IRT Presents CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE 1/17-30

This winter, Diana Amsterdam's CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE brings the macabre back to New York City. In a staging by Karen Kohlhaas reminiscent of the carnal exorbitance of carnivale's heyday, featuring a cast of characters pulled straight from the murky depths of the human psyche. Carnival is a hilarious, bizarre, and poignant story of the meaning of death, of dying with dignity, and the ancient dilemma of living for a life after death. Presented by IRT Theater (Kori Rushton, Artistic Director).

Amsterdam's CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE, will begin performances on January 13, opening on January 17 and will run through January 30, 2011 at IRT Theater (154 Christopher Street NYC 3B). Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at www.irttheater.org or Theatermania at 212-352-0255.

Amsterdam sets a young dying man as unwitting ringmaster to a circus of denial, fear, and religious fervor. Originally presented as a co-production of the Atlantic Acting School and Tisch School of the Arts Theater Department in 1996, then fully produced at Washington D.C.'s Gunston Arts Center, CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE returns to New York along with five of the original cast members-Livia Scott (ONCE IN A LIFETIME, "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"), Kori Rushton, Shane LeCocq, Cynthia Silver (BRIDEZILLA STRIKES BACK!), and Christine Rowan (RELUCTANT PILGRAM , FLOPZ, EMBRACE! National tour: PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES)-uniting from all over the country to reprise their roles. Remaining cast includes: Carla Briscoe, Ted Caine (MOONCHILDREN, OH DAD POOR DAD), Brandon Kyle Goodman (WHAT'S THAT SMELL: THE MUSIC OF JACOB STERLING, MAN IS MAN, TEACH ME TO FLY), Ed Stelz , Janna Emig, Stephanie Hsu, Raymond Hill, David M. Kirby, Rebecca Schoffer, and Danni Simon.

CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE

By Diana Amsterdam, directed by Karen Kohlhaas

Begins performances on Thursday, January 13; Opening Monday, January 17, 2011

Performances schedule: Monday, Thursday, and Friday at 7pm;

Sat at 3pm & 7pm and Sundays at 5pm

Running time is 90 minutes

IRT Theater is located at 154 Christopher Street, 3B

Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at www.irttheater.org or call Theatermania at 212-352-0255

Benefit Performance, Friday, January 21- $30 with drink

Diana Amsterdam's (Playwright) work has been produced at American Stage Company, MCC, Cucaracha Downtown, American Jewish Theatre in New York, The Abingdon Theater, The Source Theatre in Washington D.C., and at numerous regional and European theatres. Her full-length plays are published by Playscripts, Inc. and Samuel French, and her work anthologized by Smith & Kraus, St. Martins Press and Applause Books. She is a winner of a New York State Council on the Arts grant, and, after winning the American Search BBC Radio Play Contest, was frequently commissioned to write BBC radio plays for broadcast in London. Ms. Amsterdam's play FAST GIRLS won a Hugo Award in Montreal and has been optioned by producer Donna Messinger for the screen. Her screenplay 'The Love Hit' is currently under option with John E. Ferraro in LA, and her screenplay 'The Other Woman' was selected as New York Women in Film and Television's 25th Anniversary Screenplay.

Karen Kohlhaas (Director) a theater director, filmmaker, teacher and author. She is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company, and a senior teacher at the Atlantic Acting School. Most recent/current: Harold Pinter's THE COLLECTION and A KIND OF ALASKA for Atlantic's 25th anniversary season, the world premiere of Annie Baker's play BODY AWARENESS (Atlantic) and Clare Bayley's AT SEA (Menagerie Theatre, Cambridge, UK) . She directed actress/comedienne Judy Gold in the Drama Desk Award nominated 25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER by Kate Moira Ryan and Ms. Gold (Montreal Comedy Festival, Ars Nova, Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre, national tour). Other Off-Broadway/regional: Harold Pinter's THE HOTHOUSE (Atlantic), Keith Reddin's SYNERGY (Alley Theatre, world premiere) and FRAME 312 (Atlantic, NY premiere); David Mamet's BOSTON MARRIAGE (New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, NY premiere) and THE WATER ENGINE (Atlantic); three productions of AN ADULT EVENING OF Shel Silverstein in New York and Sydney; and Kate Moira Ryan's OTMA (U.S. premiere). She has also directed at Naked Angels, New Dramatists, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and other New York theaters.

IRT Theater (Kori Rushton, Artistic Director) IRT Theater (Kori Rushton, Artistic Director) is a grassroots laboratory dedicated to the development of independent theater and performance works, providing space and community for a new generation of artists. IRT has become a development home for emerging and established artists including: Reggie Watts, Young Jean Lee, Immediate Medium, Tommy Smith, The Nonsense Company, Group Theory, Mike Daisey, Alex Harvey, NeAl Wilkinson, Human Animals, Katt Lissard/memory lab, The Paper Industry and numerous others. We are excited to be adding Diana Amsterdam and Karen Kohlhaas to our list.

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