Shell Productions Presents SUITS AND TIES/SUITS AND CAPES, Opens 7/23

American-born playwright T.S. Eliot said it best: "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." Suits and Ties/Suits and Capes, two one-act plays at The Shell Theater, push that theory to its outermost limits.

Both plays were written by playwright Jonathan Brady and have a number of similarities. Suits and Ties follows a group of friends struggling to hold on to their small company as it teeters on the brink of failure. As the pressure mounts, each person is forced to choose between personal loyalties and different ideas about what it takes to succeed in the world of business. Suits and Capes is a comedy about two young men who try to become superheroes and save the world from "The SoHo Strangler". They lack only one thing: super powers. Their circumstances teach them about risk, reward, triumph, failure and how to get your cape to flow just right.

Brady says he wrote both plays in order to investigate a few key questions. How do we make sense of risky decisions? What are the effects of stress on friendship? How important is it to be original? "I wanted to explore similar themes in different contexts, so that the audience could relate to them in different ways," says Brady. "Very few audience members will have had experience as a superhero, but most have worked in an office setting at some point and can identify with the less spectacular evils of that particular environment."

Turtle Shell Productions Artistic Director John Cooper is directing the show, which is Turtle Shell Productions 40th stage presentation since they began back in 2002. When asked why he chose to do both of Brady's works he said, "I was drawn to direct Suits and Ties/Suits and Capes because of the entertaining, smart writing and approach taken by Jonathan Brady in expressing with humor and incisive character depictions the universal theme of the individual daring to step outside the box in achieving unique, unexplored heights of accomplishment."

Attached to the shows are the following actors: Suits and Ties: Justin Bennett (Napoleon), Larry Bull (Frank), Duke Lafoon (Jay), Frederick J. Mayer (Inspector), M. Scott Mclean (Tom) and David Pegram (Charles). Suits and Capes: Christine Bullen (Reporter/Nurse/Victim 2) Samantha Cole (Kate), Andre Herzegovitch (SoHo Strangler), Zac Hoogendyk (Kenneth) and Ryan Michael Jones (Ray).

Cooper's production team includes Maegen Sacco (Stage Manager), Tori Depew (Scenic Designer)Stephen Sakowski (Lighting Designer), Erica Evans (Costume Designer), Rocco D'Santi (ProjectionDesigner), Josh Millican (Sound Designer), Zach T. Wright (Carpenter), Pat Lawrence and Eli Nassau (Production Assistants).

Suits and Ties and Suits and Capes opens in previews Thursday July 15th at 7PM. The show continues in previews Friday, July 16th at 8PM; Saturday, July 17th at 3PM; Sunday, July 18th at 5PM and Monday, July 19th at 7PM. The show opens Friday July 23rd at 8PM and has additional performances on Saturday, July 24th at 2PM; Sunday, July 25th at 5PM; Thursday, July 29th at 7PM; Friday, July 30th at 8PM; Saturday, July 31st at 3PM and Sunday, August 1st at 5PM.
All performances are at The Shell Theater, 300 W 43rd St., 4th Floor (between 8th & 9th Ave). Tickets are $18 and available by calling 212-352-3101 or online through theatremania.com or the Turtle Shell Theater website at turtleshellproductions.com.

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