Dead Brains by Erik Champney. Art design: Toronto McK.
DEAD BRAINS by Erik Champney
Henry and Philly have gotten caught up in the fantasy. Artist and muse, they are idols in their own minds. Enter Corey, vulnerable and real. Now a decision must be made about his role in their game. It’s time to change the rules. Again and again and again. In Erik Champney’s psychosexual thriller, art is dangerous and nothing is sacred.
Winner, National AIDS Fund/CFDA-Vogue Initiative Award for Playwriting, The Kennedy Center
Winner, Outstanding Overall Production, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity
Winner, Outstanding Playwriting, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity
Winner, Sold Out Award, Seattle Fringe Festival
*Production, Baker Falls; presented by Baker Falls and Knitting Factory; dir. Erik Champney. New York, NY
*Rehearsed Reading, Ripley-Grier; dir. Erik Champney. New York, NY.
Production, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center; dir. Adam Chisnall. New York, NY.
*Workshop / Reading, T. Schreiber Studio & Theatre; dir. Erik Champney. New York, NY.
Production, Seattle Fringe Festival; dir. Megan E. Carter. Seattle, WA.
Fully Staged Reading, Bay Area Playwrights Festival; dir. John Morace. San Francisco, CA.
TRAILER: Dead Brains: A Psychosexual Thriller at Baker Falls, New York; January 17 - March 3, 2024.
Dead Brains at Baker Falls, New York, NY; Presented by Baker Falls and Knitting Factory; Directed by Erik Champney; Featuring Jon Pratt, Charity Schubert, Dylan Goodwin; Production Manager: Alex Williamson; Production Designed by Erik Champney; Properties by China Perruccio and Erik Champney; Production Photographer: Bryan Cash.
“A theatre experience that reaches far beyond the fourth wall of the stage and spills out through the venue and onto the street.” REVIEW: THEATER PIZZAZZ
“Champney is straight-ahead serious about the possibilities of sex and violence and art in the theater.” REVIEW: THE VILLAGE SUN
“This psychological thriller may prove to be the most idiosyncratic ‘love’ story in recent theatrical memory: It’s as twisted as it is darkly entertaining.” REVIEW: LAVENDER AFTER DARK
PLAYBILL: Revival of Psychosexual Thriller Dead Brains Extends Off-Broadway
PLAYBILL: Playwright Erik Champney will direct the site-specific production
PLAYBILL: Off-Broadway Revival of Psychosexual Thriller Dead Brains Begins January 17
BROADWAY WORLD: Photos: Baker Falls and Knitting Factory Present Site-Specific Revival of DEAD BRAINS
MEDIUM: Dead Brains: Interview with Playwright Erik Champney
THEATER MANIA: Thriller Dead Brains Returns in Site-Specific Staging
BROADWAY WORLD: Site-Specific Production Dead Brains: A Psychosexual Thriller Opens This Month
THEATER PIZZAZZ: Off Broadway Theater News
Dead Brains at The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, New York, NY; Produced by Jim Kierstead; Directed by Adam Chisnall; Featuring Richard Wingert, Ellie Gossage, Matt Maretz; Stage Manager: Richard Sommerfield; Lighting Design by Gilbert “Lucky” Pearto; Sound Design by Erik Champney and Adam Chisnall; Properties by Erik Champney and Richard Sommerfield; Technical Direction by Mary Greene; Production Photographer: Bryan Cash.
“This show is absolutely a work of art.” REVIEW: ARTS INDEPENDENT
“This is a cleverly produced show that makes you question your own mortality and even your own perceptions of life. It helps you to understand abuse in a way I have not seen before.” REVIEW: OUTER-STAGE
“Exciting, scary, and twisted. This play is ripe for HBO.” REVIEW: SHOWTONES
BROADWAY WORLD: BROADWAY PRODUCER JIM KIERSTEAD INVITES YOU TO AN EROTIC GAME OF CAT & MOUSE
REVIEW FIX: Interview with Playwright Erik Champney
OUTER-STAGE: Interview with Playwright Erik Champney
ARTS INDEPENDENT: Interview with Producer Jim Kierstead
REVIEW FIX: Interview with Producer Jim Kierstead
SHOWTONES: Interview with Actor Richard Wingert
Dead Brains at the Seattle Fringe Festival, Seattle, WA; Directed by Megan E. Carter; Featuring David Hogan, Emily Vise, Eric Stevens; Scenic and Costume Designs by Thomas Welch & Sarah Perkins; Lighting by Katherine Coffman; Sound Design by LeVette Fuller.
“Exiting the theater, the crowd around me was buzzing either with talk of the play’s brilliance or their own violent distaste.” SEATTLE FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW RAG
Dead Brains at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, San Francisco, CA; Presented by the Kennedy Center, The National AIDS Fund, The Council of Fashion Designers of America, and the Vogue Initiative; Directed by John Morace; Featuring Brian Erlich, Stacey Jackson, Kenny Shults; With Starr Aché.