The Great Impresario Boris Lermontov Would Like To Invite You To Dinner

Two actors meet onstage and flip a coin to decide who plays which character in this performance. One takes on the role of Boris Lermontov, the boisterous and boastful impresario of a popular ballet company, while the other plays his employee Noa, an unappreciated dancer who’s been tasked with serving dinner to Lermontov and his guest (that’s you, the audience).

The façade of the dinner party quickly starts to crumble as tensions rise between impresario and dancer, revealing the faulty hierarchical structures inherent to such working relationships. As the actor playing Lermontov tries to show the effects of such power imbalances can be solved with the Right Person in the role of impresario, they fall further and further into a trap they’ve created for themself.

Cast: 
Both actors will likely play both characters at some point - just be conscious of this and the dynamics of them playing each role. My plays do not live in an unrealistic land of all thin, abled, cis and gender-binary white people. Populate BOTH the stage and production team with people historically excluded from your theatre and/or your region’s theatre at large. I WILL follow up with you about this if you produce my plays. /// Ballet in this piece is about style and aesthetic, not technical skill. Do not be fooled into thinking “this is a ballet” means you must (or even should!) cast based on technical skill or perceived ability. A good actor can portray this aesthetic regardless of training, familiarity, body type, etc etc. BORIS LERMONTOV/ACTOR L Art above people, craft always. Lermontov is a cis white man. The actor who plays Lermontov is NOT. NOA/ACTOR N There’s got to be a better way, but for now they’re just trying to keep this job. According to Lermontov they “don’t have the right shape” for ballet. Noa/Actor N's pronouns can change to reflect the actor's. The actor who plays Noa is likewise not a cis white man.
Authors: 
Tristan B Willis