| 4 October 2004…New York, NY… Fresh
off its European debut in September, Firebrand Theory Theater Company announces
its holiday season play, a re-imagined version of George Bernard Shaw’s
comedic classic, “Androcles and the Lion – A War of the Cross”,
placing the action during The Christian Crusades. Opening night is December 3,
at Firebrand Theory’s resident theater, The Gene Frankel Theatre.
“Androcles and the Lion” features a Christian who flees persecution
in Rome, yet befriends a lion after pulling a painful thorn from its paw. Captured
by Caesar's men, Androcles is ordered to the coliseum to face the lions as punishment.
As Androcles enters the ring to be sacrificed, he is recognized and warmly received
by the same lion he had helped.
While Shaw’s comedy featured Romans persecuting Christians during the
age of the Roman Empire, Firebrand Theory’s portrays Christians hunting
Muslims during The Christian Crusades. “Our remake draws parallels between
the reality of the world we live in today and the time of Crusades,” explains
co-artistic director Michael Scott-Price, “There’s a low-grade holy
war between some Muslims and some Christians today. It’s an interesting
phenomenon that all the suspects in this war on terror are reported Muslim, and
the governments leading these efforts are largely Christian.”
Firebrand Theory’s interpretation choice is emboldened by its recent
performance tour in Dublin, Ireland, Shaw’s birthplace. Performing “RomAntic
aGE” (which also ran at the Frankel theatre in May) at the ESB Dublin Fringe
Festival, Firebrand Theory was praised by Emer O’Kelly, theater critic of
the Sunday Independent as “This is simple, accomplished and adult theatre
in the best sense of the term: moving and mature.” Shaw was known for his
strong, sometimes unpopular, political stances which spoke to the events of his
time. With that in mind, Firebrand Theory is aiming to weigh in on today’s
issues and conditions with this renewed adaptation of “Androcles and the
Lion.”
Opening is Friday, December 3, 2004, at 8 p.m. and the show plays on Fridays,
Saturdays, and Mondays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through December 20. The
Gene Frankel Theatre is located at 24 Bond Street between Lafayette and Bowery
-- accessible from the B,D,F&Q at Broadway/Lafayette and the 6 at Bleeker).
Parking is available across the street. Tickets are $20 or $15 for students and
seniors. For reservations visit www.smarttix.com
or call the box office (212) 868-4444, for group sales call 212-696-6566
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