Bright Lights, Big City
Bright Lights, Big City was production I directed and adapted from the American novel by Jay McInerney, utilising devising techniques used by companies such as Frantic Assembly and Kneehigh.
The play follows the protagonist’s time spent caught up in, and notably escaping from, life in New York City’s mid 80’s fast lane. Using physical theatre and exceptional design elements, the play almost mirrored that of a drug-use experience.
The story's protagonist is a writer who works as a fact checker for a highbrow magazine. By night, he is a cocaine-using partygoer seeking to lose himself in the hedonism of the 1980’s yuppie party scene, often going to a nightclub called Heartbreak.
His wife, Amanda, has recently left him, and he copes with this by pretending nothing happened and telling no one that she's gone. After flying out to Paris for Fashion Week, she calls the narrator to inform him that she is leaving him for another man and to pursue her career.
His partying and his personal troubles begin to affect his work, as he travels down a path of self-destruction, anger and depression. Pushing his body to the limits, he begins to wonder if he can break himself and forget himself through continual drug use. On a particularly brutal come down, he eventually comes to realize Amanda's superficiality, becoming both disillusioned with her and the materialistic culture of New York in general.
Loading
Comments
Sign up or log in to post something
Log in to your account
Sign up: It's free and anyone can join.
Verify your account
Nearly there! We've sent you an email – just click on the link in the email to verify your account and you'll then be a fully fledged member of IdeasTap.
If you can't find the email in your inbox, check your spam folder - if it's in there, save the address in your contacts. That way you'll always get our emails.
If you're still having problems, email us at info@ideastap.com.