What if back in the heyday of New Jersey’s mob culture in 1982, a mobster’s family moved back in with him? What if this mobster sought out therapy, giving the therapist an ultimatum: “Make me better or else?”
This is the concept behind a new play by Bayonne actor and playwright Chris Ferretti. “The Session,” is a black comedy set in Jersey City during the early 1980s when mob culture saw a renaissance.
“This is a kind of cross between the movies ‘Analyze This’ and ‘Goodfellas,’ ” Ferretti said recently.
The 32-year-old protagonist, plagued by the return of his overbearing mother, seeks help in the office of a therapist, who is more than a little naive.
“This is a kind of cross between the movies ‘Analyze This’ and ‘Goodfellas.’ ” – Chris Ferretti
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At the Actors Studio Drama School, he worked on such material as “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Julius Caesar,” “Some Men Need Help,” “A Doll’s House,” “Strange Snow” and “Brilliant Traces.”
New play
Seeking a venue to perform “The Session,” Ferretti may have succeeded beyond his expectations when the prestigious Manhattan Reparatory Theatre Company accepted “The Session” for its spring festival this year. It was scheduled to be performed on April 14 to 16 at 8 p.m. in Manhattan.
For Ferretti, this is one more step in aspiration to make his living in performing arts, and strangely enough, part of his inspiration comes from his family.
Acting in one of the main roles, Ferretti is getting his first off-off-Broadway credit as an actor a mere year after getting his master’s of fine arts from the Actors Studio.
Ferretti, who attended Marist High School, admits that part of the inspiration for the play is his own mother, who will attend the opening night performance.
His father, Dr. James Ferretti, was a local psychiatrist.
“I wanted to do something that was set in New Jersey. Not something mocking, but authentic,” he said.
To find the cast, Ferretti reached back into contacts he had made through various programs, although he admitted he had great apprehension about finding someone to play the mother. Oddly enough, the first actress he interviewed, Grace Gawthrop, was a nearly perfect fit.
Once he had his cast, he needed to find a director.
He again reached back into his past and approached Nina Murano, who had worked with some of the cast of “The Sopranos” and was eager to explore a mob character in the play.
Tickets for the play cost $20. Manhattan Reparatory Theatre is located at 303 W. 42nd St. in New York, on the third floor. For tickets call (201) 646-6588.