2011 Participating Playwright Artist Statement
The Poker God, A Monologue, by Lida McGirr
Our Voices Festival V
March 26, 2011
Fine Arts Center, Black Box, Regis College
Artist Statment
The Poker God was inspired by a family member. One thing that surprises me about the monologue is that several actors have asked me if they could use it for an audition piece. The play is built upon my strong belief that gambling is an addiction; however, one thing I have learned from this monologue is that just because I believe something to be true doesn’t make it so and vice versa. My three wishes for this play are: 1) For it to have a companion piece written from the POV of the woman mentioned in the piece; 2) For it to be a YouTube phenomenon and 3) That it stimulates a dialogue about gambling and addiction.
Staged Reading Cast
Jerry Bisantz as The Poker God
PLAYWRIGHT BIO
Lida McGirr began her acting career as a 7- year-old singing and dancing leprechaun at Nathan's on Coney Island. She spent her early twenties as one of three start-up members of the Little Theater on 26th Street before moving to Boston. Since then, she's won an EMACT DASH Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, appeared as Dean Kenny in the Elliot Norton Award-winning Spinning Into Butter, received rave reviews for her portrayal of Shirley Valentine at the Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham and most recently as Mrs. Banks in Barefoot In the Park at the Zero Point Theater in Watertown. She has directed a short opera protesting the cancellation of Saturday's at the Met, productions for libraries and private functions, as well as many local community theater productions including TCAN's award-winning A Piece of My Heart nominated for four EMACT DASH Awards. Her short plays have been performed in festivals, retirement centers, a romance novelist convention, a bakery, and board meetings throughout New England.
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