BANSHEE Plays Fringe NYC 8/21-27

One man's sanity and several people's futures hang in the balance in Banshee, a drama about family relationships, ghostly warnings, second chances and letting go. Written by Brian C. Petti and directed by Mary Ellen Nelligar, Banshee will begin performances on August 21st at the Flamboyán Theatre, located at 107 Suffolk Street on the Lower East Side, as part of the 15th Annual New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC). Members of the press are invited to review any performance.

New York City, 1981: Forty-year-old Jerry Sullivan is trying to rebuild his life after two months in a psych ward when he finds himself unexpectedly attracted to Cara, a young woman he meets on a blind date. But Jerry's domineering Irish-born mother, Kit, doesn't think much of the new lady in her son's life. When Kit claims to receive a one-word warning from her dead husband - "Banshee" - an ancient creature who steals the souls of the living - Jerry finds himself beset by troubling dreams as he struggles to keep his grip on reality, and what may be his last chance at happiness, while trying to understand what this ghostly warning really means.

Show times are:
Sunday, August 21st at 8:45pm
Monday, August 22nd at 5:45pm
Wednesday, August 24th at 2pm
Thursday, August 25th at 9pm
Saturday, August 27th at 12 Noon

Banshee will be performed at the Flamboyán Theatre in the CSV Cultural Center, located at 107 Suffolk Street (between Delancey and Rivington Streets on the Lower East Side) as part of the 15th Annual New York International Fringe Festival. Subway Info: Take the F train to Delancey Street. Running time is approximately 90 minutes. Additional information: http://pettiplays.wikispaces.com/Banshee+at+International+Fringe+Festival.

Ticket prices: in advance (24 hours or more before performance): $15. At the door (venue box office where the show is playing): $18. Tickets may be purchased starting July 22, 2011 online at www.fringenyc.org or over the phone at 866-468-7619.

The cast of Banshee features Brian Christopher, Elisabeth Henry-Macari, Matt Meinsen, Ron Morehead and Lauren Murphy. The Assistant Director is Jim Pillmeier.

Brian C. Petti (Playwright) has had his plays produced Off-Off Broadway (Masquerade, Before the Parade Passes By, Hindenburg The Musical) and regionally (Next Year in Jerusalem, The Measure of a Man, On the Expectation of White Christmases, Echoes of Ireland) by such companies as Ten Grand Productions, The American Theater of Actors, Inc. and The Duplex Cabaret. Masquerade was staged at Cherry Lane Theater in NYC and Next Year in Jerusalem was the winner of the Humboldt State University National Play Contest in California, where it received a student production. Published plays include The Measure of a Man by JAC Publishing and Promotions and Banshee by Next Stage Press. His play Judy Garland--The Lost Episode will be produced by Just Off Broadway in the fall of 2011. Favorite acting roles include McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Septimus in Arcadia, Joseph Goebbels in The Measure of a Man, Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest and Leon Czolgosz in Assassins.

Mary Ellen Nelligar (Director) has performed and directed in the upstate New York area for twenty-five years. She founded Crestview Players in New Windsor, NY, where she scripted the acclaimed musical reviews Footlights I and II and A Delicious Christmas, and directed Nunsense. She directed the premieres of Brian C. Petti's The Measure of a Man and Next Year in Jerusalem. Other directorial credits include Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma.

FringeNYC is a production of The Present Company, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Elena K. Holy. In 1997, New York City became the seventh US city to host a fringe festival, joining Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Houston, Orlando and San Francisco. In its first 14 years FringeNYC has presented over 2400 performing groups from around the world. The festival has been the launching pad for numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway transfers, long-running downtown hits, and regional Theater Productions. With attendance topping 75,000 people, FringeNYC is New York City's fifth largest cultural event (just behind New York International Auto Show, Tribeca Film Festival, New York City Marathon, and New York Comic Con). The 2011 Festival runs August 12 - 28, offering programming by 200 of the world's best emerging theatre troupes and dance companies in 20 venues in Lower Manhattan. For more information visit www.FringeNYC.org.

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