Most people will experience at least one impactful moment in their life but, how these experiences are approached is different from one person to another. 

Writer and director Eric Rose took those moments from his life story and turned them into a play, which is being performed live right now on at the West Village Theatre.

“I originally wrote and performed the first act of STRUCK back in 2005 as part of the Solocentric Festival. My desire to revisit and re-contextualize this story was spurred by the sudden death of my father, and recently entering middle-age,” said Rose.

Writer and Director of STRUCK, Eric Rose, helping to a stage crew member with the mapping visual screening at West Village Theatre on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023 that will be presented during the show. PHOTO: HAJAR AL KHOUZAII

According to Rose, the play is important because he wants society to understand that it’s okay to express grief and change. He said the play will convey a “point of view that can only be perceived in the electrified filament of one’s mortality.” 

“Part of what we need to do as a society is create moments where we’re asking the questions really around our grief and how we look at mortality. What does that mean to us and how does that change the meaning of our lives?” said Rose. 

The play features two main characters who will play the role of Rose at the ages of 21 and the age of 40. 

Actor Daniel Perryman, who plays 21-year-old Eric, says people often have similar experiences in their lifetime and that he’s looking forward to seeing what people will connect with when they see the play. 

“Everybody goes through [something] from adolescence to adulthood, and so to try and portray that in a way that people can connect to is interesting,” said Perryman.

The world premiere of STRUCK runs from Jan.31 until Feb. 11 at the West Village Theatre.