INTERNment Plays Theatre Asylum Lab, Now thru Aug 31

INTERNment is the first play to take an in-depth examination of the chaotic, hilarious, and riveting world of primetime television casting, while asking the question: how much are you willing to sacrifice to pursue your dream? The office of DRW Casting is seen through the eyes of up-and-coming casting director Jack Dempsey and two of his interns-Brooklyn-born Riddick and RADA-trained Charles, from London. Individually, these three disparate men lead the audience on an unpredictable and unforgettable training day in the office mailroom. INTERNment is now playing Theatre Asylum Lab and runs through August 31st.

To provide the feeling of authenticity the show requires, writer/performer Joe Mahon spent a year and a half as an intern in one of the busiest primetime television casting offices in Los Angeles. While the show is laced with humor throughout, like many business-themed dramas before it ("Wall Street," "Glengarry Glen Ross"), no punches are pulled and the play takes an uncompromising look at the lengths to which ambitious young men will go, and the sacrifices they are willing (or unwilling) to make, as they pursue their careers in the big city.

While INTERNment is his first produced work as a writer, Mahon is no stranger to the Los Angeles theatre scene. After graduating from the USC School of Theatre, he made his professional stage debut opposite S. Epatha Merkerson, under the direction of Emmy winner Michael Pressman in Come Back, Little Sheba at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Subsequently, he appeared in the West coast premiere of Naomi Wallace's Birdy at the Lounge Theatre, and was honored to appear in the workshop and world premiere productions of Tom Burmester's The War Cycle: Gospel According to First Squad, which recently earned him his first LA Weekly and Ovation nominations.

General admission is $10 and tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/262922 or $5 http://www.goldstar.com/events/hollywood-ca/internment. The Asylum Theatre Lab is located at 1078 Lillian Way (one block west of Vine Street). Ample street parking is available on Lillian Way.