Writer David Ryan Polgar’s comedic play, ‘Mark Twain: Ladies Man’ is part of the Sea Tea Improv’s ‘R-Rated Twain’ event at the Mark Twain House on Saturday, Jan. 31.

By Ronni Newton

The Mark Twain House & Museum’s “R-Rated Twain” show on Saturday, Jan. 31, will also include a short comedy written by West Hartford writer David Ryan Polgar.

“Mark Twain: Ladies Man” is a short, 15-minute play that Polgar originally wrote as an entry for a Connecticut Heritage contest. ‘They were looking for Connecticut-inspired plays, and I thought Mark Twain was an ideal subject,” he said.

“It may have been a little too offbeat for them, but one thing led to another,” Polgar said, and the work caught the attention of Jacques Lamarre and Julia Pistell at the Mark Twain House.

“Mark Twain: Ladies Man” uses language written by Mark Twain, but takes all the quotes completely out of context – and the one-liners become advice for a “hopeless schlub” trying to pick up a woman in a bar. People who know Twain will recognize the language. “All the words uttered are actually a compilation of quotes from Twain’s books,” Polgar said.

David Ryan Polgar. Submitted image

A news release describes the play as a resurrection of  “‘The Lincoln of our Literature’ in a modern pick-up bar. Brought back from the dead in order to access his legendary library of one-liners, Twain acts as a ‘wing-man’ for a socially inept single guy desperately seeking love.”

The R-Rated Twain show is designed to “spice things up with Mark Twain’s most shocking works.”

According to a news release, “This theatrical show will take the audience through the naughtiest puns, poems, parodies, and passages that Mark Twain wrote. Suffice to say the material covered by Twain in these writings is not suitable for most publications, family audiences or polite society. As Twain said, ‘There are no people who are quite so vulgar as the over-refined,’ so the historic house is looking forward to letting its hair down and introducing the public to these hysterical and deliciously deviant lesser-known works.”

According to the release, “R-Rated Twain has been adapted by Jacques Lamarre and Julia Pistell and is performed by Sea Tea Improv. Sea Tea Improv is a professional improv comedy company whose members have trained at the country’s premier comedy schools, including the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Second City, ImprovBoston, and more. Since 2009, Sea Tea Improv has dazzled Connecticut and beyond with its interactive shows, customized comedy, and on-the-spot interpretations of audience suggestions.”

The blushing begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 31. Due to the nature of the material, all guests must be 17 or over or attend with a parent or guardian. Tickets are $20 / $15 for Mark Twain House & Museum Members. Please call (860) 280-3130 or visit MarkTwainHouse.org and click on Events.