Rock & Roll and Theatre Collide in Rock & Awe: Let’s Start a War

Punk and lounge music battle it out at a government-sponsored cocktail party during Brat Productions’ Rock & Awe:  Let’s Start a War.  Brat resident artist Jess Conda takes us on another exhilarating rock-cabaret journey, this time inspired by the music of the Dead Kennedys and satirical political punk rock music. This third installment of the Rock & Awe series takes place on Thursday March 29, Friday March 30 and Saturday March 31, from 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM, at the RUBA Club-Studios, 416 Green Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123.  Tickets are on sale now for $12 each at www.bratproductions.org and bratproductions.ticketleap.com.  

“One Day the Poor Will have nothing to eat but the rich.” Using the punk rock satire of the Dead Kennedys as a jumping off point, Let’s Start a War immerses audiences in a grand, decadent, carnival-inspired world that scrutinizes politics and class warfare. This is a fictional, government-sponsored cocktail party where the rich are gross exaggerations of themselves and the kitchen staff are plotting a violent uprising. Think The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover meets 1984.  When the have-nots rise against the grimy, slimy, grotesque surfeit of an upper class, everyone should take care that they pick the right side. If there is one.

Jess Conda and director John Greenbaum create a musical palate that uses punk rock as an inspiration, but blends a diverse assortment of musical styles. Expect song selections from The Dead Kennedys, Fear, Iggy Pop, Billy Bragg, X-Ray Spex, Tom Waits and more.

The Rock & Awe guerilla art-making cabaret series is the focus of Conda’s residency at BRAT Productions. She conceived and developed this quarterly cabaret series that seeks to blend the theatre world and the cabaret world, but with a rock and roll edge. These are narrative cabarets where the words of the songs function as the script.

“Theatre and rock and roll are already in love and making babies.  I’m throwing my artistic voice into that movement, and pushing the rock element as far as I can,” said Conda.  “I’ve always been interested in punk music as a political satire. This show is unique because we’re working to create a world that is fun theatrically, but that also makes a comment on the state of class differences today. The setting of this cabaret is a dystopia, but it’s also our imagining of what America could become if wealth continues to be the driving force behind political decisions. In imagining extremes where the rich and the poor are fighting against each other, the show will also ask, “Is one side really any better than the other? How does anger make everyone’s actions become ugly?”

Let’s Start a War runs nightly, from 10:00 PM through 11:30 PM, on Thursday March 29, Friday March 30 and Saturday March 31, at the RUBA Club Studios, 416 Green Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123.  Tickets are on sale now for $12 per person at Bratproductions.ticketleap.com. For additional information, visit www.bratproductions.com or call 267-586-9093.  

Rock & Awe wraps up with the fourth installation on Thursday June 14, Friday June 15 and Saturday June 16 with Get Behind Me Satan, a romantic fantasia set to the White Stripes’ album of the same name.  Details are available at bratproductions.ticketleap.com.