Photo Flash: First Look at PENINSULA, Opening Tonight at FringeNYC

PENINSULA, a world-premiere play by Nathan Wright, begins its sold out run as part of the 17th Annual New York International Fringe Festival - Fringe NYC on Wednesday, August 14th. Produced by In Absentia Productions and directed by Nadia Foskolou, PENINSULA stars Angela Atwood, Vanessa Bartlett,Josué Gutierrez Guerra, Kellan Peavy, Marc Sinoway (Logo's "Hunting Season"), and John Zdrojeski. Check out a first look at the cast in rehearsal below!

PENINSULA tells the story of Tiago, a young man who escaped the poverty-stricken slums of Rio de Janeiro, now working as a migrant in a seemingly peaceful summer town in Northern Michigan's wine country. A visceral exploration of shifting identity, power and desire, PENINSULA explodes with poetry, sensuality, and danger.

"I think the play more than anything else is about shifting identities," playwright Nathan Wright recently explained in an interview for GLAAD. "Tiago is a person who's between sexual identities and you never really know how to pin him down. I think that can be frustrating in the duality that's set up in Western society, where you're either straight or you're gay. When we start talking about things like ethnicity, class, race, and sexuality, I think it becomes imperative for us to identify those things and represent them artistically, but also then to pull back from the identity for long enough to see things as part of a larger whole."

PENINSULA began development in 2008 as part of Wright's MFA thesis at Columbia University, where it was presented as a staged reading directed by Hal Brooks and starring Vincent Piazzo as Tiago. PENINSULA was further developed during the summer of 2012 through a workshop production directed by Nadia Foskolou at Manhattan Repertory Theatre.

Presented by In Absentia Productions, PENINSULA has production design by Drew Florida. The General Manger is Dean A. Carpenter / D.A.C. Productions, LLC; and Christina Franklin is the Production Stage Manager.

PENINSULA will play five performances at "Fringe Venue #16," Robert Moss Theater at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street): Wednesday, 8/14 at 4:15 pm; Friday, 8/16 at 8:45 pm; Saturday, 8/17 at 5:15 pm; Monday, 8/19 at 9:00 pm; Thursday, 8/22 at 2:30 pm.

Tickets for all FringeNYC productions are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Any released tickets for a performance of PENINSULA will be available at the door 15 minutes before curtain on a first-come, first-served basis.

For information/tickets to all Fringe NYC productions, visit FringeNYC.org or call 866-468-7619.

Photos by Devlin Shand