Review Fix Exclusive Downtown Urban Arts Coverage: Daniel Damiano Talks ‘American Tranquility’

Review Fix chats with “American Tranquility” playwright Daniel Damiano, who lets us know all about the production and why it’s a special one.

About the Production:

A southern retiree, an Iranian subway station poet and percussionist, a talk-radio show host and a Brooklyn existentialist reflect on the human divide in 21st century America.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Daniel Damiano: I wrote AMERICAN TRANQUILITY over the course of a couple of months in the late Winter/Spring of 2017.  It was born out of a combination of my desperation to get back on the stage and not wanting to wait for someone to hire me combined with the post-election climate that fed into some of the themes in the piece, along with other themes that I thought meshed well in terms of how they relate to modern America.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Damiano: I think the fact that a large canvas is given to four very different characters gives the piece a certain balance which I feel is unique.  It’s not simply a liberal show.  It’s a piece that is designed to take you into 4 very different worlds and experience the views of four very different individuals in a humorous, cerebral and sometimes visceral way, and it sort of dares the audience to both be endeared by what they identify with and also repelled by what they may be opposed to

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

Damiano: Because this was a piece I was writing for myself to perform, it struck me that I am developing more of an emotional connection to certain things the older I get.  At least for me, I feel age has been good in that regard.  It’s enabled me to give more nuance to things I might have seen in a more linear way when I was younger.  The other thing that I didn’t necessarily learn but that this experience crystallized for me in the writing was about seizing the momentum of inspiration and environment;   when you have an idea and stuff is just coming to you, you must strike while the iron is hot.


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

Damiano: I’ve done the piece twice before, as part of Solocom 2017 for 1 show, and then a two-show encore run at the PIT Loft in January.  Having my druthers, I would love to perform this for a few weeks at a single venue.  I think it’ll be timely for a while, and would just love to have the opportunity to share this with more people.  And it’s such a cheap show.  Me, a set of bongos, 3 chairs and that’s it.

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

Damiano: What I’ve observed in the few times I’ve done this already is that, while audiences very much respond to the humor of the piece, they are more deeply affected by the themes and how they are conveyed by these characters.  The one unifying consensus from those who’ve seen it is that this is very much a piece for these times, and one that has stuck with those who’ve seen it, which is why I do this.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Damiano: My play HARMONY PARK will receive it’s World Premier with Detroit Repertory Theatre in late March and will be running through May 20th.   I’m also continuing to work on my first (and probably only) novel, called BUBONIC PEG.  There are some other up-in-the-air projects that may or may not come to be, so we’ll just see what happens.  Let’s just say – I’m hireable!

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 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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