For Immediate Release s121

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Richard Hillman June 25, 2004 [email protected] \ "Brian Dykstra is working hard to turn ranting into a new genre, and if he succeeds comedy may not be safe…he makes you think as hard as you laugh.” – The Village Voice

Jack W. Batman, Margarett Perry, Greg Schaffert in association with Access Theater present

Jack W. Batman, Margarett Perry, Greg Schaffert, in association with Access Theater, present BRIAN DYKSTRA: CORNERED & ALONE, a 90-minute theatrical journey of searing comedy and political commentary. With tongue-twisting turns and allegorical allusions, Brian Dykstra, the verbally dexterous author of such plays as Hiding Behind Comets, STRANGERHORSE, SexReligionPoliticsIsolationLove&Rage, Straight Up/Water Back, Forsaking All Others, and That Damn Dykstra (the boxed set), brings his latest collection of anti-establishment humor to town just in time for the Republican National Convention! Directed by Margarett Perry, BRIAN DYKSTRA: CORNERED & ALONE begins previews August 3 at The Triad Theatre (158 West 72nd Street). OPENING NIGHT IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 12 AT 9 PM. Performances are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9PM. Tickets are $25.00 and may be purchased by calling Theatermania at 212-352-3101 or on line at Theatermania.com. Almost twenty years ago, Mike Nichols introduced us to the extraordinary talents of Whoopi Goldberg. Then in 1990, John Leguizamo opened in his Obie-winning solo piece Mambo Mouth. From 1994 to 2002, Bill Maher verbally pushed and shoved his politically incorrect humor on late night television. Now ready to put in his two cents is Brian Dykstra – actor, playwright, screenwriter, comedian, columnist, political commentator, observer, poet, drum-beater and sublime ranter! A cutting-edge artist who continually takes huge risks, Brian is poised for stardom (or at least notoriety!). BRIAN DYKSTRA: CORNERED & ALONE is directed by Margarett Perry, set design is by Maruti Evans, costume design is by Jennifer R. Halpern, lighting design is by Thom Weaver and sound design is by Ken Hypes.

»»»»»»» Bios

BRIAN DYKSTRA (Author/Performer) most recently performed in London in Brian Park’s play, Americana Absurdum and in the NY world premiere run of That Damn Dykstra (the boxed set). Brian’s play Hiding Behind Comets saw its world premiere this spring at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, this year’s Tony Award-winning regional theatre. His recent premieres include: That Damn Dykstra (the boxed set) at Access Theater, NYC and Silence at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, as well as Access Theater’s production of STRANGERHORSE. His play Forsaking All Others played in London following its Los Angeles run, where it received a Drama-Logue Critics Pick and LA Weekly Pick of The Week. Brian’s short plays and one-acts have been produced all over New York by a variety of theater companies. His epic Christmas slam poem, Ho, was performed at the 78th Street Theater Lab by The Drilling Company and Mick Just Shrugs was recently seen in The Drilling Company’s production, Honor. Other writing credits include: SexReligionPoliticsIsolationLove&Rage, Straight Up/Water Back, I Am/Lot’s Wife, Lot’s Wife, A Sane Policy and Spill The Wine. As an actor Brian can be seen on Comedy Central’s Chappelle Show in both the Best of Season 1 and 2 DVD’s. He appeared in the premiere episode in the now-famous sketch “Blind Hatred.” Brian has performed his short work (The Committee and The Mean Queen and the Thief of Hearts) with The Drilling Company. Other recent credits include: STRANGERHORSE at Access Theater, Eddie Carbone in A View From The Bridge at Theatrefest, Gabe in Dinner with Friends at the Philadelphia Theater Company, the world premiere of P. Seth Bauer’s The Umbrella Play and the New York premiere of his own play, Forsaking All Others. He has appeared Off-Broadway in Breaking Legs, Incommunicado, Tatjana in Color, A Most Secret War, King John, Love’s Labors Lost and Much Ado About Nothing and has also performed regionally at The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Arizona Theater Company, The Asolo, Indiana Rep and St. Louis Rep. As a screenwriter, Brian is developing the romantic comedy, Baggage Claim with Lisa Fielding and the comedy Double Down with David Wally (Cheyenne Enterprises). Other screenplays include Un- Coupled, Joints, V.I.R.T.U.E., Fight Game, Amazombies and adaptations of his plays A Sane Policy and Forsaking All Others. Most recently he completed a new action film, When the Bullet Hits the Bone, adapted from his first novel called Book: A Novel. He wrote and appeared in his short film Another Bed. Brian’s television writing credits include the Emmy-nominated television show The Life on ESPN. Last summer, in Arizona while performing with the Arizona Theatre Company in Copenhagen, Brian won the Tucson Slam Poetry Competition performing his poems Just Say No, The Gunk Man and Partnership. Brian was recently awarded The Vault’s 2003 It’s the End of the World As We Know It Award for exceptional cutting edge artists who consistently take risks with their art.

MARGARETT PERRY (Director) is the Producing Director of Access Theater and an Artistic Associate with The Lark Play Development Center. Most recently she directed the world premieres of That Damn Dykstra (the boxed set) and STRANGERHORSE by Brian Dykstra and 3 0’Clock in Brooklyn by Israela Margalit at Access. She also works with the comedy group “Babes in the Woods” (Cynthia Babak, Michael Huston) and directed them recently in NY Love Us Back (Now More Than Ever) at the West Bank. She directed the world premieres of Brian Dykstra’s Silence at the College of the Holy Cross and P. Seth Bauer’s The Umbrella Play at The Actors Theatre Workshop. Her short film, Another Bed premiered at Void in SoHo and was presented at the NewFilmmakers New York Winter Series at the Anthology Film Archives. Margarett was the Associate Producer of the Off-Broadway play EAT THE RUNT (American Place Theatre) and is the producer of The Lark’s Playwrights’ Workshop. Other New York directing credits include the New York premiere of Brian Dykstra’s Forsaking All Others, world premieres of SexReligionPoliticsIsolationLove&Rage, Straight Up/Water Back, Dykstra’s one-acts Mick Just Shrugs, The Artist & The Other Guy, The Committee, Spreading the Word and The Mean Queen & the Thief of Hearts.

ACCESS THEATER is a not-for-profit theater company founded in 1992 by Artistic Director, Jacqueline Christy, and currently under the direction of Producing Director, Margarett Perry. It is based in a converted turn-of–the century textile warehouse, with two performance spaces, a 64-seat traditional black box and a non-traditional loft space called The Gallery. The company is committed to producing theatre that grapples with current issues and helps new and emerging artists develop their voice. Access Theater is a vital member of the Tribeca arts scene and has produced hundreds of new plays, performance pieces and exhibitions. Many of those plays have gone on to Off-Broadway productions, regional theaters, British theaters and feature film development. Recent successes include Stephen Belber’s TAPE, which premiered at Access and went on to the Humana Festival of New American Plays and was made into a feature film starring Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, the world premiere of Israela Margalit’s 3 O’Clock in Brooklyn starring Kim Zimmer which played to sold-out audiences and broke Access Theater box office records, and last spring’s production of That Damn Dykstra (the boxed set), about which the Village Voice said, “Brian Dykstra can make you think as hard as you laugh.” Several of Dykstra’s plays, and much of his solo work, have been developed at the Access Theater, which was recently recognized by The New York Times as “one of the theaters to pay attention to in downtown New York.” ###