THE GOD GAFFE to Receive World Premiere at FringeNYC

THE GOD GAFFE, a new play by John William Schiffbauer, will make its world premiere in the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival.

Inspired by Elisabeth Hasselbeck's departure from The View, THE GOD GAFFE chronicles what happens when a popular conservative talk show host inadvertently insults a young gay guest on air. As she and her producer are forced to confront an uncomfortable Hollywood double standard, they must also deal with the fallout between one another.

The cast of THE GOD GAFFE will feature Hannah Beck (Cherry Lane, Soho Playhouse, Mint Theater),Tom Giordano (Love, Money, God, Drink, Christmas at Dixon Place, Macbeth at Classic Stage Company,Hamlet at Hudson Guild Theatre) and Vincent Torres (Halcyon Days at Theater for the New City, Macbethat Classic Stage Company, Trail of Tears at the Nuyorican Poets Café).

Playwright/Director John William Schiffbauer has performed Off Broadway with the Pearl Theatre Company, Classic Stage Company and the Ensemble Studio Theatre; Off Off Broadway in Another Country(dir. Diane Paulus), Live Broadcast (New York Int'l Fringe Festival), Father Mike (Gallery Players) andKerouac (13th Street Repertory Company); Regionally with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, and the Capital Fringe Festival.

Schiffbauer's original plays have been featured in the Strawberry One-Act Festival, the Dream Up Festival, the New York Int'l Fringe Festival, and the Capital Fringe Festival of Washington, DC. In July 2013 he directed and produced an Off Off production of Hamlet at the Hudson Guild Theatre. His original full-length play Live Broadcast is available from Dramatists Play Service. He has an MFA from Columbia University.

Costume design is by Emily White, whose recent work includes Not Afraid (PowerOut NYC), Let's Play Play (Frigid Festival) and Game Play Festival (The Brick). Currently she is the costume design assistant forAwake and Sing! co-produced by NAATCO and the Public Theater. Regionally she has worked for The California Shakespeare Theater and The American Conservatory Theater, among others.

Lighting design is by Timothy Parrish, whose New York design credits include Balls... The Musical?(NYMF and Theatre Row), Pump Boys and Dinettes (Laurie Beechmen Theatre), Once Upon a Mattress andArsenic and Old Lace (Nightingale-Bamford School). His recent work as a programmer includes The Piano Lesson, Heartless, My Children! My Africa! and Hurt Village all at the new Pershing Square Signature Center; Jackie and Me at the Atlantic Theater Company as well as the NY Philharmonic's Philharmonic 360 at the Park Avenue Armory.

Mindy Fintz is the production stage manager. Her recent credits include Mamma Mia! (Royal Caribbean Productions). Off-Broadway: Honky (Urban Stages). Regional: Day After MLK.

THE GOD GAFFE will be presented at The Players Theatre's Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre on Wednesday, August 19 at 3pm; Saturday, August 22 at 9:15pm; Wednesday, August 26 at 4:45pm; Friday, August 28 at 7pm; and Saturday, August 29 at 4:45pm.

The Players Theatre's Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre is located at 115 MacDougal Street in New York City.

Tickets are available by visiting FringeNYC.org.