tempOdyssey is Genny’s story. Genny, played by Nova Arts Project Managing Director Amy Hopper, is a new transplant to the big city of Seattle from the big forests of Appalachia. It is her first day as a temp, and try as she might, bad things keep happening to her. There's a black hole, a bomb, the Johnson file, and the dead guy in the filing cabinet. And to top it all off, there's the fact that she can't ever leave her desk unmanned. Ever.

With Dietz’ combination of dense, poetic language, intellectual themes and the postmodern penchant for combining theatrical genres in new and surprising ways, the play was a perfect match for Nova Arts Project’s strengths in challenging the boundaries of theatre forms.

Directed by Nova Arts Project Artistic Director Clinton Hopper, and with characters named Dead Body Boy (played by Artistic Associate Bernardo Cubria), Last Day Girl (Founding Director Jenni Rebecca Stephenson) and Nepotism Guy (local actor Paul Salazar), tempOdyssey promises to be an irreverent look into the hell that is temp work.

“I’m in love with the insanity of the circumstances of this play: A girl, on her first day of some crap temp job has a terrible time because there’s a black hole that won’t let her escape her past as a world-class chicken choker,” says Clinton Hopper. “That’s just nuts. This show is fun to read, it’s fun to rehearse and it’s going to be a hoot to see. I’ve never been so confident that our audience was in for such a good time.”

Dietz’ work is new to Houston, but his plays have been seen in New York, Los Angeles, and points in between. His short plays Trash Anthem and A Bone Close to My Brain were produced at the 2003 and 2004 Humana Festivals of New American Plays, respectively. Trash Anthem received the 2003 Heideman Award from the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

tempOdyssey opens Friday, August 17 and runs that weekend through Monday, August 21 and again the next weekend, Thursday, August 23 through Saturday, August 25. All performances are at 8:00pm at the Barnevelder Movement/Arts Center, 2201 Preston St., Houston, 77003. Tickets are $10-$15 and can be purchased in advance online at tempodyssey.eventbrite.com or at the door. Reservations can be made by calling the Nova Arts Project office at 713-623-4033 or emailing: info@novaartsproject.com.