The Bad and the Better
Opening Night: June 14, 2012
Closing: July 21, 2012
Theater: Peter Jay Sharp
Don’t miss The Bad and the Better, a riveting detective noir centered around the Lang brothers. One with everything to lose. One with everything to prove. Both in too deep. Set in the basements, balconies and bars where secrets are whispered and revealed, join a group of local anarchists, law enforcement officials and political power players. All are waging war: against injustice, corruption and, ultimately, the people they love the most. A cautionary tale about the hypocrisy of extreme principles, The Bad and the Better explores the dangers of maintaining loyalty and protecting your family, whoever they are, at any cost.
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June 20, 2012
By the end of “The Bad and the Better,” Derek Ahonen’s red-herring-stuffed panorama of dime-store pulp, nearly every one of the 26 cast members gets to do at least one of the following: A. Enter a room looking furtively over his or her shoulder. B. Slap or get slapped in the face immediately before making out with said slapper/slapee. C. Die.
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June 20, 2012
Nobody produces plays with big casts anymore," one of the characters in Derek Ahonen’s "The Bad and The Better" explains. And with a 26-person ensemble, this detective thriller about anarchists and the people who control them is a rarity in more ways than just in the number of actors it employs. Although slightly unwieldy, particularly in the second act, Ahonen’s play is one of few with a perceptive take on current events that doesn’t come across as overtly political or agenda pushing. Because everyone has secrets, and even the people dance protesting—yes, staging a demonstration by dancing—the corporate regime have a secret regime of their own.
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June 19, 2012
Whether you like them or not, the Amoralists’ gritty shows are like no other — thanks mostly to resident playwright Derek Ahonen’s distinctive mix of hyper-realism and satire, brash violence and unexpected tenderness. He also has a flair for left-field asides and surreal non sequiturs. “You’ve a mouth like lavender,” is a gruff detective’s idea of a compliment in Ahonen’s latest pulp fiction, “The Bad and the Better,” which just opened off-Broadway.
READ THE REVIEWJune 28, 2012
The super hip downtown theatre troupe, The Amoralists, move way up town to the bright lights of 42nd street to present the world premiere of Derek Ahonen’s The Bad and the Better. This gritty detective film noir employs a cast of twenty-six fearless actors under the concise direction of Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin, who recently had a huge critical hit with 4000 miles at Lincoln Center, to bring the audience on a trip through dark alleyways, secret meeting halls, corrupt corporations, dive bars with broken dreams, and every place in between.
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June 20, 2012
It’s tempting to say the title of Derek Ahonen’s new play, The Bad and the Better, now being presented by the Amoralists at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, refers to the varying quality of the show. Clunky dialogue abounds throughout this 150-minute production, but if you push past it a sprawling and somewhat compelling story emerges.
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