Scammed!

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Francisco Torres

Donavon Armbruster (left) and Megan Mori in "Scammed!"

Donavon Armbruster (left) and Megan Mori in "Scammed!" TNW Ensemble Theater, 2025.

Thousands of people daily in the United States get conned by pros. What if someone decided to give the con artists a taste of their own medicine? That’s the premise of Scammed!, a new play written by TNW Ensemble Theater co-founder Danielle Dresden. Performances are at the theater at 7:30 p.m. on March 13-14 and 21-22 and 2:30 p.m. on March 16 and 22-23.

$25.

media release: More than 7,000 people get scammed every day in the United States, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

But what if one of them decided to fight back and flip the script on the scammers?

That’s the premise of Scammed!, an original comedy/adventure play from TNW Ensemble Theater. When a freelancing editor falls for a sophisticated version of a classic scam, she assumes the rip-roaring, amoral alter ego of Helen Wheels to get even. She gets help along the way from her coffee shop cohort, an unconventional banker named Johnny Angel, and a helpful good citizen – or is he?  Scammed! takes audiences behind the scenes in the world of hackers and con artists, showing the similarities between scams and current events.

Scammed! is written by Danielle Dresden, directed by Francisco Torres, and features performances by Megan Mori, Donavon Armbruster, and Patrick Chounet, with cameo appearances by Donna Peckett, Shane Heim, who also serves as stage manager,  Francisco Torres, and Danielle Dresden.

TNW was founded in 1985 by Danielle Dresden and Donna Peckett, an award-winning playwright and choreographer, respectively. TNW has created and performed 41 new theater works for general audiences, 11 works for young audiences, 15 percussive dance and music performances, with 13 productions touring the U.S. and abroad.

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Scammed! is made possible, in part, by support from the Madison Arts Commission, including funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board; the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and Dane Arts, with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company, the Evjue Foundation, charitable arm of the Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.