American Playwright series: Craig Thornton “Sweet Life”

The Sweet Life, by Craig Thornton

complimentary chocolate to the first 40 attendees, courtesy of Oliver’s Candies, Batavia oliverscandies.com

Batavia candy maker provides ‘Sweet’ inspiration

By Ben Beagle bbeagle@batavianews.com Thursday, March 11, 2010  The idea — a family stuck in time and happy, despite their circumstances — had been bouncing around playwright Craig S. Thornton’s head for some time.    continue reading article…..

Produced by John W. Borek*

Directed by Michael H. Arve

Mr. Thornton will be present.

Performed by GRRC

A homecoming story that embraces quirkiness and rides a fine line between zaniness, satire and drama, The Sweet Life is homage to small towns, chocolate, family and Kaufman and Hart. It is a bittersweet comedy about the perils of big business and the struggle of necessary change, while staying to true to yourself.

The Lunes family chocolate business has fallen onto hard times and is near collapse because of antiquated business practices and the lack of modern technology. So leery of technology, the plump matriarch of the family, Helen May actually claims to have “techno-phobia” a medically undeclared syndrome that is intensified by cell phone use.  When big-city estranged daughter, Pauline Lunes returns with her slick fiancé to launch a plan to save the family business, old conflicts arise.  Pauline, thin and fit, never eats chocolate and is considered freakishly different than her hefty chocolate loving parents and siblings.

Craig Thornton’s plays have been produced in Los Angeles, New York City and regionally.  The 1994 production of Happy Birthday, Tina Marie at the Odyssey Theater Ensemble was hailed as brilliant and witty by the LA Times, was pick of the week (LA Reader) and was published by ASK in the Central Library of Los Angeles as one of the best produced plays of the year.  The Sweet Life was produced in 2006 by The Lake Ontario Playhouse in Sackets Harbor, NY and was a finalist in several competitions, including the Abingdon Theater in New York City, where it had a reading in 2007. His play, What We Hold Onto was a finalist in the Eugene O’Neil Theatre and has had staged readings at the HBO workspace in LA and at Armory Square Playhouse in Syracuse, NY.  In 2009, his ten minute play, Man on Television won first prize in the ACC ten minute play contest.  He is a recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a member of The Dramatists Guild.  He holds a MFA from Goddard College.

Download PDF Press release Here

Craig Thornton

Craig Thornton, a playwright from Watertown, found inspiration for his comedy “The Sweet Life” from a visit to Oliver’s Candies in Batavia. The play gets a staged reading Sunday in Rochester.

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