Prostitutes and politicians take to the restrooms of New York in a new play
actually performed in a Central Park bathroom.

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 18, 2008) (REUTERS) -
A Central Park restroom is the latest venue for New York City
theater, giving new meaning to the phase "that stinks".  Entitled
"Ladies and Gents," the show is a two-act play that takes place
among the stalls and toilets of the men's and women's bathrooms.
    Written by playwright Paul Walker, the story is the tale of prostitutes
and politicians in 1950s Dublin, Ireland, and is actually set in a public
restroom, where the sordid characters have meetings and sexual interludes.
    The play was originally performed in the bathrooms of a large park in
Dublin before heading to other destinations in the U.K., and finally to New
York's Central Park.  
    Walker said the windowless, dark, and erie bathrooms in the park were
the perfect setting for his noir-thriller, and allowed the audience to
literally become part of the play.
    "With sight specific, the audience are actually inside, in with
you.  It's a three dimensional building, so it's like being in the middle of a
film because the actors are nose to nose with the audience.  So it gives a
whole different vibe to it," said Walker.
    The show's theme of politicians and prostitutes is very topical in New
York, as New York's Governor Elliott Spitzer stepped down from office last
week due to allegations of having liaisons with a high-end call girl.  
    Walker said his play's similarity to modern day news is sheer
coincidence.
   "As we were rehearsing, all the New York stuff was breaking at the
same time and we thought, this was really weird.  Some of the quotes people
were saying in their speeches are actually like some of the lines that are in
the play which is quite bizarre."
    And what's it like to act in the bathroom?  Well for actor John
O'Callaghan, who plays a man who forces his wife to turn tricks in the
restroom, it's just another venue, albeit a funnier one.
    "All my friends are saying that my career is in the toilet.  It's
leaves yourself open to a lot of jokes, a lot of skeptical humor," said
O'Callaghan.
    "Ladies and Gents" will run at the Bethesda Fountain
restrooms in Central Park through March 29.