Playwright Peter Fenton appreciates a little irony. So when he had the opportunity to perform his own hell-set play, Abandon All Hope, twice at WestArt, a performance space and arts venue that was once a church, he jumped at it. .
“'Abandon All Hope' is very tied to my Christian upbringing,” says Fenton, 28. “West Art seemed like the perfect space to perform because of the fact that it was a church at one point and they were very proud of being very progressive.” All in all. give up hope. ' There's something really interesting about the idea of a play set in hell in what was once a church sanctuary. How could you miss that?
“Abandon All Hope” is Fenton's interpretation of Jean-Paul Sartre's 1944 existentialist play “No Exit,” which includes perhaps Sartet's most famous line: “Hell is other people.” It is included. “Abandon All Hope” follows three college freshmen and a fun-loving demon in Fenton's version of hell: a college dorm room.
This dark comedy/drama contains dark humor, adult themes, sexual innuendo, profanity, alcohol consumption, and criticism of organized religion, so Fenton says it is recommended for viewers 14 and older. There is.
Directed by Gorman Ruggiero, Abandon All Hope had its world premiere off-Broadway during the Rogue Theater Festival in New York City last year, and was performed in front of a live audience only once, when tickets were sold out. It was just that. Fenton has stated that only about 5% of the script has changed since his debut, but one change he made was particularly meaningful.
Read: Father and son writing duo Jim and Peter Fenton talk about their work and how their faith influences their work
Read: Conestoga Valley graduate to make off-Broadway debut in playwright's work
The cast remains the same. Avery Kellington, who is also a producer on the show, plays the trickster demon Teresa. The three recently deceased new students are played by Juliana Suleme as Melissa, Jonathan P. Chen as Sean, and Michael de Los Angeles as Evan.
“This show felt too good to be true,” said Fenton, a 2013 graduate of Conestoga Valley High School. It took the right timing to get it back. ”
“Abandon All Hope” returns to the stage on May 9th and 10th at 7pm.
“It feels like I'm coming home,” says Fenton, who now lives in New Hope. “Although I don't currently live in Lancaster, I will always live here. This is where my writing began.”
“The Search for Good”
Fenton wrote his first play when he was 13 years old. The comedy adventure play “Good Night and Goodbye” impressed Sue Fisher, an eighth-grade English teacher at Conestoga Valley Middle School (now Gerald G. Heusken Middle School), who asked her to direct the play at her school the following year. did. . Seven years later, Fenton wrote another play, The Thousand Year Rose, as a retirement gift to Fisher.
“For me, the hallmark of Peter's writing is his belief in the inherent goodness of human beings and their willingness to do what is right and kind when given the opportunity,” Fisher says.
Now, another seven years later, Fisher has joined the Fenton team as a producer on “Abandon All Hope” and found the perfect venue in West Art.
“Bringing this play to Lancaster will give those who supported him in middle school an opportunity to see how much he has grown as a playwright,” Fisher said. To tell. “It's also a chance for Lancaster to celebrate local talent. We had fun performing this play in New York last year, and it's rewarding to see familiar faces in the Lancaster audience.”
For Fenton, having a former English teacher in his corner means a lot, especially as he ventures deeper into what he calls “the harsh waters of industry.”
“I cannot stress enough how much it means to have the support of someone as talented and loving as Sue Fisher,” Fenton said. “Knowing that there's someone who believes in me every day, even on the days when I don't believe in myself. That's everything to an artist. What better partner could there be than the person who gave me a chance the first time? ?”
Fisher also noticed the theatrical talent of a young Conestoga Valley student, Jonathan Groff, and said he has watched Fenton's work develop while maintaining his creativity.
“In 'The Thousand Years' Rose,' the characters search for a pure heart and find it in what many would consider the most unlikely of people,” Fisher says. “[Fenton's]same search for goodness continues in Abandon All Hope, where he challenges his characters, and us, to examine our own hearts and actions and find out if we really are what we claim to be. We challenge you to discover whether you are the kind of person who is.”
And Fenton himself admits that the search for goodness is a big part of his creative process.
“My motivation is to make the world a more thoughtful and loving place,” Fenton says. “I want to continue to expand people's perspectives on who they should be generous and loving to.” I'm really excited to be able to show that to the community. ”
what's next
Abandon All Hope, which will be performed twice in Lancaster, marks the beginning of a busy spring and summer for Fenton.
In June, Fenton will return to New York City's Rogue Theater Festival to perform a table read of what he calls a dark comedy retelling of the “Peter Pan” story. And in August, Fenton will bring new work to Newtown Arts Company, a community theater in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
“I just started writing it in January,” Fenton says. “It's a teen comedy. I think it has the dry humor of 'Mean Girls,' but also the emotional undercurrent of 'Dear Evan Hanson.' ”
And while Fenton's plays start in the writing room, he says he recognizes that it takes a team effort to bring a work to the stage.
“Yes, that's my name in the play, but I'm really touched by how much of a community effort this is,” Fenton said. “The relationships I've been able to build as a result of being on this show highlight how much love there is in my life.”