Austin Pendleton to Direct LUFT GANGSTER at Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 8/13-24

The story of U.S. Army Air Corps veteran and prisoner of war Sgt. Louis Fowler is told in the world premiere of Lowell Byers' gripping and visceral drama Luft Gangster. Directed by Austin Pendleton, Luft Gangster will be performed from August 13th - August 24th at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street, on the first floor. Members of the press are invited as of the August 15th performance.

After bailing out of his crippled B24 bomber under heavy fire from German forces, waist gunner & mechanic Lou is captured by the Nazis. Incarcerated along with other Allied fliers in an inhumane German prison camp, where POWs view new prisoners with suspicion as possible Nazi infiltrators, Lou has to heal his own battle injuries, as his German captors treat him as just another "Luft Gangster" - a term Joseph Goebbels created as propaganda to convince the German people that all American flyers were actual criminals who were released from prison by the United States government in order to fight in World War II.

As Lou endures the hellishly unsanitary conditions of prison camp life, subsisting on what could barely be described as food and enduring unspeakable cruelty, surviving to escape becomes his only goal. In a time and place where men on both sides of the war were stripped of all things civilized and reduced to the bare essentials of life, where a single slip of the tongue could mean death, Lou will have to rely on his faith to make it out alive.

The cast of Luft Gangster features Noel Joseph Allain*, Gabe Bettio*, Paul Bomba*, Christopher Burke*, Lowell Byers*, Ralph Byers*, Kyle DeSpiegler, Seth James, Cassandra M.J. Lollar* and Eyal Sherf*. The Luft Gangster production team includes Tijana Bjelajac (scenic design), Jeanne Travis (sound design), Debbi Hobson (costume design), Greg Kanyiscka (props master), and Montserrat Mendez (assistant director and stage manager).Luft Gangster is an Equity Showcase.

Founded in 2007 by Ivette Dumeng and Elliot Joseph, Nylon Fusion Theatre Company is a company of writers, actors and directors from a broad range of backgrounds committed to developing and producing original plays that explore and promote political, social and cultural awareness.www.nylonfusioncollective.org. Nylon Fusion is currently nominated for 9 Planet Connection Awards for Marina and Mata Hari, two world premiere plays by Don Nigro.

Running from August 13 - August 24, Luft Gangster will be performed at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street, on the first floor. Performance times are Tuesday-Friday at 8pm and Saturday at 3pm & 8pm. There is an additional performance on Monday, August 19th at 7pmand no performance on Tuesday, August 20th. All tickets are $18.00. Reservations: 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.

Next up for Nylon Fusion is the company's Short Play Festival, featuring work by Robert Askins and hosted by comedian Greer Barnes, at the Gene Frankel Theatre on October 29 and 30, 2013. Additional information on the Festival will be released in the coming weeks.

* Appearing Courtesy of Actors' Equity