Dinner table conversation becomes a battlefield in the War on Terror, the sounds of dialogue replaced by newscasting, storytelling, congregational praying, and an ever-recurring state of emergency, the sounds of the table itself - scooting chairs, singing wineglasses, squeaking forks - overrunning the discussion. Elsewhere, three friends from three sides of the political spectrum unwillingly argue their way through a ticking time bomb scenario, dissecting, dissolving, and brutalizing their own opinions in the process.

Listen to March 16, 2008, WTDY Madison, Forward Forum (hour one)
Rick Burkhardt and Andy Gricevich co-host the first of two hours with host John Quinlan. In this hour, Rick and Andy join in an interview with Marnia Lazreg, author of "Torture & Empire: Algiers to Baghdad," which relates the French and Algerian experience with torture during the Algerian War for Independence with the American and Iraqui experience of torture in the current Iraq conflict. This first hour also includes an excerpt from "Great Hymn of Thanksgiving/Conversation Storm," (borrowed from one of the KPFA broadcasts below), as well as detailing their recent experiences at the New York Frigid Festival, where they won awards for "Audience Choice" and "Best of Fest."

Listen to March 16, 2008, WTDY Madison, Forward Forum (hour two)
Rick Burkhardt and Andy Gricevich continue their conversation with host John Quinlan, focusing specifically on the meanings and historical context behind their plays "Great Hymn of Thanksgiving/Conversation Storm," including further excerpts from those plays.

Listen to Sept. 9, 2007, KPFA Berkeley, The Robbie Osman Show
Rick Burkhardt, Andy Gricevich, and Ryan Higgins sit in with guest host Kevin Van. Begins with Rick and Andy's "Ministry of Oil" song (in their guise as The Prince Myshkins), then continues with a wide-ranging discussion about political theater, culminating with a scene from "Conversation Storm."

Listen to Sept. 9, 2007, KPFA Berkeley, The Peter Laufer Show
Author, Broadcaster and Journalist Peter Laufer interviews the guys in a wide-ranging interview that includes an eclectic plethora of listener calls of the kind you're only likely to receive while in the Bay Area, including a description of their play "Hymn of Thanksgiving", and a performance of excerpts from "Conversation Storm."

Scene from Great Hymn of Thanksgiving

Recent "Frigid Festival" Reviews

NYTheatre.com Review by Marc Denton
"Welcome to the world of Conversation Storm, a remarkable new one-act play by Rick Burkhardt. It's on a double bill with a unique percussion piece called Great Hymn of Thanksgiving... performed by The Nonsense Company, which is Burkhardt plus actors Ryan Higgins and Andy Gricevich. This hour-long pairing exemplifies what indie/fringe theatre is supposed to be..."

Backstage.com Review by Robbie Reich
"For half an hour, three men scrape, drum, and pound away at their kitchen table, using forks, fists, plates, Autoharp, cymbals, and water glasses. They proceed to argue the merits of torture, interrupting themselves and shifting the scenario every minute or so. Through precise delivery and the sheer force of their concept and subject material, the protagonists of this Nonsense Company production captivate their audience even as they disorient it...."

New Theater Corps Review by Aaron Riccio
"The must-see show of the 2008 FRIGID Festival, this double-bill of political one-acts features an avant-garde musical dinner party unlike anything you've seen before, paired up with an escalating, yet non-linear, conversation about the 'ticking time bomb' scenario that questions the ethics of torture in one of the most hysterically frightening works of theater this year...."

www.frigidnewyork.info