and prouder with time. Jokes fly, villains are challenged, and rowdy punks speak their poetry with the unforgotten secrets of the kidlike soul.

The script was dormant for three years between 2019 and 2022 and I have Luke Wehner to thank for waking it up again. In the Fall of 2022, I happened to share a social media post remembering when Playwrights Local had produced a reading of “Riot and Dishonor.” In the post, I remarked on the fact that six days after the reading I would come to learn that it was a finalist in the Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Project. I talked briefly about all that, plus the fact that the script was in iambic pentameter, a comedy, and something like an origin story for Sir John Falstaff.

That post was just a fond look back, but when Luke saw it, all of that info was news to him. He reached out with urgency in a message that said:
”What is this?! I want to read it.”

From that point on, for no other reason other than believing in the script, Luke was determined to make a performance happen. He changed my entire attitude. We spoke on the phone and he said, “Why aren’t people pounding on your door asking if they can produce this?” It was a powerful jolt of belief. I got pumped up for my script all over again. We put together a Zoom reading with a cast of Cleveland Greats in December of 2022. After that, we decided that workshopping a few scenes in front of an audience was the best next step.

We coordinated on our calendars when the best time would be, since Luke usually calls New York home and he would be our director. It just so happened that he would be back in Cleveland in Spring of 2024 for the production of “Bach at Liepzig,” at Seat of the Pants, so we gathered our actors far in advance and made plans. The space would be Near West Theater, the date would be April 4th, and the laughs would be killer

The troupe was Amiee Collier, Kelly Elliott, Trey Gilpin, Tim Keo, Zyrece Montgomery, Brian Pedaci, Leah Smith and Daniel Telford. We all performed our lines on-book and had two night to rehearse. They gave their time. I’ll say that again: They gave their time. I was clear when I reached out to everyone that I had no money for them, but they were all still happy to do it anyway. Luke directed one of the most kinetic staged readings ever and everyone, everyone in the cast, brought complete enthusiasm into the room. I was honored, there’s no other word for it.

All photos by @gracekmcconnell