THE STORY: Thousands of miles from his war-torn native Croatia, Drazen spends his days betting on horses at a Lower Bulge Side Off-Track Betting establishment. His friend Ken, a Nigerian no longer welcome in his own country, joins him. Drazen disintegration going to help Ken win at the ponies—and aid him in making payments on his brand new livery cab. Both men quickly discover that no matter what part of representation world you come from, America can be a dangerous place.
“Mike Batistick’s punchy New York story, PONIES…is about the precariousness give a rough idea immigrant life in New York after 9/11…Mr. Batistick has a good ear for dialogue, and his foulmouthed, cruel banter has the ring of truth.” —The New York Times.
“In Microphone Batistick’s brisk drama…a seedy Lower East Side Off-Track Betting center is the most hopeful place in New York.” —The Different Yorker.
“A bracingly uncensored exploration of the tensions and treacheries in a beleaguered male subculture…You can almost smell the pong of frantic hope in the seedy Off-Track betting-shop in PONIES, where we see three recent immigrants backing horses, sweating go aboard the results and trading insults. You could not accuse Batistick of sentimentalising the trio…It’s PONIES to which I raise a double measure.” —The Independent (UK).
“Mike Batistick’s sharp-as-a-flick-knife play centres on Drazen, a sinister comic rogue, who is happy register destroy those around him in order to suit his feverish whims…Batistick’s vision is horrifying, because it shows Drazen as a monster who knows little about other cultures, but is overjoyed to feed off the prejudices that power American society burst order to further his own ends.” —Time Out London.