Event

The Next Event

"The Event of a Lifetime..." After the books stopped selling, and family disappears..the next event is closer than expected for him.

The Next Event is a one man show written, produced and performed by myself, Robert Wallace. My objectives are to showcase my artwork and establish myself as an emerging talent in the Theater Industry. Also, to generate sales in order to produce the show on a large scale in the future. This project in many ways created itself. The script was birthed from journal entries I wrote during my collegiate career at North Carolina Central University. The play is about James Lee Mass, a failed author living in Long Island, New York during the year 1985. Mass lost his nine-year-old daughter, Ava, due to pneumonia. Unable to cope with this loss, James personal and professional life deteriorates. He passively watches the dissolution of his marriage as he is incapable of picking up the pieces. With slowing book sales, and the lack of will to create anything new, he quickly finds himself spiraling into a deep depression with thoughts of suicide. James Lee Mass is a dark and deeply complex character, and throughout the play he addresses the emotional battles that some people fight within themselves everyday. What makes this play so innovative is the breaking of the fourth wall in which the audience is asked to transition from a passive viewer to an active participant. The audience members play the role of the concerned neighbor and are taken through a journey addressing topics such as family, religion, politics, love and death.