TOMMASO CARTIA
Presents
A NEW PLAY
BY DAVID JAMES PARR
COMING SOON OFF-BROADWAY
In partnership with
SLAP&TICKLE is a darkly funny and thought-provoking theatrical experience taking the audience on an evocative journey from the gay bathhouse, sex club culture in the U.S. to the dawn of social media, and spotlighting the queer communities’ desire to connect and the universal longing for human affection.
The play, set in the 2010s at THE SANCTUARY - the last surviving bathhouse in NYC - explores with raw honesty the experiences of queer people who came of age in the 80s in the shadow of AIDS but before the glare of dating Apps, passing down their testimony of resilience to the Millennials.
THE STORY
SAM, an idealistic and closeted twentysomething, looking for the community not available to him in his small town, stumbles into THE SANCTUARY. In its shadowy corridors he crosses paths with a kaleidoscope of transgenerational characters sharing their stories and initiating him to the unspoken rules of their world - the slaps & the tickles - on an odyssey of sexual awakening and self-discovery.
THE EXPERIENCE
The audience becomes a witness of time, pulled into the action with the characters emerging all around them like a choir of voices in the dark revealing a mosaic of interconnected tales igniting a reflection on history, progress and the preservation of our collective memory through the cathartic power of storytelling. The production is designed as a bevy of sensory elements to bring the experience of THE SANCTUARY to life.
A SHOW WITH A MISSION
The show is a life-affirming celebration of how significant the battles of the gay community have been in pushing the boundaries fighting for equal rights in the U.S. and passes down a testimony of resilience to our younger generation. In light of this the production partners with GMHC the world’s first HIV/AIDS service organization, offering a platform to raise awareness, help remove the heavy stigma of AIDS, and fight against discrimination and hate crimes against queer people.
Meet the Team
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David is an award-winning, NYC-based writer, playwright and director with over 20 years of experience in the theater industry. His play Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting was made into an independent film which premiered at the 2019 Manhattan Film Festival, winning Best Dramatic Independent Feature. His plays Slap&Tickle, Pluto Is Listening, and Albee Damned have been produced all across the U.S. including Chicago, Dallas, New York, Provincetown and St. Petersburg. His script Mimi at the 44th Parallel was a Top 10 Finalist at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. He is a two-time winner of the Tennessee Williams Short Fiction award and a Founder of Boundless Theater.
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Tommaso Cartia is an NYC-based Theatre/Film Producer and the Artistic Director of Boundless Theater (A Stage Without Borders) producing theatrical experiences & exclusively original shows with the mission of shining a light on the underground scene of contemporary theatre fostering an authentically independent theater movement.
Tommaso has 20 years of experience in the field of entertainment, media communications, PR and marketing. He is also a communications strategist for talents & brands, and a published author & an entertainment journalist with an extensive body of work.
Recent productions include SLAP&TICKLE (in development); Stranger Interludes (in development); Boy Meets Girl (in development); Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting - Immersive Experience; Broadway Barfly Live with Rob Driemeyer; Pluto Is Listening.