FREE COUNTRY
by Steve Monarque
directed by Romeo Ryder & Steve Monarque
with Armando Merlo, Suzanne Cortney,
Steve Monarque & Dan Wiley
All rights reserved MonaVision Films
(formerly Super Spry Entertainment)
"In FREE COUNTRY by Steve Monarque, tempers rise as a confrontation builds in a cafe... The subject of sexual preference and spiritual beliefs are confronted face to face. When is giving advice on someone's behavior welcomed and when is it over stepping the line? ... should we agree to disagree?"
-Van Dirk Fisher, Founder & Artistic Director, The Riant Theatre, excerpted from the introduction to The Best Plays from the Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Six
FREE COUNTRY explores the conflict between two men, with extremely different views, who meet in a coffee shop. Tensions rise when the two clash over their personal beliefs.
The film is based on the original one-act play FREE COUNTRY, written and directed by Steve Monarque, which won Best Play at the 2009 Strawberry One Act Festival and was published in the anthology The Best Plays from the Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Six.
In 2011 the film adaptation won the NYC International Film Festival in the categories of Best Short Film & Best Actor (Armando Merlo).
Free Country