Cage In The Park Dares To Ask: To Be Or Not To Be Face Swapped?

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — More than a hundred New Yorkers gathered inside the Prospect Park Peristyle Sunday afternoon to contemplate one of the greatest philosophical questions ever presented by theater: "To be, or not to be ... Face swapped?"

The company was Cage In The Park and the production was a theatrical interpretation of the legendary film "Face/Off," in which John Travolta must swap faces with the terrorist he hopes to eliminate, and who is portrayed by the actor who gives the company its name, Nicolas Cage.

"Lotta face touching in this story," Hollywood director John Woo, played by Jon Wan. "Buckle up."

The action of the play, written by Daily Show producer and writer Sebastian DiNatale and Zachary DiLanzo, is set in Ancient Rome after a man named Travoltus loses his son Michelangelo at the hands of a dangerous and largely mustachioed Cageo, played by Yoni Lotan.

"He has a mustache," explains Woo. "But only in the flash back."

What follows is a play rife with Shakespearean references as this may or may not be a satirical take on another of the city's famous outdoor theater festivals.

Travoltus briefly takes on the head of an ass after an enchantress named Desdemona, or Daily Show writer X Mayo, chants, "Double double toil and trouble. Faces swap and cauldron bubble!"

And Travoltus, played by impressionist David Carl, takes a Hamlet moment to ponder his own to be or not to be question.

Unlike Hamlet, Travoltus is ultimately persuaded to attempt the dangerous plan when he is told, "It’s very important you not be a little b----."

While this was the first Cage In The Park production co-creator DiNatale told Patch in an interview last week he plans to return to Prospect Park for years to come.

"I'm just personally fascinated by him," DiNatale said of his favorite actor, Nic Cage. "Is he working? Or is he crazy?"