Set in Southwest Louisiana (where the play’s LA-based author formerly resided), the action of Acadiana Sludge unfolds in a trailer that sits amidst a derelict, hole-filled field from which oil had once been extracted. Darrell, recently returned from a length stay in Chicago where he was trying to make it as a Cajun banjo player, has returned home to lay claim to his share of the oil that will purportedly soon be pumped from his Daddy’s faltering ranch. Darrell’s wife, Crystal complains about having to stay cooped up with the children all day, because she fears that they might fall into one of the holes. She chastises Darrell for being unproductive, although he points out that he’s appeared on national TV (on the Jerry Springer show, in a segment featuring men who date cross-dressers). Trey, Darrell's brother, soon shows up with the news that their father has been sent to prison, and that the oil deal isn’t going to pan out. Darrell exits to get something out of his truck, and the audience learns that Trey and Crystal are lovers. Soon there is an off-stage struggle, as the two men grapple at the edge of a hole which is being filled by a dump truck full of sludge. With a couple of subsequent, unexpected twists and turns, Acadiana Sludge is a sticky story that will keep you listening and laughing till the end.Setting

Setting

A trailer, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, 2010.  NOTE: Zydeco and/or Cajun music may be heard during the play, especially at the beginning and at the end. Throughout, characters cough.

About the Playwright

The author of over twenty plays, Rick Mitchell’s critically acclaimed work has been seen throughout the U.S. and Europe.  In 2009, Mitchell was awarded the Holland New Voices Award for Brecht in L.A., which also won the Southwest Theatre Association’s National New Play Contest.  Brecht in L.A. has been presented as part of an international writers’ series, Literaturforum im Brecht-Haus, in Berlin (Germany) in German translation, as well at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival’s PlayFest.  His play with music, The Composition of Herman Melville, was produced in 2009 in New York, as part of Metropolitan Playhouse’s theatre festival, “Melvillapalooza.”  Mitchell’s plays about Brecht and Melville are published in the U.K. by Intellect Books, which will also be publishing a forthcoming collection of his recent plays, including Anthropology; or How to Win Friends and Influence Afghans, a dark comedy set, primarily, in post 9/11 Afghanistan.  Another recent drama, Through the Roof, which examines the social history of “natural” disaster in New Orleans, was presented as a reading at Actors’ Theatre of Louisville as part of the Juneteenth Jamboree New Play Festival, and broadcast on Pacifica Radio’s KPFK-FM in Los Angeles.  His play Ventriloquist Sex, a “Pick of the Week” in the LA Weekly during its premiere in Hollywood, was also produced in Las Vegas as part of the Samuel Beckett Festival. A professional comedian/ventriloquist as well, Mitchell teaches playwriting at California State University/ Northridge, where he is Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing.  Graduate training includes playwriting at Brooklyn College; performance studies at Tisch School of the Arts; and a PhD in English/Creative Writing from the University of Louisiana/Lafayette.