Tampa Repertory Theatre Presents Cold Storage 1/19-29

Tampa Repertory Theatre will present Ronald Ribman's Dramatist Guild Award-winning play, Cold Storage, January 19th through the 29th in the Studio Theatre at Hillsborough Community College, Ybor City.

This dark comedy, set in the rooftop garden of Hope Memorial Hospital, by turns cynical and absurdly comic, focuses on the meeting of two patients: the terminally ill Joseph Parmigian (played by Tampa Rep's artistic director C. David Frankel), and Richard Landau (Jim Wicker, one of Tampa's leading actors), a new patient in for exploratory surgery because of "a twinge in the stomach." At the start, Landau seems closed off from the world and determined to remain that way, while Parmigian resents his abandonment to the shrinking world of a hospital and fights to make the most out of his dwindling life. Although they encounter one another on the edge of death, the play ultimately affirms life, and leads to discoveries by both characters about the importance of connecting with another human being. Along the way, Ribman's play explores the kinds of health care and end-of-life issues still prevalent in today's world.

Cold Storage follows Tampa Rep's premiere performance last June of Euripides' Alcestis and a fund-raising concert in March (Songs from the American Songbook) that featured Emilia Sargent, one of the Rep's co-founders. Sargent will appear as Blanche Dubois in Tampa Rep's June production of A Streetcar Named Desire, also in the HCC Studio at Hillsborough Community College's Studio Theatre in the Performing Arts Building, E. Palm Ave, between N. 15th and N. 14th Streets.

Performances for Cold Storage will be at 8PM Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 3PM on Sundays. Regular admission is $20; students/seniors are $15. Tickets and more information are available at the company's website: www.tamparep.org.