Rules and Roles of Comedy

We Three Productions will present “Rules and Roles of Comedy,” an evening of six short, diabolical comedies written and directed by Harold Dean James, who has assembled a loyal following at La MaMa for his supernatural dramas that employ unconventional video and stage techniques. This is his first foray into the comedy space. Like Strindberg’s Dream Play, plays of Harold Dean James put a surreal spin on the sufferings and celebrations of everyday characters, offering unusual reflections of everyday life. Frequently they show a victim peering back at his ordinary life to savor fate and see “what if.” These six playlets, written in deadpan comedy style, deal with themes of secrecy, charity, the power of art, greed, seduction and afterlife. In most of them, unexpected relationships erupt between strangers, either in unlikely places (like a museum, or a bus stop) or between an everyday Joe and a departed spirit.