THE SHORT COMEDY OF POPE JOHN PAUL I, OR LUCIANI! by Danny Turek
I’m sorry.
I thought I’d be inspired to say something better. I figured it would come with being the pope.
SYNOPSIS
Pope John Paul I–father of three, bearer of the Baby Jesus, and the holiest admirer of pistachio ice cream–carries the weight of the Catholic world on his head. 33 days later, he dies.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
Directed by Daniel Shtivelberg
Presented by The Aliens in a workshop staging as part of Next Stage Initiative at Available Light Theatre, Columbus, OH. January, 2016
Cast included Cece Bellomy as Traditionalist Catholic, Camille Bullock as Mark Twain, Dakota Drown as Curia, Jenn Geiger as Pinocchio, David Glover Curia, Gabe Simms as Curia, Maggie Turek as Figaro, and Alan Woods as Pope John Paul I.
Lighting design by Anthony Aleshire and stage management by Elizabeth Meyers.
Previously developed in a staged reading, directed by Danny Turek, in Jen Schluetter's Playwrighting class, April, 2015.
PRESS
"This is a particularly exciting play in this year’s festival. Theatre audiences have been wowed in the last year by the on-stage work of Turek (The Miser, Peter and the Starcatcher) and Shtivelberg (Trouble in Mind, Dedalus) but this is their first full post-collegiate creative collaboration... This is the kind of thing I desperately want to see more of and I know I’m not alone there." – Columbus Underground Theatre Preview: Available Light's Next Stage Initiative, Richard Sanford