Original Poster for the 2008 reading of The Books

NEW YORK (Sept. 5, 2008) – Imperfect People presents a reading of Michael Edison Hayden’s new play, “The Books” at the Cherry Lane Studio Theater at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16. The dark comedy, directed by Matt Urban, will star Aadya Bedi (The Culture Project: Betrayed, Manhattan Theater Club: The American Pilot) and Scott David Nogi (Nicu’s Spoon: Elizabeth Rex, Richard III) with Josh Adler.

The play chronicles the off-beat love story of a professional dominatrix, Mistress Chimera, and her client, Mark O’Connor, over four different sessions and one tender night-after, all set in Mark’s apartment in Queens. Mistress Chimera is, outside of role-play, Helen, a struggling actor of Egyptian heritage. She becomes fascinated by Mark first because of his apartment. It is completely sparse, with a mattress on the floor, and covered with an immense number of books. After one in a series of sessions, Mark agrees to loan Helen a copy of James Joyce’s Dubliners, and their personal relationship deepens, complicating the sadomasochistic ritual. Helen is further thrown from her role as Mistress Chimera when one visit leaves Mark in convulsions. She begins to realize for the first time the degree to which her lifestyle is truly outside the norm, and Mark steps forward to comfort her. But before the well-matched couple can truly fall in love, Mark must find the courage to reveal the scars of his masochism, and they both must accept themselves as they truly are, coming to terms with the heartbreaking realization that some people may never fit into society, no matter how badly they might secretly desire to create a new one of their own.

The Books examines the phenomenon of sadomasochism at a deeper, more human level than any play has ever done. Through both a dark and a light comedy, combined with an earnest emotional exploration of character, the play shines a healthy light on an area of sexuality still considered taboo by most of the American public. The play is simple, frank, and like Albee’s Zoo Story did with homosexuality in 1960, it examines the unseen lives of the perceived misfits of today’s culture, struggling mightily to find their home.

The playwright, Michael Edison Hayden, is the son of an Egyptian mother and a white, American father. He is a graduate of NYU/Tisch School of the Arts and the Playwright’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. His work has been developed or produced at New York Theatre Workshop, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Flea, Manhattan Theatre Source and Westbeth Theatre.

The Imperfect People are dedicated to revitalizing modern theater by bringing intelligent, language-driven, topical plays to the popular audience. It was established in 1999 by founding members Michael Edison Hayden, Matt Urban and J.T. Dorr-Bremme. More information is available at imperfectpeople.com.

Tickets are free and may be requested by sending a email to tickets@imperfectpeople.com with “THE BOOKS” in the subject line.

The Books
a reading of the new play by Michael Edison Hadyen

performed by:
Aadya Bedi
Scott D. Nogi
Josh Adler

directed by Matt Urban

September 16 @ 7:00
Cherry Lane Studio Theater
38 Commerce Street, New York NY, 10014
www.cherrylanetheatre.org

presented by Imperfect People
imperfectpeople.com