Archway Theatre Presents FISHING, 8/23-9/22

"Fishing" – a spicy comedy and irreverent satire that blurs the line between food and sex, jobs and relationships – will have its Los Angeles premiere Aug. 23-Sept. 22 at the Archway Theatre in downtown L.A.'s Arts District.

"Fishing" is by David Duman, an award-winning L.A. playwright who is also a self-avowed "foodie" and a long-time food and wine professional and blogger. Drawing on his experiences working at a 3-star restaurant, Duman playfully skewers the food-obsessed in his play.

"Fishing" – a production of D3M and Playwrights 6 – runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling 213-237-9933 or going to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/260879. Email inquiries can also be made at FishingThePlay@gmail.com.

Directed by David Marmor, the play features Clayton Farris, Liz Heathcoat, Christopher W. Jones, Chase McKenna, Peter James Smith and Shani Tennyson.

The ensemble comedy is about a brilliant but caustic chef and his ennui-riddled manager as they attempt to hold together a hot new restaurant where sardonic waiters and kinky foodies are the least of their problems.

As a former server and bartender at the upscale Sea Salt Restaurant in Berkeley and other food establishments, and as a wholesale wine distributor, Duman says, "I'm around restaurants all the time, and I love the business. But I wanted to show how self-absorbed and ridiculous people can be when food is the focus of their whole lives."

Aside from "Fishing," which received two productions in the San Francisco Bay Area, Duman's playwriting credits include "Five Short Episodes in the Life of Sacagawea" at the San Francisco Theatre Festival; "Lobsters in a Pot" (co-written, directed and performed with Meghan Kane), which won the Audience Choice award at the 826 Valencia 10-Minute Play Festival at Amnesia in San Francisco; and "Orpheus in the Underworld" (a new adaptation of the book) produced by the San Francisco State University Theatre Arts Department as part of its main stage season at the McKenna Theatre.

Duman was a finalist in Killing My Lobster's New Play Project and a semi-finalist in the Playwrights' Center of Minneapolis' PlayLabs competition.

Additional credits include short plays "Nyx" at the Exit Theatre in San Francisco, "A Second Life" (written and directed) at the Jon Sims Center in San Francisco, and a new adaptation of "Othello" (co-written with Claire Rice) performed at the Studio Theatre at San Francisco State.

He served on the Literary Committee of San Francisco's Magic Theatre and was the co-producer of the Magic Theatre's LaunchPad High School Playwriting Competition. His web series VLOG STAR (www.vlogstarshow.com) was a three-time selection of the Los Angeles Web Series Festival, where it received awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. "Nyx" will be published in 2013 as part of the San Francisco Olympians Festival Volume 2.

Duman is a regular food and wine contributor to The Satellite Show pop culture blog (www.thesatelliteshow.com) and has been a contributing food and wine blogger for The Huffington Post since 2011.

He's a graduate of UC Berkeley and has a Creative Writing MFA from San Francisco State University. David is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Archway Theatre is located at 305 S. Hewitt St., Los Angeles, CA 90013.

Pictured (top): Peter James Smith, Chase McKenna and Liz Heathcoat
Pictured (side): Shani Tennyson and Christopher W. Jones

 

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