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The Punishing Blow by Randy Cohen
WORLD PREMIERE
Randy Cohen
Arrested, tried, and convicted, a college professor can stay out of jail if he enters rehab for his drinking, undergoes treatment for anger management, and gives a public lecture [this play] on a person of his choosing from a list of The Hundred Most Influential Jews of All Time. What the professor did to get himself arrested will emerge in the course of the evening. Who he chooses as the subject of his talk will be declared promptly -- not Albert Einstein, not Golda Meir, but Daniel Mendoza, a Jewish bare-knuckle boxing champion of eighteenth century London. Whether this sentence is a wise one, whether it has the intended effect on the professor, is a decision for the audience. Randy Cohen, perhaps best known as “The Ethicist” from his weekly column for the New York Times Magazine, Cohen’s first professional work was writing humor pieces, essays, and stories for newspapers and magazines (The New Yorker, Harpers, The Atlantic and Young Love Comics). Winner of five Emmy awards, he has written for "Late Night With David Letterman," "TV Nation" and “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.” Directed by Nicola Sheara.
