Doug Field's Off Broadway debut, the sex romp Down South, did well up north — extending four times at a time when many shows were closing around it. The production, from the man who penned the Los Angeles hit C-Cup, opened at the Rattlestick Theatre June 28 for a run through July 29. The first stagework by the scribe extended to Sept. 9, then through Sept. 30, then again to Oct. 14 and finally through Oct. 20, when it will close to make room for the upcoming season.
Asked in late September why Down South has had such good fortune, Gersten had told Playbill On-Line that unlike another show he reps, Tony n' Tina's Wedding, which relies heavily on tourists and group sales, Down South "is still new to the New York and local audiences."
In 1962, with the looming missile crisis from Communist Cuba, an average suburban housewife launches a coup d'etat of her own. At the onset of free love, this double coupon matron gives "down south" double meaning, and the comedy ensues. "The Down South of the title refers to Cuba — and to oral sex," Field told Playbill On Line (June 2000) when his play ran at Hollywood's Flight Theatre where it extended four times.
Director Rick Sparks, who directed the L.A. production, helms a cast that features David Bicha, Anthony DeSantis, Dean Fortunato, Erin McLaughlin, Audrey Rapoport, and Alice Vaughn. The design team includes Paule Doss (costumes), John McDermott (set) and Ed McCarthy (lighting).
Rattlestick Productions, now in its sixth season, have recently brought to the New York such shows as Harry Kondoleon's Saved or Destroyed, Lucy Thurber's Killers and Other Family and Daniel MacIvor's See Bob Run. Coming up this season are Adam Rapp's Faster, Wesley Moore's Finders Fee and Joe Hortua's Burning. To get your tickets to go Down South, at the Rattlestick Theatre, 224 Waverly Place (at 11th Street), call Tele-Charge at (212) 239-6200 or online at www.telecharge.com. For more information on Rattlestick, visit their website at www.rattlestick.org.
— by Ernio Hernandez and David Lefkowitz
