U.S. Premiere of Austrian Play 'Dirt' Plays FringeNYC

The 11th annual New York International Fringe Festival and Dreck Productions are proud to present the U.S. Premiere of Dirt, the acclaimed European award-winning one-man show written by Robert Schneider, directed by David Robinson and performed by Christopher Domig. Performances run from August 10 - 22, 2007 at The Players Theatre Loft Space (115 MacDougal St.) in NYC.

Dirt was the most frequently performed solo show in Austria, Germany and Switzerland in the 1990's. The influential German theatre magazine Theaterheute awarded Robert Schneider Best New Playwright Of The Year (1993) for Dirt. The play centers on Sad, an illegal immigrant from Iraq, who sells roses on the streets to make ends meet. He is charming, cynical, humorous, violent and sad. Although he loves the English language and American culture, he misses his homeland. As Sad continues to talk it becomes increasingly clear that he has a love-hate relationship with himself, his heritage and the western world he currently lives in. Haunting and compelling, Dirt is a telling story about racism and the havoc it wreaks on the human spirit.

Dirt ("Dreck"), written by Austrian Playwright Robert Schneider, premiered in 1992 in Vienna, where it was performed in German, its original language. In 1993, Dirt premiered in Hamburg, Germany at the Thalia Theater and was awarded the Dramatist's Prize at the "Potsdam Theater Days", selected by the jury as the "best contemporary stage work." Schneider's first novel Schlafes Bruder ("Brother of Sleep") was published in 1992 and immediately became a worldwide success, with translations into 24 languages. He received numerous awards including the Premio Grinzane Cavour (the most important literary prize in Italy for foreign-language literature) and the Prix Médicis (Paris, France).

Austrian/American actor Christopher Domig grew up in Salzburg, Austria. He was seen in The Winter's Tale at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. His other credits include a national tour of Great Expectations, the world premiere of Secrets (Karl Jung) at the Players Club and regional work at the WaterTower Theatre and Greenstage in Seattle.

Director David Robinson is based in Seattle and his credits include God's Country (Greer Garson Theatre), Coriolanus (Greenstage) and Into the Woods (Maui OnStage). David has served as the Artistic Director of The Dimensions Theatre Project and General Manager of The Seattle Shakespeare Company.

Dirt is translated by Paul Dvorak, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who teaches German language, literature and culture. The design and production team consists of Greg Brostrom (Lighting Design), Gabriel Garza (Set Design), Chad Hauge (Stage Manager) and Daniel Domig (Marketing).

The Players Theatre Loft Space at 115 MacDougal Street is between West 3rd St. & Minetta Lane in NYC. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by calling 212-279-4488 or 1-888-FringeNYC (outside NY) or visiting www.fringenyc.org. For more info visit www.dirt-nyc.com. The running time is 75 minutes with no intermission.

Photo of Christopher Domig by Jordan Craven