“The Amoralists have checked in to a hotel room for their titillating site-specific double feature: In Adam Rapp’s Animals and Plants, a mysterious young woman visits two drug runners in an Appalachian blizzard; in Derek Ahonen’s Pink Knees on Pale Skin, undersexed married couples consult a doctor who facilitates organized orgies. Major male nudity and an audience of 20 make the intimacy thrillingly and unforgettably unsettling.”
Gershwin Hotel, through September 19.

“The Amoralists boasts the most dedicated, most passionate and most courageous team of actors, writers and directors you’ll ever find anywhere. Its brilliant staging of HotelMotel is a living proof of this.” http://www.stagegrade.com/productions/840#show=community

HotelMotel= a part of new site-specific works that are cropping up all across town to keep theatergoers on their toes – or at the edge of their seats – in unconventional ways. http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/article/953461—immersive-theater-all-the-world-s-a-stage

T. Michelle Murphy chats with Adam Rapp about his “Savage and Magical” play, Animals and Plants. 

http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/article/952371—savage-and-magical-interview-with-adam-rapp—page0

Derek Ahonen chats with Gothamist about “Pink Knees on Pale Skin,” anorgasmia and his latest work of fiction. Take a read… http://gothamist.com/2011/08/18/derek_ahonen_brings_sex_jealousy_to.php

Check out Lizzie Simon’s article and see how the Amoralists produce “accessible, commercial, but avant-garde theater.”   

Making a Reservation for Two Plays and a Hotel

Monica Simoes

Brian Mendes in the Amoralists’ production of ‘Animals and Plants.’

The founding members of the independent theater company the Amoralists first met in New York in 1999. “At the time, a lot of theater was telling us how to feel—who the good guy was, who the bad guy was,” said the company’s 30-year-old artistic director, James Kautz. “We’re excited about moral ambiguity.”

In producing three to five shows a year since 2007, the troupe has thus far decided to remain non-union; otherwise, according to the Actors’ Equity showcase contract, they’d have to limit their runs to 16 performances and put an $18 cap on ticket prices. “We’re making accessible, commercial, but avant-garde theater,” Mr. Kautz said. “There’s no way that any competitive company can produce under those circumstances.”

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We asked the Amoralists to tabulate the budget for their new show, “Hotel/Motel,” an evening of two one-act plays—”Pink Knees and Pale Skin,” written by Derek Ahonen, and “Animals and Plants,” by Adam Rapp—performed in a room at the Gershwin Hotel. As it turns out, getting a hotel room in Manhattan for a month to do site-specific work is “ridiculously cheaper” than renting a theater, said Mr. Kautz, who also performs in “Pink Knees.” It’s also a better place to challenge audiences not to “disappear from the show in the dark.”

Which they really can’t do: At one point in the evening, ticket holders will be seated at the foot of the bed while two characters are on it talking about their inability to have sex with each other.

This struck us as maybe not the right show for a first date, but Mr. Kautz disagreed. “Go for it,” he said. “You’re going to have so much to talk about afterwards.”

Check out “Grub Street” where Playwright Adam Rapp Relies on Kit Kat Bits, Gets His Veggies From the Juice Press…and the comment section is particularly funny. http://bit.ly/pdNyuk

Adam Rapp chats with Tom Murrin about his play Animals and Plants and calls the Amoralists “workaholic, punk actors, who just want to make work and don’t care about cigarette breaks.” Awesome! Check it out http://bit.ly/r70BkQ

Many of us who live in New York City rarely see the inside of a hotel here, but increasingly, theater is giving us the opportunity to experience how the other half vacations. Read the rest here: http://bit.ly/q6PzEE

There is something convoluted about the everyone-in-under-the-tent mentality by force. It’s fine if people want to be in your space; are excited about what you’re showing them. But having as many people as possible in one space seems a little bit for the birds….http://yhoo.it/qAm4eu