John Doble's TO PROTECT THE POETS Set for FringeNYC

Michael Palmer and 11 West Productions, in association with The Present Theatre Company, present TO PROTECT THE POETS by John Doble, directed by Alberto Bonilla as part of the 20th Annual New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), August 12th through the 28th, 2016.

TO PROTECT THE POETS is a full-length drama about a poet and her principles colliding with a policeman's sense of justice. Mac, whose life is books and ideas, falls in love with Jab, a detective enraged at a killer's cold indifference to his vicious murder of a young woman. When Mac learns that Jab, in his outrage, delivered what he calls street justice, she must decide whether to hold onto her love or the ideals she's lived by. Will Mac and Jab be star-crossed or will love conquer all?

The cast features: Elizabeth Alice Murray* (Amelia, Othello), John Isgro*, Angel Dillemuth, Joy Donze* (Juliet, R&J), Ariel Kim (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Jamil A.C. Mangan* (Mother Courage and her Children, Classic Stage Company), and Deshawn Wyatte.

TO PROTECT THE POETS will perform at the Teatro SEA at the Clemente, 107 Suffolk Street, New York, NY 10002 -- between Rivington and Delancey on the Lower East Side. Performance schedule: Sunday, August 14, 12:00 noon, followed by a Meet-Up with cast; Tuesday, August 16, 7:45 pm; Friday, August 19, 9:45 pm; Monday, August 22, 2:00 pm; and Thursday, August 25, 4:15 pm. Running time 2 hours, with one intermission.

Tickets: $18. For information and tickets, visit www.ToProtectThePoets.com.

JOHN DOBLE (PLAYWRIGHT) Plays: Coffee House, Greenwich Village (LaBute New Theater Festival, 59E59, NYC; St. Louis Actors Studio; Arundel, UK); A Serious Person (Best Play and Belper Prize, UK, Westcliff-on-Sea, UK; Eclectic Company Theatre, LA); Tatyana and the Cable Man (Best Play, Midtown Short Play Festival, NYC; Binghamton, NY); Ten Commandments (New York New Works); Reunion Run (FringeNYC; Finalist, Best New Play, New Works of Merit); The Mayor Who Would Be Sondheim (FringeNYC and Sonora, CA); and Blind Date (Samuel French OOB Festival). His short stories were published in numerous literary magazines and a collection of his short fiction, Lefty and Other Stories, was published by Clemson University and nominated for the Southern Book Award. www.JohnDoble.com

Alberto Bonilla (DIRECTOR) was part of the creative team at 78th Street Theatre Lab that developed Boy Steals Train, which won a Fringe First and Best Ensemble award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He wrote and directed Walking To America. Other written works include: Nonnie, Big Black Mexican Woman, #69, El Conejo, PS 357, Hunting with Ewoks and Maria. As a director, Alberto has directed Look Back in Anger, Three Points Over the Vig, Leaving Lilly, Raft of the Medusa and won the Queens TimesLedger "Kudos" award for Richard III. Alberto has appeared on television and in film. He is a member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA, HOLA and NALIP. He received a BA in Theatre at Arizona State University and studied at The British American Dramatic Academy. Alberto received his MFA in Acting at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts.

MICHAEL PALMER (PRODUCER) Michael was the Associate Producer of a number of John Doble's plays, including To Protect the Poets, Coffee House, Greenwich Village, A Serious Person, and Reunion Run.

The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, is a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread on more than 20 stages across several neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, notably the Lower East Side, the East Village, and Greenwich Village. Attendance in 2009 topped 75,000 people.

The festival was founded in 1997 by Aaron Beall, John Clancy, Jonathan Harris (AKA Ezra Buzzington), and (current Artistic Director) Elena K. Holy, and is produced by The Present Company.

Notable shows that premiered at FringeNYC include Urinetown, Dog Sees God, the musical adaptation of Debbie Does Dallas and the American English-language premiere of The Black Rider. Other feature shows included Charlie Victor Romeo, which premiered at New York Lower East Side theatre Collective:Unconscious.

At the conclusion of the festival around 20 shows are selected to participate in the FringeNYC Encore Series which runs for an additional two weeks in September.

*These Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. TO PROTECT THE POETS is an Equity approved Showcase.