The Big Apple
Jack Neary

THE BIG APPLE is my response to the experience of a lifetime--bringing my play FIRST NIGHT to Manhattan. THE BIG APPLE was produced with great success at New Century Theatre in Northampton, and it’s a bit of a stretch for me. Folks used to my sweet Catholics-in-challenging-situations may be taken aback by APPLE’s sauciness, but once through the off-Broadway ringer and a writer is never the same again.

In the play, Bob, a playwright, has written a script that all his friends say MUST be produced in New York. (I should point out that the play takes place in Bob’s brain, which is vaguely similar to his cluttered apartment, but a brain nonetheless.) As Bob begins to seriously contemplate this notion of foisting his literary offspring on NYC, his brain is invaded by a character called "The Big Apple," who is the human manifestation of New York City, a fast-talking, Bilko-esque con-man who claims to know anything and everything about getting a play produced in his town, or in him, as it were. Once committed to listening to Apple, Bob rides his coattails through producers and directors and actors and publicists all the way through opening night.

"THE BIG APPLE is a daringly personal romp. It is fast, quick-witted, sometimes frenetic, but always falling back under control. The play is brave, daring, and truly satisfying, purely a delight." Theresa Giera, the Chicopee, Massachusetts Herald.

Read the ENTIRE REVIEW of the 2006 Image Theatre production from the Lowell Sun.

Manuscript/PDF