Experimental theater company theater et al questions the value of life in their new piece, AUDIT. Inspired by the federal September 11th fund and the ethically dubious cash awards given to victims’ families, the performance dissects why one life is worth more than another.

AUDIT is a site-specific installation dance-theater performance conceived by company members Brian Rogers, Aaron Rosenblum, and Ryan Vemmer. With a cast of thirteen, AUDIT illustrates the question of human value, or rather, how we attach a dollar value to a human life. The world of the play is an exaggeration of the American dream – suburbia. 3 families in 3 identical little houses – and a judge who watches their every move, makes value adjustments, chooses who will live & die based upon their qualifications and status and determines how much they’re worth, once dead. The audience watches these people compete with one another for status as they struggle to keep going as the stakes grow increasingly more difficult.

“The audience surrounds each translucent house and watches the different families, who move and act identically, and play out their very disparate lives.” Says Brian Rogers describing AUDIT’s unique site-specific staging in the former Dryden & Palmer Confectionary Co. “This is the first major production in our new space, and we will use nearly all 14,000 square feet of it! We are only blocks away from PS 1 and the MoMA, so we are making our miniature suburban houses open as an installation on Saturdays between 12 and 5.” The Chocolate Factory is a remarkable addition to the neighborhood as a combination of exhibition, performance & artist studio spaces. Theater et al was most recently known for their critically acclaimed production about fundamentalism FUNDAMENTAL at HERE Arts Center.

“We are all born on a level playing field after all, breathing the same air, eating food from same the earth. Then Earth’s gravity, seemingly equal, has been manipulated and is applied unevenly throughout the world. The sex you have, the food you eat, the decisions you make – they don’t all weigh the same. Make sure you know who you are and where you come from and what you’ve got, and remember it until you die.” – Quote from AUDIT.

AUDIT begins April 9 and runs through May 1, Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm, Mondays at 7 PM. All performances are at The Chocolate Factory located at 44-02 23rd Street, 4th floor. There is an elevator. Take the number 7 train to 45th Road Courthouse Square (3rd stop in Queens); the E/V to 23rd Street Ely Ave (1st stop in Queens) or the G to Courthouse Square LIC). Tickets are $15 and can be reserved by calling 718.482.7069. For more information go to www.theateretal.org. Monday night performances are “PAY WHAT YOU WILL” FOR QUEENS RESIDENTS: prove with license, utility bills, lease, picture of you with Fran Drescher, etc.