Horse Trade Theater Group Presents Penny Pollak's NO TRAVELER

Penny Pollak exposes a flashing razor blade, heaven, hell, musical dance numbers, a bucket and a body count of nine. NO TRAVELER combines vaudevillian moments, original music and the universal experience of the heartbreaking act of suicide with the one thing that helps us keep going... laughter.

In 2010 NO TRAVELER debuted as part of Horse Trade Theater Group's FRIGID New York Festival. The show was then extended as part of FRIGID Hangovers, moved into The Living Theater, was chosen for the summer Mini-Fridge Festival, made it's Off-Broadway premier at 59E59, and returned with glowing international reviews from The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Performer Penny Pollak was also nominated for Best Actress in the NYC Strawberry One-Act Festival. The preview performance on July 9th will be the last NYC show before performing in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival followed by encore NYC performances July 28 & 29 at The Kraine. NO TRAVELER is currently being adapted into a feature film by Director Tony Kaye (American History X, Detachment).

"Pollak flings herself around the tiny stage, eyes gleaming, hair flying. She creates each character totally... a clever piece of theatre by an impressive performer, the kind of show that the Fringe should be about." Kate Copstick THE SCOTSMAN

"A real pleasure to watch, she flits and flings herself around the stage, an anarchic rock chick with intense focus, wild eyes and a wide emotional range. There'd be worse ways to spend eternity than watching this charismatic, confident performer."
Edinburgh Three Weeks in Review

"Ms. Pollak brings a physicality to her roles that make her captivating to watch; she has amazing energy and vulnerability at the same time which coats each one of her characters with a layer of authenticity that reverberated throughout her performance."
Karen Tortora-Lee, The Happiest Medium

NO TRAVELER will play a special three-show engagement Saturday, July 9th at 4pm at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A) and Thursday, July 28 & Friday, July 29 at 8pm at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery). Tickets ($10) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

PENNY POLLAK (Writer & Performer) is an NYC based actress and writer. "Dark and a little creepy" her solo play No Traveler: a Comedy About Suicide received glowing reviews in last years Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as home in NYC from it's off Broadway premier at 59E59 to the FRIGID New York Festival. A member of The Drafts Acting Ensemble and a resident of Horse Trade Theater Group you can see Penny perform her own work as well as others all over NYC from storytelling to physical theater. Since 2007 she has hosted and producEd Penny's Open Mic at UNDER St. Marks Theater. A supportive ANYTHING Open Mic for all artists of any kind to workshop in a safe environment, featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine and Backstage. After graduating with a BA in Theater and a minor in Sociology she joined the TVI London Theater Intensive at Rose Bruford University in the UK. www.pennypollak.com

SAMANTHA JONES (Director) is an award winning actress, comedian avant-garde solo performer and director. Her 4th solo show, Butterfly Suicide, was one of 12 shows selected for the soloNOVA Arts Festival at P.S. 122 in 2007. Her previous solo shows include: I'm in Charge of the Coats (HERE Arts Center), I Wanna Be Like Her (Theatre Row), and Lady W (Manhattan Theatre Source). Past credits include: Comix Comedy Club with Jim Gaffigan, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Stand Up New York, and Caroline's. She was the host of Matchmaker for HGTV and featured on MTV's Run's House as herself. She both directed and acted in several comedic shorts for Jack Black's Acceptable TV and recently directed Horror Play by Jeannine Jones for Sticky at the Bowery Poetry Club. She's co-founder and writes and performs with Rebecca Lally in the award winning comedy rock duo The Sister's Rock! Her sketch comedy show Personality Inventory was reviewed as "cutting edge" by New York Blade. She has worked as an independent producer on Artists for the Cure at Carnegie Hall, and Wigstock. She was director of improv comedy troupes - Wild Improv!, The Mug Shots, The Outrageous Instincts, The Baker's Dozen, and Please Stand By. Currently she is a founding cast member of the improv comedy group Headshop Guerillas in NYC. She served on the board of the NY Coalition of Professional Women in Arts and Media representing Screen Actors GuilD. Jones is also a founding member of Dora Mae Productions (www.doramae.com).

HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP is a self-sustaining theater development group; with a focus on new work, it has produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. Horse Trade's Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent Theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. It is also the home of FRIGID New York - the first and only festival of its kind in New York City.

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