A new play by Adonis Perez-Escobar
Directed by Donald Rupe and Blake Aburn
April–May 2023
The Cocaine Play was our very first production from our open call to submit new works to the Ren in 2023. The script we got from Adonis Perez-Escobar (a mainstay of 2022: La Medéa, Nosferatu) sparked delight, then excitement, then we got a little freaked out, and then definitely disturbed.
perf. 🧑🍳👌
Adonis’s original play is surely about cocaine, lots of it. But it’s also about four gay besties who find themselves falling back to earth as the mass of their interwoven compulsions, addictions, sexuality, violence, self-interest, and loneliness begins to stall their fantasy lifestyles. It starts with a crash, then takes the form of a strange woman they recognize from somewhere, somehow.
If you’re lucky enough to get a second chance at life, would you try to escape your death? Would it be more fun if you decided to double down?
Each show started around 8 PM and ran about 90 minutes with no intermission.
Doors opened around 7:30 PM.
* Some disclaimers from the run: okay, it’s weird (super weird) and very much 18+ only. We hit allll the exciting things (sex, nudity, violence, death, bad words, abuse, the drugs) in the first five minutes… and there’s no slowing down from there.
It was also brand-new, smart, and unlike anything else happening in Orlando at the time, or anything else made before at The Ren.
* Finally, (sorry so serious. the show is actually disarmingly funny) Renaissance’s founders are too familiar with the diseases of addiction, and we think the show does anything but glamorize coke, for a good reason. (It’s one of the bad ones.) We hope that communities like The Ren are built to hold us together as this pain takes lives everywhere. If you or someone you love is pre-wired for dependency, or is facing another of the issues depicted in the show, we encourage you to seek help so you can make it through with us. We also think the show offers some truth about that pain, but that it’s also sometimes helpful for vulnerable people to keep their distance until enough time has passed. You know what’s best for you. Thanks friends love you.
April–May, 2023
Friday, April 14 at 8 PM — SOLD OUT
Saturday, April 15 at 8 PM — SOLD OUT
Thursday, April 20 at 8 PM
Friday, April 21 at 8 PM — SOLD OUT
Saturday, April 22 at 8 PM — SOLD OUT
Thursday, April 27 at 8 PM
Friday, April 28 at 8 PM
Saturday, April 29 at 8 PM — SOLD OUT
Thursday, May 4 at 8 PM
Friday, May 5 at 8 PM — SOLD OUT
Saturday, May 6 at 8 PM — SOLD OUT
About the Playwright
Adonis Perez-Escobar is thrilled to be back at the most magical place on Earth, the Ren! Adonis is an Orlando based writer, actor and all-around artist. Past credits at the Ren include running around shirtless and oiled up in Nosferatu and bringing to life a voodoo puppet in La Medéa. Other Orlando credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Henry IV Part 2 (Orlando Shakes), 1984 (Garden Theatre), Water by the Spoonful, Our Country’s Good and Pentecost (Theatre UCF).
As a writer, his work examines contemporary society and American culture through an unabashedly queer lens. He’s interested in exploring the bad, the ugly, and the downright blatant flaws in human nature... after-all he is a gay man with a flair for the dramatic. He wishes to create works that push boundaries and bring something completely new and fresh to the theatrical landscape. Meaning The Cocaine Play is very gay. Very loud. Perhaps a little sexy and chic with a touch of camp. And very much in your face. The play originally came to life two years ago as a short one man show in which Adonis examined how various facets of toxic masculinity and a culture of excess manifested within himself. From there it grew into what is now the full-length iteration of the show. Adonis is absolutely elated to be working on this production with the Ren, a theatre company that is constantly pushing the boundaries of theatre while cultivating a community of artists and patrons that are as diverse as the world around us.
Adonis received his BFA in Acting from the University of Central Florida. When he is not writing or bopping around half naked (or mostly naked), he’s usually traveling the country doing Shakespeare. Two of his short stories were recently published in Elegant Literature issues 2 & 3. IG: @adonisperezescobar