Duck at IRT Theater, NYC - Oct-Nov 2019

Duck ran for 13 shows in New York City's West Village.  Duck follows the internal, psychic struggle of a CIA statistician who learns that 1% can be the difference between life and death. He tries to understand what “loyalty” means — to whom, and at what cost. Under periods of great stress, he chooses not to speak and instead quacks at people like a duck. Duck explores how we can lose our personal moral compass in the ideas of patriotism, loyalty and success.

"Tom Block has created a brilliant selection of characters to bring us into the core feelings of angst, anxiety and betrayal that now accompany us daily as we watch the values of our country unravel before us. The cast is uniformly excellent . . . the combination of absurdity, reality and a broad take on character make this drama darkly touching."

Susan Hall, Berkshire Fine Arts 

"Duck made me think anew about important things, from a slightly different point of view. That’s what good theater is supposed to do, make you think, and I’m happy to say that this small, intelligent play does it very well. HAPPY FACE"

Jan Ewing, Hi Drama

And audience members responded on "Show-Score" about the production:

• "Intense, intellectual text that explores the internal conflicts of a character through short, thought-provoking scenes."
• "Really smart and timely. Great group of actors. Well directed. Well written."
• "An extraordinarily well done production asking an important question."
• "Imagine a juggler expertly keeping many balls in the air . . . This is downtown theater at its smartest."
• "If you enjoy theater, this is a play you should see."
• "Kudos to the whole production team for speaking truth to power with this gem of a play. We need more plays like this..."
• "Great acting keeps clear and unconfusing the brilliant layering of experience in thought, memory and immediate interactions."
• "Explores philosophical issues trough a rapidly changing at times absurd and at times dreamy vignettes. A good finish."
• "Good acting, sound and staging on an interesting topic, presented with strong writing and delivered clearly."
• "If you like a hallucination vision play (Strinberg) this is a good play. Dreams morf into other scenes. Done well. Good acting."
• “Duck” has mounted an ambitious script that’s asking some vitally important, uncomfortable questions."