Directed by Geoffrey Owens
A Solo Performance that encourages, delights, and hits your
funny bone through the character’s despairing search for a purpose!
SWIMMING IN MUDD
ABOUT
Arthur is a 46-year-old man with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and artistic vision. He has been living in the same Hell’s Kitchen apartment in New York City for over 30 years. He’s failed in life and love too many times, and he’s filled with anxiety, anger, and frustration at the injustice he sees in the world.
An avid cyclist, he rides toward the George Washington Bridge where he pauses to look out over the troublesome gray water, desperate to unpack the inner demons that plague him.
And so begins Arthur’s journey, as he dives into his past and swims through his present, flailing in the muddy waters toward an unknown future, with a tenacious spirit and desire to overcome in this dark comedy that explores the depths of this thing called life.
HOW DID THIS STORY COME ABOUT? We all have stories to tell, and I think we all have a desire to express them in a way that resonates with others, we just need the right words to tell the tales trapped within our hearts and imaginations. This story came from an overwhelming need to find strength in defeat and find a reasonable way forward that felt purposeful. Isn’t that what we are all struggling to find?
SWIMMING IN MUDD is a timely and socially relevant play about the desire to find purpose, and even some relief, in coming to terms with past failures and redirecting negative energy into positive action.
This play was nurtured through the Primary Stages’ ESPA Studios under the direction of Judy Gold.
Swimming In Mudd, a dark comedy!
Tada Theater
15 W 28th Street, 2nd Floor
Between Broadway and 5th Avenue
1 Night Only!
Friday, October 7th
Show starts @ 7pm
Or call: 800-838-3006
John Mudd
(Writer/Actor/Producer/Community Organizer/Fitness Instructor) born in Louisville, Kentucky of Irish, German, and American Indian descent, indoctrinated into the United States’ worldview, and eventual resident of New York City, when he moved there in 1984 to pursue -a- destiny.
John studied acting at HB Studios with Stephen Strimpell, Uta Hagen, Earl Hyman, Geoffrey Owens, Austin Pendleton, Edward Morehouse, among other esteemed teachers. He also consumed dance, voice, speech, and more to free his actor within. He is a talented fencer with experience in fight choreography. He’s appeared in Off-Off Broadway and cabarets productions, in film and television, as well as in commercials and print advertisements.
John’s interest in writing includes storytelling, and criminal negligence of our political system.
Offstage, John has an extensive business background as a producer, manager, owner, food and beverage consultant, and system analyst across a wide spectrum of establishments throughout Manhattan, from food and beverage to arts and entertainment. His experience encompasses the birthing of ideas (conceptual) to execution (construction and operation).
John currently teaches fitness including boot camp, total body conditioning, spin, and stretch classes, and is a big proponent of clean eating and the sustainable food movement.
Two important rules that help govern his daily life and community activism:
Refrain from treading heavily on the souls of others
Endeavor to transform the information learned with each day of living into action, instead of letting the injustices of the world get the better of you
As president of the Midtown Community Council for over 28 years, John, with his network of advocates, partners, and board members, continues to fight for an improved quality of life and solutions to end the social crisis of homelessness.
See www.midtownsouthcc.org for more details.
Sharon Jasprizza
(Actor/Playwright/Producer/Marketing Manager)
Sharon began her Creative and Performing Arts study in New York in 2011 at the HB Studio Theater in Downtown Manhattan. Sharon is a playwright, performs in festival plays, produces her and colleague's work, and performs in Solo performances with her peers.
She made her debut playing Ruth in 3 The Hard Way by Chima Chikazunga in The Downtown Urban Theater Festival in March 2013 and again in May 2013 in the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts. In June 2013 she played Amanda in Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams at the HB Studio Theater as part of a public showcase directed by Jack Garfein. Her plays about 'Terrance Coffie' and 'Julia and Elliot' started to take shape at the HB studio. Her work has progressed with Primary Stages and the New York Theatre Workshop under the direction of Kate Moira Ryan. Judy Gold works closely with Sharon in her classroom to direct Sharon's solo work. Her latest Solo in December 2018 at Primary Stages took the audience to a far away village in the land down under.
Sharon's "Terrance" inspiration, the work, the success, the passion and the moments can be found at www.thejourney.info and Twitter@thejourneyinfo . Her community work can be found at midtownsouthcc.org
Joe Primavera
(Stage Manager) Joe is a Harlem-born actor whose recent film credits include Forgiven, The Cell, Neighbors, The Cross. Theater credits include Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Importance of Being Ernest, The Tempest. He has over 20 years of experience as a professional singer in Las Vegas and New York.
Geoffrey Owens
(Director)
Since graduating, cum laude, from Yale University in 1983, Geoffrey Owens has worked as an actor, director and teacher in theater, television and film. Mr. Owens recently appeared on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet (with Orlando Bloom). Other recent credits include Oscar Wilde’s Salome (with Al Pacino), the Chicago premiere of David Mamet's Race (at the Goodman Theatre), Opus and As You Like It (as 'Jaques') at Two River Theatre, and Julius Caesar (as ‘Casca’) at the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, D.C. His roles include Romeo, Richard the Third, Othello and Puck—(including the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Long Wharf Theater, the Hartford Stage Company and the Williamstown Theater Festival), with directors such as Joseph Papp, David Leveaux, A.J. Antoon, James Lapine, Brian Kulick, Mark Lamos, Joe Dowling, Derek Anson Jones, Jonathon Moscone, Michael Sexton, and Estelle Parsons.
On film, he has appeared in Wilde Salome (directed by Al Pacino), Stonebrook (with Seth Green), The Paper (directed by Ron Howard), Play the Game (with Andy Griffith), and the currently playing Dreams. His television credits include The Cosby Show and Built to Last, as well as appearances on The Leftovers, The Affair, Deadbeat, Without a Trace, Boston Legal, Medium, Journeyman, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Las Vegas, The Wedding Bells, Law and Order, Law and Order S.V.U., The Guiding Light, That’s So Raven, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Flash Forward.
As a director, Owens has staged productions of King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, As You Like It, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Tartuffe, as well as one-act plays by Chekhov, Overruled by Shaw, Mamet’s American Buffalo, Athol Fugard’s Statements Made After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act and William Mastrosimone’s Tamer of Horses.
For Mr. Owens' full bio, see his website at www.geoffreyowens.com
Judy Gold
(Comedian/Writing Coach) Judy has had stand-up specials on HBO, Comedy Central, and LOGO. She has written and starred in two critically acclaimed, Off-Broadway hit shows: The Judy Show – My Life as a Sitcom(Outer Critics Circle Nomination) and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother (GLAAD Media Award – Outstanding NY Theater, Drama Desk Nomination – Actor)
Judy received rave reviews as Gremio in The Public Theater’s all-female production of The Taming of The Shrew for Shakespeare in the Park. She also co-starred in Off-Broadway’s Clinton! The Musical and Disaster! The Musical.
Judy has appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and has recurring roles on Netflix’s “Friends From College” and TBS’ “Search Party.” She can also be seen on the Showtime series “I’m Dying Up Here.”Judy was featured in Woody Allen’s series “Crisis In Six Scenes” on Amazon, and also appears on the hit web-series “The Other F Word” on Amazon Prime. Other most recent TV appearances include guest-starring roles on “Broad City,” “Louie,” “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Difficult People,” “30 Rock,” and “2 Broke Girls.” From 1999 to 2010, Judy was the host of HBO’s At the Multiplex with Judy Gold. Judy also won two Emmy awards for writing and producing The Rosie O’Donnell Show.
Judy has made numerous appearances on “The Steve Harvey Show,” “The View,” “The Today Show,” and “The Wendy Williams Show.” She has written for The New York Times, Huffington Post, and CNN.com. She is the host of the hit podcast, Kill Me Now, on iTunes. You can find her at JudyGold.com or follow her on twitter - @jewdygold.
