Photo Flash: Israel Horovitz's Gloucester Play North Shore Fish Premiers in Gloucester

Gloucester Stage continues the 2013 season with Israel Horovitz's North Shore Fish from July 18 through August 4 in the air-conditioned comfort of Gloucester Stage Company at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Set in North Shore Fish, a fish packing plant in Gloucester Massachusetts, the action of Horovitz's play centers on the daily routine of the workers, mostly women, who have come to regard North Shore Fish as a way of life. But despite the jokes, juicy gossip and boisterous horseplay that enliven their working day, the women are aware that there are signs of impending trouble. Once a thriving enterprise which processed the daily catch of the local fishing fleet, the company is now reduced to repacking frozen fish imported from Japan and the layoffs have already begun. Israel Horovitz's Pulitzer Prize nominated Gloucester play North Shore Fish focuses on the role of women in Gloucester working class society and the issue of work categories becoming virtually obsolete. In North Shore Fish, Horovitz asks the important question "What happens to people's dignity when their work is no longer useful or available?" A question that is as relevant today in 2013 as it was when the play premiered at Gloucester Stage in 1986 as the people of Gloucester continue to cope with a changing fishing industry and waterfront landscape. According to Horovitz, "North Shore Fish, to my thinking, is a play about love and dignity in the workplace." When North Shore Fish premiered at Gloucester Stage in 1986 it was the first production produced in the theatre's current home on 267 East Main Street in Gloucester. The play went on to successful productions Off Broadway in New York City and all over the world and was adapted into a TV movie in 1997. In addition to the play's world premiere in Gloucester in 1986, Gloucester Stage revived the powerful play in 1992. For the 2013 production of North Shore FishGloucester Stage Founding Artistic Director playwright Israel Horovitz reunites with director Robert Walsh and Rockport resident actress Nancy E. Carroll. Walsh directed Horovitz's The Widow's Blind Date in 2007 and Fighting Over Beverley in 2011 and Carroll starred in Horovitz's My Old Lady in 2005.

The North Shore Fish performance schedule is Thursday, July 18 through Saturday, July 20 at 8 pm; Wednesday, July 24 through Saturday, July 27 at 8 pm; Wednesday, July 31 through Saturday, August 3 at 8 pm, Saturday matinees on July 20, July 27 and August 3 at 3 pm & Sunday performances on July 21, July 28 and August 4 at 4 pm. The 3 pm Saturday matinee on July 20 is a special Pay What You Can matinee. For this Saturday matinee only the ticket price is Pay What You Can. Following the 4 pm performance on Sunday, July 21, audiences are invited to a free post show discussion with the artists from North Shore Fish. Gloucester Stage is handicapped accessible. Ticket prices are $40 for all performances. Senior citizen & student tickets are $35 for all performances. For reservations or further information, call the Gloucester Stage Box Office at 978-281-4433 or visit www.gloucesterstage.com