Despite Restrictions, Argos & HMT Still Smokin' with 'Lifers'

Award-winning fringe companies Argos Productions (Argos) and Happy Medium Theatre (HMT) come together for a co-production of "Lifers" by John Shea and Maureen Cornell. Heading up the production is Boston director, IRNE Award nominated Brett Marks ("Windowmen," Boston Playwrights' Theatre). The production runs for three weeks (March 20 - April 4, 2015) at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre at 949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215.

Marks says about the co-production, "I have the honor of being able to combine a ton of my favorite things in theatre, which makes me pretty psyched. First, we have a collaboration with another great company, HMT. And we're producing a play that marks the return of John Shea's work to the Argos stage [after 2011's 'Junkie']. Just as Argos has a new collaborator in HMT, John [Shea] has a new collaborator in his awesome 'Lifers' writing partner, Maureen Cornell."

"Lifers" by John Shea and Maureen Cornell takes place in Boston in 2004, just as the smoking ban is about to go into effect in Massachusetts. And no one is feeling the hurt like the staff at this local restaurant. Winfield, the new guy with no previous work experience, finds himself in over his head as the restaurant prepares to rebrand itself to attract new and more affluent clientele. As Sherry, newly promoted to manager, tries to whip the staff into shape for the re-launch, the wait staff (and surly cook) struggle to find their footing as change is swirling around them. With the restaurant's future on the line, tempers flare, plates are broken, and buttons come undone.

The show will feature six lauded fringe actors: Elliot Norton Award winner Maureen Adduci ("The Normal Heart," Zeitgeist Stage); IRNE Award nominated Peter Brown (Edward Albee's "At Home at the Zoo," Zeitgeist Stage); David D'Andrea ("The Singularity," Science Fiction Theatre Company); IRNE Award winner Mikey DiLoreto ("The Normal Heart," Zeitgeist Stage); Elliot Norton Award nominated Lizette M. Morris ("Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead," Happy Medium Theatre); and Audrey Lynn Sylvia ("Lebensraum," Happy Medium Theatre).

"Lifers" runs March 20 through April 4 at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre (949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA). For more information and tickets visit www.argosproductions.com.