Zootopia Theatre Company Presents Sci-fi Drama EMINENE During FringeNYC 8/15

Zootopia Theatre Company (www.zootopiatheatre.org) is proud to present the world premiere of Barton Bishop's sci-fi drama EMINENE as part of the 13th annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. Co-Artistic Director Matthew J. Nichols (NYIT Award nominee for Outstanding Direction) will direct. EMINENE will be presented at Venue #12: The New School for Drama Theater at 151 Bank Street, NYC. Performances are Sat. Aug. 15 at 9:15pm; Sun. Aug. 16 at 4:45pm; Thu. Aug. 20 at 5:45pm; Sun. Aug. 23 at 7:15pm; and Mon. Aug. 24 at 5:45pm. Tickets are $15 and can be bought online at www.fringenyc.org.

She is a runaway girl from a warring tribe. He is a mysterious stranger haunted by a specter from centuries past. Together they must journey across a post-apocalyptic landscape in search of a safe place. EMINENE by Barton Bishop is a harrowing tale of science fiction that explores the pursuit of stability in an unstable world, drawing parallels to today's immigration dilemma and the moral quandary that a secure society faces with the knowledge of horrors beyond its borders. Set in a distant and unforeseeable future, EMINENE features armed border patrols, outer-world refugees, forged identities, two-headed mutants, and more.

The cast includes Britney Burgess, Michael Sharon (Utah Shakespearean Festival), Christopher T. VanDijk (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Ellie Dvorkin (Mel & El), and Morgin Felicia. Andrew Lu is the Set and Lighting Designer. Deanna R. Frieman is the Costume Designer. Aaron Elgart is the Production Stage Manager.

Named "One of 50 To Watch" by The Dramatist magazine, playwright Barton Bishop received his MFA from NYU's Department of Dramatic Writing. His work has been commissioned by Keen Company's Keen Teens and Florida Stage, and read and produced in New York, Los Angeles, Montana, and Florida. The New York Times (Neil Genzlinger) commended his "unflinching dialogue, delivering a jolt" in his play GOD'S DAUGHTER.

Zootopia Theatre Company and Mr. Bishop first collaborated with last summer's STILL THE RIVER RUNS, proclaimed "a treat to watch" by Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times and nominated for six NY Innovative Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play. In 2007, Zootopia Theatre Company made an auspicious debut with PROFESSIONAL SKEPTICISM by James Rasheed, garnering a New York Innovative Theatre Award nomination for Britney Burgess as Featured Actress. The New York Times (Ginia Bellafante) called it "[A] dark comedy of corporate immorality." Backstage (A.J. Mell) wrote, "flat-out terrific." Nytheatre.com (Robert Buckwalter) called it "as solid a production as one could hope to find in the world of independent theater."