Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘The Vengeance Room’

February 13, 2018 Patrick Hickey Jr. Theatre 0

Review Fix chats with “The Vengeance Room” creator Michael Hagins, who discusses the creative process behind the production and what makes it unique.

Inside “The Vengeance Room”:

Five strangers afflicted with amnesia find themselves in a secluded room with a table and four weapons – and a set of instructions with only one way to leave.  Who will survive the deadly guidelines?  And who is behind the torturous game.

Vengeance Room features Ariel Cohen, Michael Mena, Mateo Moreno, Kat Moreno, and Ashley Rogers.
The production, part of the 11th Annual FRIGID Festival (February 14 – March 5) performing at UNDER St. Marks & The Kraine Theater, will have a run of five-showings.

Performance Dates:

Thursday, Feb 15th – 5:30 pm
Sunday, Feb 18th – 12:00 pm
Thursday, Feb 22nd – 10:30 pm
Saturday, Feb 24th – 8:20 pm
Sunday, March 4th – 1:50 pm

Visit www.step1theatreproject.org for more details.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Michael Hagins: I wrote this play really out of nowhere. I was looking at a table of weapons I was cleaning and had the idea just pop into my head.  It took me almost no time to write it, and I thought nothing of it until I had a small reading and my actor friends loved it.  From then on people have wanted to see it up and running.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Hagins: When the story comes to me, I put it down.  I like to try to finish whatever idea I have no matter how it sounds.  I just want to be finished, and from there I can make revisions.  Everything is a work in progress.  Endings change, characters come and go, but in the end, it’s all about the work.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Hagins: The Vengeance Room is something different that I wasn’t sure would work, and yet for me it does.  It just comes together in my head for whatever reason.  I don’t know how innovative it is, but I’d love to think I have something at least unfamiliar to a few audience members.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Hagins: I love writing and trusting my cast and crew.  They care about the work and about my feelings towards it.  They only want the best for my work and in then I want the best for them.  They are passionate and creative artists that deserve so much more.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Hagins: I hope that Step1 moves forward with grants and donors.  They have done phenomenal work that is both unselfish and professional.  I have the utmost respect for their entire staff, and I would be not only honored but privileged to have them work on my material again.  As for the show, it’ll likely be back to the drawing board and see what more I could improve.

Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?

Hagins: The fighting and the tension.  I want the audience shocked and surprised by what happens.  I want to keep them guessing minute by minute.  By the end, I want their minds to be blown.  Or at least a little pop.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Hagins: Not sure as of yet.  Maybe Fringe 2018 with my Civil War piece The Long Rail North.  Maybe Chicago Fringe with my one person show Michael is Black.  Maybe the Brick.  Maybe my laptop to make something new.  Honestly, everything is up in the air but there’s potential all around.  I’m pretty excited to keep moving forward.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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