Lowbrow Throws High Society Off Its Foundation in Country Club Catastrophe

"How did you get in?" an exasperated Edward asks Cynthia.

​Cynthia Anniston is stubborn and determined. The Brown University freshman comes from a strictly middle-class family, and she won't rest until she drastically ups her social standing. And she's found just the way in, through a man, Edward Montgomery, she met at college. He and his family belong to an exclusive New England country club where people have names such as Tristan and Biff and Miles and Tabytha. Such is the premise of Country Club Catastrophe, the first original production by the new Back Alley Theater Company running at the Exit Theatre.

Thing is, when Cynthia arrives (unannounced), Edward is excited, but not in a good way. ("How did you get in?" he asks with a tone of alarm.) He tries to send her back to Brown before she's detected, but a storm has broken. And it's no coincidence. The club is so exclusive -- and the rift between its members and everyone else so wide -- that the arrival of an unescorted commoner has sent the elements on a bender. Soon there's an earthquake (in New England!), and everyone (members, staff, and Cynthia alike) is suddenly equalized in the rubble that remains.

Rank has its, um, privileges?

​Back Alley Theater Company was founded by Jeff Bedillion (formerly of New York City's LMNO Theater Company) and Katharine Otis. The group aims to explore sociopolitical issues in producing original works, and what better way to start than by shaking modern American class structure off its foundation?

Country Club Catastrophe starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4, (and continues Thu.-Sat. through Aug. 13) at Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy (at Taylor). Admission is $20.