Best Original Show 2008

Created by Catastrophic Theatre company member (and Houston Press contributor) Troy Schulze, The Splasher focuses on a real-life guy who ran around New York City vandalizing graffiti as a political statement against art. The Splasher hated the fact that when the artists moved into any neighborhood and made their presence known with upscale graffiti that would cost thousands hanging in a gallery, gentrification was sure to follow. Schulze says that he was fascinated when the story came out in The New York Times. He calls his play a "meditation on art [and] crime." Made up of newspaper interviews, bits of sound and music, video projection and original dialogue, the politically powerful production at DiverseWorks was smart, funny and, best of all, satisfyingly strange.