ERIK Begins at FRIGID NY Tonight

This Winter, Rising Sun Performance Company is pleased to announce that they will be presenting ERIK, directed by Jerrod Bogard, as part of the FRIGID New York. The Festival will take place February 19th through March 8th at the Kraine & Under St Marks Theatres.

A darkly poetic satire of Phantom of the Opera as seen through the iron bars of a carnival freak-show cage. With puppets more twisted than a melodrama mustache (and twice as greasy), ERIK points and laughs at the real freak show- us.

Coming off their critically acclaimed, award winning production of DONKEY at Planet Connections Theatre Festival last year, frequent collaborators Rising Sun Performance Company & John Patrick Bray return with the world premiere of Bray's latest work "ERIK". Originally developed through readings with End Times Productions and Rising Sun Performance Company, Jerrod Bogard continues on with the project as director.

ERIK will feature the talents of RSP's award winning ensemble and guest artists Bryn Packard, Chris Behan, Destiny Shegstad, Kervin Peralta, Matt Pepitone, Montana Lampert Hoover, Samantha DeSimone & Yair Ben-Dor. The Creative Team of ERIK includes Jak Prince who received rave reviews for his design of the 2010 smash hit "Last Supper" and won Outstanding Set Design for "DONKEY" at Planet Connections Theatre Festival, Sound Design by Ian Wherle (BUG w/ RSP) , and Costume Design by Antonio Consuegra. With collaborative and custom devised Puppetry creations by Kervin Peralta (Puppeteer at the Swedish Marionette Cottage), Jerrod Bogard (World Festival of Puppet Art in Prague, Czech Republic) and Broderick Ballantyne (NYC Based Shadow Puppeteer), they will combine a multitude of puppetry from different styles & genres to add a special twist to the sideshow mayhem of "Erik".

From the original novel to the Lon Chaney silent film, to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and countless iterations in between, the characters of Leroux' novel have been twisted and turned like the sewer tunnels beneath a Paris Opera House. Playwright John Patrick Bray explores the story from the vantage of a youth, beauty, image-obsessed 21st Century. With the moral ambiguity of a carnival side-show, he uses this terrific adventure/thriller/love story to celebrate the hick-ups, hang-ups and double standards we've simply stuck up on our cultural shelf.

ERIK Plays the following Performance Schedule as a part FRIGD NEW YORK:
Thurs, Feb 19th @ 10:30 PM
Sat, Feb 21st @ 6:40 PM
Thurs, Feb 26th @ 8:50 PM
Sat, Feb 28th @ 5:00 PM
Sun, March 8th @ 1:50 PM

Tickets are $10-$16 and available online at or at the Door.
Additional information & Tickets can be found online at www.frigidnewyork.info & www.risingsunnyc.com
All performances will be at the The Kraine Theatre 85 E 4th St, Btw 2nd Ave & Bowery
Close to the 6 Train - Bleeker St Stop, N,R to Broadway/8th St, or F Train to 2nd Avenue

Run Time: 60 Minutes Categories/Themes: One Act Play, Satire, Puppetry, Social Status
Content: Adult language, Some Adult Content & Situations Mild Violence, Recommended for 16 and older

John Patrick Bray (PhD, MFA) teaches at the University of Georgia. He has written plays under grants from The N.E.A., Acadiana Center for the Arts, and Acadiana C.A.R.E.S. in Louisiana. His plays have been developed with the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Axial Theatre, Actors Studio's Playwrights/Directors Workshop, The New School for Drama's Alumni Play Project, Epic Rep. Theatre at The Players' Club, Rose of Athens/No Shame Athens, Dramatists Guild's Friday Night Footlights-Atlanta Style, and The Platform Group; and produced Off-Off Broadway and in venues around the country. John is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. and a Resident Writer with Rising Sun Performance Company. johnpatrickbray.webs.com

Jerrod Bogard began his career as a traveling puppeteer. With Bits N' Pieces Puppet Theatre. He has written, directed and performed productions for children and adults throughout the U.S. and Europe. His plays and musicals have been produced in NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Sri Lanka and Ireland. His musical 'Jack and the Soy Beanstalk' is published with Samuel French and Baker's Plays. Other works published with Smith & Kraus, New York Theatre Experience and Indie Theatre Now. His play Hugging the Shoulder will be published with Original Works Publishers later this year. Alumni of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. Two-time Semi­finalist for the National Playwrights Conference. Now serving as Literary Manager to The Amoralists theatre company in New York City. Graduate Florida School of the Arts and Brooklyn College. See more at www.inkythumbs.com

Founded in September of 2001, RISING SUN PERFORMANCE COMPANY (RSP) is an Off-Off Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing ensemble-based work. It is run by artists for artists to allow them to create their own opportunities instead of their opportunities creating them. RSP is the full time artistic home for a wide range of theatre artists, including actors, writers, directors, designers, singers, and dancers. 2015 marks the beginning of RSP's 14th producing season, culminating in 70 plus productions and events. This includes the development of countless NYC and World debut plays, over 70 One Act Plays as part our annual series, 3 musical cabaret series, free outdoor performances, children's theatre, immersive themed theatrical experiences and its trademark revivals, including sold out critically acclaimed hits: Goodnight Lovin' Trail, The Shape of Things, An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein, Hellcab The Last Supper, Fool For Love, Bug and Brilliant Traces. RSP has been Artist in Residence at Horse TRADE Theater Group, The Field's Far Space, Hosteling International and Space on White. RSP has received 6 New York Innovative Theatre Award Nominations, 12 PCTF Nominations and 4 Awards from Planet Connections Theatre Festival.