'Autumn Fruits' Short Plays To Be Performed During 7th Annual Fresh Fruit Festival 7/24, 7/25

Autumn Fruits are a ripe and tasty treat in the 7th Annual Fresh Fruit Festival.

Autumn Fruits, two short plays about growing old in New York, written by Barbara Kahn and Suellen Rubin, will be performed Friday July 24, 2009 at 7:30pm and Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 2:30pm. Tickets $20. Hudson Guild Theater - 441 W. 26th Street, New York, NY 1001 (212-760-9800) For Tickets: (212) 352-3101 / (866) 811-4111 / theatermania.com. Subway: C, E to 23rd St. Bus: M23 to 9th Avenue.

CO-OP by Barbara Kahn compels the audience to meet one of the invisible homeless living on the streets of New York City since gentrification. At the bidding of "all the people who bought my apartment...who don't want to know the kind of poor person who lived there before they renovated," Martha, a middle-aged native New Yorker, is forced by the police from the sidewalk in front of her home of twenty-eight years, where she attempts to sell some of her meager belongings. Martha resists desperation and fear and faces her plight with resilience and humor. Directed by Lisa Marjorie Barnes. Performed by Barbara Kahn.

PERSEPHONE'S AUTUMN by Suellen Rubin. Damita is getting older, but thinking younger. As she struggles with issues of age, bisexuality and commitment, will she be able to face reality or go deeper into fantasy and denial? Directed by James J. Martinelli. Featuring Marlene Ash, Kaitlin Creed, Fred T. Milani, Suellen Rubin.

Barbara Kahn's plays have been produced in the U.S., France and Germany. Theater for the New City has been the primary New York City home for Barbara's plays since 1994. Among her many awards, she was honored with the 1995 TORCH OF HOPE AWARD, following past recipients Terrence McNally, John Guare, August Wilson, Horton Foote and A.R. Gurney. Barbara was named best playwright in the 2005 Fresh Fruit International Festival for her play PEN PALS. With Jackie Freeman, she co-authored the lyrics to "Actions are the Music of the Free, music by Jennifer Giering, performed at the United Nations Tribute to Dame Nita Barrow. A "short list of prominent post-1970's playwrights who identify as Jewish and who have written about Jews includes Jon Robin Baitz, Richard Greenburg, Alan Havis, Barbara Kahn, Tony Kushner, Barbara Lebow, Jennifer Maisel, Karen Malpede, David Mamet, Emily Mann, Donald Margulies, Elizabeth Swados, Jeffrey Sweet, Alfred Uhry, and Wendy Wasserstein." (You Should See Yourself: Jewish Identity in Postmodern American Culture. Vincent Brook. Rutgers University Press.)

FRESH FRUIT FESTIVAL, a program of ALL OUT ARTS, enters its seventh year this July 9-July 27 presenting a wide array of current LGBT talent that celebrates the countless contributions of LGBT artists to American culture. This year the Festival's events encompass not only theater but comedy, variety, literature, music, dance, poetry and visual and performance art with Rome Neal's; Out-Jazz at Joe's Pub, ballet in drag, and en pointe. A Comedy Night at Don't Tell Mama's, Lesbian and Gay writers reading from their own favorite LGBT writers' works, a poetry slam and a gallery show Passion: Lesbian Art 2009, (Fresh Fruit style). Fresh Fruit Festival is New York City's grass roots multidiscipline international festival of LGBT art and culture. It is a wild celebration of the artists, writers and performers who have created and continue to create our culture. This year the festival will fill many venues around the city. The events have a wide range of appeal. There is even a children's puppet show. For more information, visit www.freshfruitfestival.com.