Koalas are Dicks

Written by Larry Phillips
Directed by Ben Liebert
Produced by Randomly Specific 

Nominations: Outstanding Set Design, Meg McGuigan; Outstanding Lighting Design, Catherine Clark; Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role, Griffin Hennelly

About the Company: Randomly Specific Theatre is a New York City based independent theatre company founded in 2014. Their mission is to produce new plays with an emphasis on excellence in writing and script development and high quality production aesthetic. They do not subscribe to any single method of training or rehearsal technique. The play's the thing. Spinning a good yarn for the entertainment of an audience is their number one goal.

About the Production: Brody, America’s favorite koala, has stormed off the set of his hit sitcom. Holed up in a sleazy LAX motel, he's got enough booze and drugs to last for months.
Desperate to get him back on track his agent, wrangler, and co-star try to make him see reason. But is their concern for Brody's future? Or their own? Koalas are Dicks is a dark Hollywood comedy about terrible people and the koala who supports them.

Playwright Larry Phillips and nominees Meg McGuigan, Catherine Clark, and Griffin Hennelly talk about staging this dark comedy about the sleazy side of being a koala.

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What first attracted you to this project?

Larry: The play was written specifically for our Theatre Company.

Meg: New work generally interests me, as well as an excited team.

Griffin: The amount of physical comedy.

Catherine: I was asked by the director, Ben Liberties, and we had worked together previously on another quirky new show.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Larry:  Working with a brilliant ensemble and team.

Meg: The collaboration from all parties.

Griffin: I love working in a fast ensemble comedy. A group of people with the same goal (putting on a damn good show) is a nice group to be a part of.

Catherine: The most fun thing about the production was creating the environment of a trashed, cheap motel room, it's not often that "gross" is the goal, so it was something fun and different to work on.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

Meg: Logistics were fairly tricky for a needy set with a small load in window, lots of furniture with little time!

What was the most unique aspect of this production for you?

Meg: There is a lot of joy in finding the ugliest artwork you can.

Griffin: I got to huff gasoline, mime fellatio on an inflatable Kangaroo and smother a koala to death with a pillow... there wasn't much that was not odd.

What was it like working with this group of artists?

Larry: They are all talented, smart, and dedicated.

Griffin: Incredibly professional but at the same time warm, friendly and inviting.

Catherine: The show was really a team effort, everyone helped each other to get things done and come up with creative solutions together, it was a very open and collaborative process, which made working on a new play that much more enjoyable.