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Exploring anger, rage and loss: Vortex Theatre stages world premiere of 'Art of Raising Anything'
From left, Nick Barker plays Charlie, Zane Barker is Walter, and Molly Barker plays Darlene in 鈥淭he Art of Raising Anything.鈥�
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In 1992, Pepsi-Cola sponsored a sweepstakes contest in Manila, Philippines.
Consumers had to find a winning number underneath their soda bottle caps to win a great deal of money.
The company produced 800,000 winning caps by accident. Pepsi swiftly voided the contest, provoking anger, hatred and violence in the Philippines. People rioted and set cars ablaze. Someone threw a homemade bomb at a Pepsi truck, killing a teacher and a small child.
Opening at the Vortex Theatre in a world premiere on Friday, Feb. 2, John Dayton Cerna鈥檚 play 鈥淭he Art of Raising Anything鈥� explores the resulting anger, rage and loss.
鈥淭he company royally screwed up,鈥� the playwright said in a telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., home. 鈥淎s a writer, I thought, 鈥楾his is a play. This is enormous.鈥� 鈥�
Dayton Cerna set his fictionalized version in a working class town he called Dismuke in a nameless state.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very depressed town,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a man who lost his wife to cancer with two children and he鈥檚 enraged.鈥�
The contest creator, Cathy, impetuously drives four hours to Dismuke to apologize to the enraged people who live there. But she is unprepared for the tempestuous anger that greets her, just as she is unprepared for the love she feels for one family in particular.
Dayton Cerna learned about the original event from a newspaper story.
Cathy 鈥渋s about 60 years old,鈥� he said; 鈥渟he鈥檚 worked for (the fictionalized company) Popsit all her life. She drives to the home of this family because the father wrote her an email. She鈥檚 so moved by it. She鈥檚 not prepared for the rage.
鈥淭he town could be in upstate New York, it could be Ohio; it could be anywhere,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome of the actors have adopted Southern accents.鈥�
Dayton Cerna is no stranger to tragedy. His only sister was murdered in 2010. He says his heart was broken in 鈥渁 hundred places鈥� and that writing has helped him to heal and remain sane.
鈥淪he was killed in Spain, in Seville,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nother theme the play explores is loss. She was the only big rock 鈥榥鈥� roll sister that I had.鈥�
The GLAAD Media Award-nominated playwright decided to premiere his play at the Vortex after visiting Albuquerque.
鈥淚 spent some time in Albuquerque in 2019,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I fell in love with the theater community.鈥�
The production will launch with a preshow opening night cocktail event, with Dayton Cerna making a short informational talk about the play. A playwright鈥檚 circle will form on Saturday, Feb. 3, for local playwrights with Dayton Cerna.
