WORLD/INFERNO
FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY (Brooklyn, NY)
www.worldinferno.com

ADDICTED TO BAD IDEAS:
Peter Lorre's 20th Century
Music and Libretto by World/Inferno Friendship Society
Co-Conceived and Directed by Jay Scheib

Infamous punk legends WORLD/INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY join forces with visionary director Jay Scheib (This Place is a Desert, Under The Radar 2008), one of contemporary theater’s brightest young talents, to create a punk-rock operetta for the times. Continuing the charge in the evolution of the genre via the ultimate 20th century archetype of alienation, Peter Lorre, WORLD/INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY dedicate a furious song cycle following Lorre’s enigmatic existence from formative days alongside Wedekind and Brecht through the cycle of World Wars to a pitiless fall from grace in the drug-infused quagmire of Hollywood vines. Led by the inimitable Jack Terricloth, WORLD/INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY paints a picture of the twentieth century from the perennial outsider’s view via a multi-media spectacle recreating key motion picture sequences mixed with live interactive video. The concert performance marks an unprecedented fusion of one of today’s best live acts with real time performance media, bringing the U.S.’ pre-eminent progressive punk band’s unique vision from the concert halls to the stage for the first time.

This project was created with a commission and residency from Peak Performances at Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, Jedediah Wheeler, Executive Director.

“A cross between the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cabaret, the Moth, an episode of Biography and a bruising 1979 gig by The Clash... a phenomenon.”
– FORBES.com