Orange Hanky Productions Announces New Off-Bway Play

Orange Hanky Productions presents the premiere Off-Broadway engagement of "F*CK ME, B*AT ME, L*VE ME"   by Kevin Podgorski at The Kraine Theatre, 85 East 4th Street (1st Floor) between 2nd Avenue & Bowery (3rd Avenue).  Previews begin May 1st and the Opening is Thursday, May 8th at 8:00 pm. The cast includes Felipe Forero, Jeff Goldfisher, Jim Halloran, and Jason Romas.  Directed by Brian Olsen; the limit engagement has set design by Arnulfo Maldonado; costumes by Benjamin Taylor Ridgway, lighting by Benjamin Tevelow  and sound design by Michael Allen.

"F*ck Me, B*at Me, L*ve Me" is the story of Travis and Tommy, a gay couple, and how they confuse their own personal problems with the problems in their relationship. Travis uses Sam, their paperboy, to work out his frustrations. Tommy seeks escape with Max, his outside lover. All four are seeking a connection with another human being, as they use sex to make that connection.   This is used as a way to express desire, to gain control, to relinquish responsibility, and even as a way of keeping the person they care for the most at a distance.  It examines the differences between sex and intimacy, and what happens when allowing others to define our identities, and how what we want is often very different from what we need.

Orange Hanky Productions is a groundbreaking new theater company which brings to the New York City market an exciting and fresh take on gay theater. Founded by playwright Kevin Podgorski and director Brian Olsen, OHP produces plays which raise the bar on gay theater, tackling the issues facing all gay people in a truthful, raw, and fresh way.      www.orangehanky.com

Born and raised in Ohio, Kevin Podgorski earned his BA from Xavier.  He received his MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School and while there, studied playwrights Romulus Linney, Laura Maria Censabella, James Ryan, and Jeffrey Sweet.  Since graduating, Kevin has earned his playwriting stripes and has been granted several one act productions. His two full-length plays, received staged readings by The Actors Studio Playwrights, Directors Workshop, of which he has been an invited member since its founding in 2004. His play, "Mary Christmas", was a 2nd Place Finalist in the 2007 Dayton Playhouse Future Fest, where the play was also selected as audience favorite.  Kevin is a member of the Dramatist Guild.

            Brian Olsen is originally from Boston. Some of his previous directing credits include Tom Smith's "End of the Mea"l for the Homo Genius Festival, Carla Ching's "Aching For You" and Aurin Squire's "Art Gallery". He has also directed "Don't Dress for Dinner" for the Weathervane Playhouse, "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Much Ado About Nothing" for Gorilla Rep, "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged)" for the Washington Shakespeare Festival; "A Christmas Carol" for Thirteenth Street Rep., and "The Mousetrap" and "Camelot" for the Saxtons River Playhouse in Vermont.  He was assistant director on the world premiere of Sam Shepard's "The God of Hell", starring Tim Roth and Randy Quaid. He also assistant directed Louise Lasser on "Lullaby". He has a BA in Drama from Stonehill College, studied at the National Shakespeare Conservatory, and has an MFA in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School.

Performances of "F*ck Me, B*at Me, L*ve Me" are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm; with a special performance on Tuesday, May 6th at 8:00 pm.  Tickets are only $18; with discount tickets for groups of 20 or more.  For Information/Reservations call 917-224-0071.

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