New York Deaf Theatre's CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: AN EVENING OF SHORT PLAYS BY DAVID IVES Begins Next Month

New York Deaf Theatre, in its 36th anniversary season, has announced that it will present CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: AN EVENING OF SHORT PLAYS BY DAVID IVES Saturday, November 7th through Sunday, November 22nd at the June Havoc Theatre at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex 312 West 36th Street. The production will have its official opening on Wednesday, November 11th at 7:30PM.

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE revolutionizes the works of the legendary American playwright and master of wordplay, David Ives, into American Sign Language (ASL) to bring comedic entertainment to both Deaf and hearing audiences alike. A sharply talented cast of eight actors, four Deaf and four hearing, beautifully portray these hilariously eccentric works using both voice and ASL. Ives' seven works present the perfect opportunity for NYDT to explore the plethora of ways ASL can transform the way you look at a play, while splitting your sides with laughter.

This collection of seven short plays boasts an eclectic and unpredictable mix of comical entertainment that bring hysterical and touching meditations on life, death, and the endless golden donut of love. The quirky plays span tremendously from a woman seeking help because she has a compulsive problem with the number two, to a police investigator attempting to solve the murder of a man who enjoys furniture way too much. If those story lines aren't curious enough, wait until you see the rest. This is a truly original night of unforgettable performances that will not soon be forgotten.

David Ives is best known for his evenings of one-act comedies called All in the Timing and Time Flies. All in the Timing won the Outer Critics Circle Playwriting Award, ran for two years Off-Broadway, and in the 1995-96 season was the most performed play in the country after Shakespeare productions. His full-length plays include The School For Lies (adapted from Moliere's The Misanthrope and a major hit at New York's Classic Stage Company); The Heir Apparent (an adaptation of J-F Regnard's comedy that was an audience and critical hit at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.); New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza, which won the prestigious Hull-Warriner Award; Is He Dead? (adapted from Mark Twain); White Christmas; Polish Joke; and Ancient History. He has translated Feydeau's classic farce A Flea in Her Ear, Yazmina Reza's drama A Spanish Play, and Pierre Corneille's 1643 comedy The Liar (also an enormous hit at the Shakespeare Theatre Company two years ago). David Ives is the author of three young-adult novels: Monsieur Eek, Scrib, and Voss, and he has adapted 32 American musicals for New York City's beloved Encores! series. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama and a former Guggenheim Fellow in playwriting, he lives in New York City.

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE will be the fourth play that Garrett Zuercher has directed for the New York Deaf Theatre. A magna cum laude graduate of the theatre program at Marquette University in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Garrett has been working professionally for over a decade. In addition to his directing work, he is also an in-demand actor and playwright whose work has been seen around the world on stages and screens both large and small. His play, Quid Pro Quo, which he both wrote and directed, won national awards and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. He is currently hard at work writing his latest play.

The cast of CAPTIVE AUDIENCE features Stefanie Anarumo, Darren Fudenske, Liarra Michelle, Oni Nicolarakis, Christian Ogren, Chris Tester, Anne Tomasetti and Forrest Weber.

Voice Director is Kimberly Hale; ASL Master is Michael Sprouse; Scenic Designer is Lauren Mills; Costume Designer is Kristi Siedow-Thompson; Production Stage Manager is Miriam Rochford; Assistant Stage Manager is Melissa Jones and the Dramaturg is Clint Gorges.

NYDT Artistic Director is James W. Guido; NYDT Producing Director is Annie Wiegand; NYDT Development Director is Kimberly Hale; NYDT Marketing Director is Katia Belas and NYDT Social Media Director is Liarra Michelle.

Performances of CAPTIVE AUDIENCE are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30PM; Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM; Saturdays at 2PM and 8PM and Sundays at 2PM through November 22nd.