TBTB to Open 2008-2009 Season With 'The Middle Ages'

Following the success of last season's THE COCKTAIL HOUR, Theater Breaking Through Barriers (formerly Theater By The Blind) presents another comedy by A.R. Gurney.  TBTB will begin its 2008-2009 season with THE MIDDLE AGES, on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 7PM at the Kirk Theatre, Theatre Row. The official opening will be on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 3PM. Artistic Director of TBTB, Ike Schambelan, will direct.

In THE MIDDLE AGES, the focus is on family.  Set in one room - the trophy room of a men's club - from just after World War II through the late 1970's, the play illustrates the conflict between long-standing traditions and the pressure for change.  Son Barney needs to break free, but his father Charles, the president of the men's club, locks him in the trophy room when he misbehaves.
On one such occasion, he meets the shy Eleanor, falls in love, and spends the next 30 years trying to win her over.  Meanwhile, her mother, a social climber hungry for stability, strives to break into this rapidly failing world.

The cast of THE MIDDLE AGES features George Ashiotis, Melanie Boland, Terry Small and Marilee Talkington.

A.R. Gurney (Playwright). Plays: Buffalo Gal, Scenes From American Life, Children, The Dining Room, The Middle Ages, Richard Cory, The Golden Age, What I Did Last Summer, The Wayside Motor Inn, Sweet Sue, The Perfect Party, Another Antigone, The Cocktail Hour, Love Letters, The Snow Ball (adapted from his novel), The Old Boy, The Fourth Wall, Later Life, A Cheever Evening, Sylvia, Overtime, Let's Do It (a Cole Porter musical), Labor Day, Far East, Darlene and the Guest Lecturer. Novels: The Gospel According to Joe, Entertaining Strangers and The Snow Ball. Awards: Drama Desk, NEA, Rockefeller Foundation, New England Theatre Conference, Lucille Lortel, American Association of Community Theatres, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Honorary degrees: Williams College and Buffalo State University. Gurney was on the faculty of M.I.T. until 1996.

Director Ike Schambelan has been a theatrical director, teacher and critic for 43 years.  He has a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and a Doctor of Fine Arts from Yale Drama School.  He has directed at the Long Wharf Theatre, the Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, The New Dramatists, Equity Library Theatre, the Pittsburgh Public Theater and the George Street
Playhouse. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and of Actors' Equity.  As founder and Artistic Director of Theater Breaking Through Barriers he has built it for 29 years into an Off-Broadway company recognized for doing first class art.

Set and Lighting Designer is Bert Scott, Costume Designer is Chloe Chapin, Hair and Wig Designer is Angie Jerbasi, Sound Designer is Richard Rose, and Fight Director is J. David Brimmer. Stage Manager is Kimothy Cruse and Assistant Stage Manager is Brooke Elsinghorst.

Performances of THE COCKTAIL HOUR are Wednesday through Sunday. Wed & Thu at 7pm, Fri & Sat at 8pm, Sat & Sun at 3pm.

Tickets are $41.25 and can be purchased at www.ticketcentral.com or by calling 212-279-4200. For more information, visit www.tbtb.org.

The Kirk at Theatre Row is located at 410 West 42nd Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues) in New York City.

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