UNPLUGGED ELECTRIC GUITAR, A PLAY ABOUT LETTING GO OF OUR DREAMS, TO DEBUT AT HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL ON JUNE 11
UNPLUGGED ELECTRIC GUITAR
Playwright Danny Rocco and Director Chivonne Michelle bring to life the difficult conversations all artists have when contemplating where success and aspiration meet
LOS ANGELES – Internationally produced playwright, director and pioneer of the Script Writing Score Danny Rocco debuts his new original play, “Unplugged Electric Guitar,” as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival on June 11 at the Thymele Arts Center.
Inspired by a real conversation Rocco had with his own father, the emotionally tender show uses two pivotal, intimate conversations to examine the ways we change when we let go of our dreams. Over breakfast, Tom (David Gueriera) convinces Danny (Danny Rocco) to give up his pursuit of writing. Years later, Danny is given the chance to mentor a young artist and is confronted with the decision to pass down either inspiration or the fear that was bestowed upon him.
Described by Rocco as “the closest thing to a horror story I could imagine,” the play examines the slow subtle paper cuts that bleed an artist of their higher purpose and the ways we convince ourselves to let go of our dreams.
The production’s complex question of what it means to be a successful working artist in today’s world drew award-winning director Chivonne Michelle back to theater following ten years of working as an actor in television.
“What excited me was exploring a queer man who’s been on the journey of accepting himself and how the world accepts him, who then chose a career that society also doesn’t understand,” she explained. “We all—not just artists—have deep moments of sadness when it comes to our work, trying to understand how it fits into our identities. It’s a universal experience to ask yourself if you’re less than because of the work you do.”
Writing “Unplugged Electric Guitar” began ten years ago as a way for Rocco to better understand his relationship to his father, art and middle age. With the show now live, he doesn’t feel he received concrete answers to all his questions, but he gained more empathy for his father and confirmation that he is on the right path in his life.
“For me, an artist who has not given up, to write a play about giving up is both spiritually important and dangerous,” he said of his experience. “I felt very exposed taking on the role because there are so many personal details about my life in this character and in the first act. In order to divorce me in this role from my relationship with my dad, Chivonne and I had to go back to the technique basics we learned together in school.”
Rocco hopes audiences similarly leave the theater with more compassion for how complex it is to be a working artist and for those who make the heartbreaking decision to leave their dreams behind.
“Unplugged Electric Guitar” features Danny Rocco, David Gueriera, Nathan Norrington-Herr and Jack Little.
Tickets are $20 (plus $3 service fee) and are available for purchase through the Hollywood Fringe Festival website.
Performances:
Thu, June 11— 8pm (opening night)
Tue, June 16 — 10pm
Sat, June 20 — 8pm
Sun, June 21 — 3pm
Run time: 90 minutes, including intermission
Location: Thymele Arts Center (California Room), 5481 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90029
Media Contact:
Pamela Chinawah
[email protected]
About Unplugged Electric Guitar:
“Unplugged Electric Guitar” is a two-act play, written specifically for the voices of actors Danny Rocco, Nathan Norrington-Herr, Jack Little and the late-great Tom Noonan, played triumphantly here by the indomitable David Gueriera. Directed by Chivonne Michelle, “Unplugged” began as a way for playwright Danny Rocco to better understand his relationship to his father, art and middle age.
Over a breakfast conversation, Tom convinces Danny to give up as a writer. Years later, Danny is given the chance to mentor an artist and is faced with a similar question: does he pass down inspiration, or fear?
Danny Rocco is the author of the 60-actor play Convention. He is the internationally produced playwright, director and pioneer of the Script Writing Score, whose writing has been developed and produced in New York, Los Angeles, Cape Cod, Colorado, Romania, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Irondale Theater Center. He is supported by Yaddo, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, Byrdcliffe, Catwalk, the Arctic Circle Residency and Atlantic Acting School. A graduate of New York University’s Gallatin School and Columbia University’s School of the Arts, he is the co-creator of Swseng, a new ‘present-tense’ writing software.
Chivonne Michelle is an award-winning film and theater director. The founder of the Sustainable Artist Studio, she is a graduate of the acting program at The Atlantic Theater Company and received her B.F.A. from New York University, where she taught. She now works as an actress, teacher and director in LA.
