Infinite Variety Productions to Present BEYOND THE ETCHINGS at The Kraine Theater

FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade in association with Infinite Variety Productions will present a special Memorial Day performance of Beyond the Etchings, directed by Jessica Schechter, on Monday, May 29 at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery) at 8pm.

Tickets ($20) may be purchased in advance at www.horseTRADE.info. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Women in Military Service for America Memorial.

Through a collaboration with Vietnam Veteran Bob Staranowicz and IVP creators Ashley Adelman and Kelly Teaford, Beyond the Etchings tells the story of women and men whose names are visited on the Vietnam Wall everyday. Basing the play around oral histories, letters and first hand accounts, Beyond the Etchings reminds us of the power of listening, remembering and connecting.

The cast will feature Andrew Dunn (Insignificant with Infinite Variety Productions), Gerrard James (Exposure with Middle Voice Theater Company/ Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Sharon Litwinoff (Father of the Bride with interACT Productions), Joshua Michael Payne (The Kitchen Play at Roy Arias Theater), and Marie Zoumanigui (The Barrow Group) with Violinist Christianna Barnard (David Lang's The Little March Girl Passion).

Ashley Adelman (Writer) received her BFA from NYU TISCH, her MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School and is working on her MA in Women's History at Sarah Lawrence. She is one of the producers for the Wyoming Theatre Festival, where her theatre company has been producing new work about women from history for the past three years. She is currently working on a documentary theatre piece about the women who went to Vietnam. The piece will include the interviews she has conducted and will also include a documentary film about the process. All due out in the Spring of 2018.

Bob Staranowicz (Writer) was born in Philadelphia and attended Northeast Catholic High School. After high school he enlisted in the United States Army in 1968. He completed basic training at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, trained in communications at Fort Monmouth, NJ, and in October of 1969, he was shipped off to Vietnam. He arrived at the Army's Long Bihn Replacement Center, where he received orders for the 101st Airborne Division, HQ - 501st Signal Group. Bob is now retired and has written a column several local news outlets. Bob authored a book entitled Chapter One - The Story of Vic Charles, which tells the story of a soldier who served in Vietnam. The character experiences some true and some fictionalized stories of Bob's and other friend's experiences in Vietnam and the results of those experiences on his personal life 20 years later. Other works by Bob include a small collection of poems.

Kelly Teaford (Writer) is a Manhattan-based director, actor, and now writer, has enjoyed co-writing and co-producing this piece enormously. She is grateful for and humbled by the team behind it and everyone who contributed to it. The story of veterans and those serving in our military, especially during such a controversial war as The Vietnam War, is an important one to be telling right now. Kelly has directed Shakespeare, new work, modern dramas, and documentary theatre, for companies as disparate as Battalion Theatre, Infinite Variety Productions, The Stella Adler Studio, and Occupy Verona. She has acted off-Broadway at The Snapple Theater Center as well as numerous black box and smaller-scale theatres. This will be her writing debut.

Jessica Schechter (Director) has an MFA in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School and a Bachelors degree in Educational Theatre from NYU. She is a certified theatre teacher in New York State and has been acting, directing, and running drama programs for over ten years. Trained through Stanislavsky and Meisner techniques, Jessica's directing credits include Putin and the Snowman (Strawberry Festival, Manhattan Repertory Theatre), Rhonda III (Actors Studio), Almost Finally (Thespis Festival), Insignificant (Infinite Variety Productions), Mend the Envelope (Midtown International Theater Festival), The Settler (24/6 Theater Co.) Fires in the Mirror (ASDS Repertory), Gruesome Playground Injuries (ASDS Repertory) Laundry and Bourbon (ASDS Repertory), The Third Wave (YUHSG Theater), I Never Saw Another Butterfly (HANC Drama Program), A... My Name is Alice (ATARA Theater Co.) a special needs integrated production of The Little Mermaid (Flatbush HS), and original devised pieces Breaking the Fourth Wall, The Silent Letters, New Beginnings, Calling to Heaven, Through My Reflection and Division of Faith at the Tizmoret Arts Conservatory. Jessica is currently an adjunct professor in two different universities and works as a private acting and speech coach for people of all ages throughout the city She is now co-producing and acting in a new comedic web series called "Soon By You". www.jessicaschechter.com

Infinite Variety Productions (IVP) is a registered NYS 501c3 based in New York City whose mission is to spark public inquiry and social change by illuminating unknown stories from women's history. IVP has produced impactful work across the country. Our production Censored on Final Approach had sold out performances at The Judson Theatre in New York and an acclaimed run at the Woman in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The company has produced three new shows for the Wyoming Theatre Festival. Each show uncovers an untold story from women's history. Our production of A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro celebrated women who served in the Vietnam War. The piece was invited to Washington, DC for the Vietnam Women's Memorial 20th Anniversary, and to Sheridan, Wyoming for performances at schools and Veterans Affairs centers. The play had its beginnings at the infamous NYC Living Theatre. Last year IVP produced A Piece of My Heart at the American Airpower Museum May 2015, at The American Armor Museum in Long Island in 2016 and this past March for the Bethpage Historical Society. IVP are proud recipients of the LIT Grant Space Award, resident theatre company with FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade and partners of the Wyoming Theatre Festival. This June Infinite Variety Productions will produce its first web series, Insignificant based on the first female astronomers as well as a new piece this summer about the first female baseball players for the Wyoming Theatre Festival. www.infinitevarietynyc.org

FRIGID NEW YORK is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. FRIGID's Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. FRIGID New York grew out of the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds, and Horse Trade Theater Group, a self-sustaining theater development and management group. www.horseTRADE.info