This Vicious Minute

It takes courage to bring your secrets to your family members and friends, but to bring them to a public audience takes something far beyond courage. To put everything on the table and reveal himself to an audience, with calm and determination, is a credit to Mr. Morowski's storytelling ability and self awareness. He never removes himself from the story, even though it has to be painful to retell it. He almost falls back into the moments of his story and truly relives it. You may not totally understand the subject and may fidget in your seat at some of the revelations, but you will feel a bit enlightened and a lot overwhelmed. But, after all, aren't you at the theatre to "experience". Mr. Morowski will be sure that you do that. ... full review

This play is a hell of a thing... In this case, the subject matter alone is enough. It doesn't take much else to get most grown men squirming to their seats from the box office, but along with that comes it's own sets of dangers that often lays waste one mans shows. Disillusioned writing, over-dramatization, self indulgence... Ben exemplified none of these things. His calm and confident demeanor matched with a steady speech quickly set me at ease. Here was a man with capable hands... experienced hands... and he was about to tackle a subject matter that is not only taboo, but practically overlooked in every way possible -- 'Cutting.' From the get go, Ben's ability to infuse humor into such gaudy subject matter quickly exemplified his ca... full review

Honest, unflinching in performance and story. Wonderful writing, poetic and accessible. Specificity of performance and writing allow us inside the experience, to feel what it feels like. I recognize the cutter in me. I was grateful for the stillness and space, for the humor throughout, and for the willingness of Ben Moroski to share this part of his journey with us. And I was grateful for the honesty of "I don't know" without attempt to analyze, summarize or figure it out for us. Go see this!... full review

Never has 'here' meant so much. I am going to be intentionally vague. The ribcages 'here' are like 'paper in my hands.' As 'Vicious' prepares us, this isn't going to be a laundry list of bad therapist stories. Ben Moroski's 'This Vicious Minute' is quiet and devastating. There are no histrionics here, no chewing scenery, no false moves. This guy is honest in the telling, the playing and the living. It's on and in his skin. As brutally handsome as he has been brutal to himself, Ben's unflinching gaze targets us but through the lens of his hard won honesty. No, really. He's a football player, a jock. The ladies like him, he gets erections at the drop of a dime—or blade. The fact that Ben is here onstage is a very hard won battle. I won't ... full review

This brilliant script seamlessly weaves the intellectual and the visceral, flows effortlessly between the joy and burden of extreme emotions and the pain and freedom of their absence, and, in a nimble fashion both natural and unnerving, pairs body horror and eroticism. As a performer, Ben Moroski has the sort of stage presence you're either born with or you're not. His performance is so engaging that I couldn't believe, at the conclusion of its 75 minute running time, that the show was over so soon. His characters come fully to life, sometimes in an instant and sometimes in rapid fire. He's a smart, handsome, healthy, athletic, talented young man with no shortage of people who love him and his entire life ahead of him -- so why is he add... full review

Extremely well written and adeptly executed Ben Moroski’s THIS VISCIOUS MINUTE is a brutally honest and unflinching account of one man’s struggle with the psychological soup of emerging sexuality, questioning faith, and the inner search for one’s purpose. Moroski’s writing is rich with provocative images and his staging is minimal but impactful. The show is extremely well-crafted, never indulgent, and exemplifies what a solo show can, and should, be… a window into a world that we would otherwise be unaware.... full review

Beyond being an engrossing "theatrical" solo show, Ben Moroski's piece is plain old excellent storytelling. His command of the stage--and our attention--is remarkable, not just because of the subject matter, but because of his laser-focused stage presence. Many autobiographical solo pieces get mired in too much detail--people feel the need to relate every single action and event of their lives down to the elements that are not relevant to their main story. But Moroski's honed script superbly leads us down the path of his affliction and how it has impacted his life. Bringing a deeper emotional connection to his story is the fact that it is not conveniently wrapped up in a happy ending--his brutal honesty about how his fate still hangs p... full review

Brilliant writing - Moroski brings an incredible amount of charm and levity to his story- draws you in from the minute the lights go up and doesn't let you go. Do not miss this show! ... full review

Vicious recounts Moroski's struggle with self-mutilation, as well as with love, sex, and his church. They all get wrapped up in each other, one feeding on another, cycling, expounding. While Moroski did not begin cutting until he was seventeen, he starts his story four years previously, as a newly teenage boy, freshly saved from a religious retreat. He arrives at home eager to begin his life of personal purity void of lust, kissing, and masturbation. He could be good – righteous - if he could be strong enough ... Please read the rest of the review at <a href="http://cinesnatch.blogspot.com/2012/06/hollywood-fringe-festival-theatre.html">Cinesnatch</a>.... full review