Bates, Mullen Lead HOW AND WHY I ROBBED MY FIRST CHEESE STORE

La MaMa E.T.C. will present the World Premiere of HOW AND WHY I ROBBED MY FIRST CHEESE STORE by Mike Gorman. Directed by Dave Bennett featuring video, photography, cheese and a life-size taxidermy horse, previews begin May 19. Opening night is slated for Thursday, May 26.

In HOW AND WHY I ROBBED MY FIRST CHEESE STORE, a homeless playwright turns the tables on the patronizing Artistic Director of a downtown theater. Can he pull off what will inevitably become a potent Page Six story headline, if not the most absurd heist of all time?

Produced by The Forty Hour Club, the production features costumes by Obie Award winner Gabriel Berry, sets by Donald Eastman, sound by Obie Award winner Tim Schellenbaum and an installation by Gregory de la Haba. The cast features Melody Bates (Patrial Comfort's Booty Candy), Joseph Mullen (Pre-Disposal), Mary Notari (International WOW's Auto Da Fe, FringeNYC's There Will Come Soft Rains), Alan B. Netherton (Jean Claude van Italie's America Hurrah, Labapalooza! at St. Ann's
Warehouse), Tommy Piper (Andrei Serban's Richard 3) and Travis York (Anne Washburn's The Internationalist, Adam Szymkowicz's Nerve).

Mike Gorman is a playwright in residence at La MaMa ETC where he has presented works including The Honor and Glory of Whaling (2008), Death by Joinery (2006), Counting Coup (2002), Single-Action-Shotgun (2001), UltraLight (2000) and A Funny Old Bird (1998). His plays have also
been seen at The Portland Stage Company and Gloucester Stage Company (Israel Horovitz, Artistic Director), among others. Mike was the co-creator of the acclaimed performance troupe The Fabulous Giggin' Bros. He began his playwrighting career at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts where received a degree in Literature (1988). At Clark, Mike was nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship and has recently been nominated for induction into the Clark University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Ellen Stewart founded La MaMa in 1961 in a tiny basement on Manhattan's Lower East Side. She dedicated it to the playwright and all aspects of the theater. Today, La MaMa is a world-renowned
cultural institution recognized as the seedbed of new work by artists of all nations and cultures. To date, La MaMa has presented artists from over 70 nations. Each season, over 100 productions with over 400 performances are staged in their three theaters. Among those artists who began at La MaMa include: Meredith Monk, Robert Wilson, Jean-Claude van-Itallie, Harvey Fierstein, Tan Dun, Joel Zwick, Mike Figgis, Jackie Curtis, Blue Man Group, John Kelly, David and Amy Sedaris. La MaMa has been honored with over thirty Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Bessie Awards and Villager Awards. www.lamama.org

HOW AND WHY I ROBBED MY FIRST CHEESE STORE runs May 19 - June 5, Thursday - Saturday at 7:30 PM, Sunday at 2:30 PM. La MaMa E.T.C is located at 74A East Fourth Street (between 2nd Avenue & Bowery -- accessible from the F train at 2nd Ave). Tickets are $18, available at
212-475-7710 or www.lamama.org.