December 31, 2018
Barter Theatre resident actor Nick Koesters presents a special production of “Side Effects May Include†Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. The show is performed in the Performance Theatre at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Bristol, Virginia. Arts Alliance Mountain Empire is the sponsor of the performance.
The one-man play, co-written by author and stand-up comedian Marc Jaffe and Broadway playwright Eric Coble, is based on Jaffe's real life experiences with his wife Karen, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2007.
It offers audiences a roller-coaster ride through escalating mountains of pills, dangerous liaisons, secrets, questions of manhood and womanhood, age, desire, faith, more pills, stage fright, bed fright, a few more pills, love and ultimately, the fear that our personalities, hopes and passions may be nothing but non-tamper-resistant chemical reactions in mischievous corners of our brains.
Koesters, a member of Barter's Resident Acting Company, has a passion for using theater to educate the public. He uses his vacation month to present this play for charitable purposes. This year, he is taking the show to the SoHo Playhouse, New York City for a two-week run.
He performed in the original production of "Side Effects May Include" in Cleveland, Ohio, and is excited to share it again with the community. "My wife and I both have family members who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's. I want to help bring awareness to the community-at-large and provide a setting where support systems in the region can come together with families like ours whose lives are directly affected by this challenging disease.â€
The performance is free, but donations to benefit Parkinson's research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation will be accepted.
