Western New York theatre regulars Patrick Cameron, Kelly Copps, Sarah Kow-Falcone and newcomer Haleigh Curr star in the world premiere of Berserker, the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition award winner by Bruce Walsh. This dark comedy will play the Alleyway March 31 – April 23, 2022. It is directed by Robyn Lee Horn, with scenic and costume design by Collin Ranney, and lighting design by Emma Schimminger. The Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition was founded in 1989 in memory of the Canadian actor and playwright whose contributions to the early years of Alleyway were invaluable. Since then, the competition has awarded prizes to winners in both full-length and one-act categories. It is one of the only new play competitions in which the prize is a full production. In 2020, the competition eliminated its entry fee, more than doubling the number of entries, and providing access without financial limitations to playwrights.
Berserker is the story of an idealistic teacher who comes face-to-face with a bear in the wilderness, only to find himself spiraling into a mid-life crisis. He leaves his partner, child, and students in pursuit of a new career where he forms an unlikely friendship with a young boy, as they help each other step forward into a brave new future. Oh yeah, and Led Zeppelin.
While the play highlights the human struggle through a lens of comedy, it will also force the audience to face some of life’s most serious emotions that oftentimes are left undealt with.
It’s very much about this anxiety within these kinds of contradictions we come to in relationships as we get older, like dealing with a lack of emotion. When you’re young you’re following emotion, you know? But eventually we have to understand the more difficult things that we may have been avoiding, and eventually some of the more difficult emotions you can’t run from anymore. This is what occurs for this character.
Bruce Walsh, Playwright
Walsh is no stranger to the theatre world and has been writing for most of his life. Since receiving his MFA in playwriting from Indiana University in 2017, Bruce’s plays have won the Heideman Award, the Gary Garrison National Ten Minute Play Award, and the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition. His works have recently been produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville, Fat Turtle Theatre Co., and Cardinal Stage; and developed by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Azuka Theatre, and Outpost Repertory Theatre. In a previous life, he was a longtime arts reporter for the Philadelphia Metro and City Paper.
This play will bring the audience on an existential journey that is unlike any other, and leave you finding humor in some of life’s biggest questions.
Tickets, Subscriptions and Box Office Hours
Performances March 31 – April 23, 2022
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm
Lobby and bar open one hour prior to curtain, with happy hour at the bar following each performance.
Box Office Hours: Tues/Wed 1pm-5pm; Thurs/Fri/Sat 1pm-8pm
General Admission $42
Age 30 and Under $30
Group Sales start at $25/ticket
Alleyway Theatre
1 Curtain Up Alley, Buffalo NY 14202 | 716-852-2600
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Alleyway Theatre was founded in 1980 and is in its 42nd season of producing new plays and original musicals in the heart of Buffalo’s historic Theatre District. The company has been under the leadership of Executive Artistic Director Chris J Handley for two years, and also has an Education division under the leadership of Education Director Tracie Lane Thomason. Alleyway Education offers classes for teens and adults in acting, improv, and auditioning.
