Matthew Trumbull's THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONELY CHILDREN to Make Midwest Debut at Minnesota Fringe, 8/1

Theater Accident, in association with Blue Coyote Theater Group, announces that THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONELY CHILDREN, written and performed by Minnesota native Matthew Trumbull and directed by Matthew Freeman, will make its Midwest premiere at the 2013 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Both a "Critic's Pick" and part of Fringe NYC's Encore Series, Zebra Shirt won the Overall Excellence-Solo Performance Award at the 2012 Festival.

Moving seamlessly between heartbreakingly funny and simply heartbreaking, the critically-acclaimed The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children journeys through the strange bonding days between Trumbull's cancer-stricken 55-year-old father, an unassuming Minnesota engineer who takes his belief in usefulness above and beyond; and Trumbull, a New York City actor with a slew of day jobs both brief and bizarre.

The ins and outs of cadaver donation, eulogy inspiration at Applebee's, and final conversations 30 years before father or son is ready, The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children explores the absurdity and pain of a simple life at an unfathomable end.

The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children will be on stage at the James Sewell Ballet TEK Box on the second floor of the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Tickets and information at www.fringefestival.org.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2013 presents THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONELY CHILDREN, written and performed by Matthew Trumbull and directed by Matthew Freeman: Thursday, August 1 @ 10PM; Saturday, August 3 @ 7PM; Wednesday, August 7 @ 5:30PM; Saturday, August 10 @ 1:00PM; and Sunday, August 11 @ 4:00PM. Performances run in the JSB Tek Box Theater, 2nd Floor, Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Tickets: $12 (+ $4 one-time Fringe admission button). Box Office: fringefestival.org or 866-811-4111 (Ovation Tix).

Matthew Trumbull (Playwright/Performer) is an award-winning NYC actor, a Minnesota native and graduate of Minnetonka High School. The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival was his playwriting and solo performance debut, where it was acclaimed as "Masterful" by TimeOut New York and won the Overall Excellence-Solo Performance Award at the Festival. He's appeared with Flux Theatre Ensemble, Blue Coyote Theater Group, Retro Productions, Boomerang Theatre Company, Metropolitan Playhouse, Impetuous Theater Group and the Brick Theater. Trumbull was a storyteller at The Soundtrack Series in 2011, and on the Nytheatre.com People of the Year list in 2009. He has collaborated with his director, Matthew Freeman, for 18 years.

Matthew Freeman (Director) is a long-time collaborator with Matthew Trumbull. He is a playwright, director. His plays have been seen on stages throughout New York City, at the Access Theater, The Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; HERE Arts Center; The Metropolitan Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Source and at the Incubator Arts Project at St. Mark's Church. His plays include When Is A Clock, The Most Wonderful Love, Glee Club, The Great Escape, The Death of King Arthur, The Americans, Confess Your Bubble, That Old Soft Shoe and Brandywine Distillery Fire. His work has been published by Samuel French, Smith & Kraus, the New York Theatre Experience and Playscripts, Inc. He has directed works by Anthony Pennino at the Red Room and the NY International Fringe Festival; and his own adaptation of the mystery plays, Genesis, with Handcart Ensemble. As an actor, he appeared in various Shakespeare productions with Gorilla Repertory Theater and Frog & Peach Theater, and his own An Interview with the Author at the Brick Theater's "Pretentious Festival." He was named one of nytheatre.com's People of the Year in 2004. He has also served as the Assistant Producer/Senior Writer for the official webcast for New Year's Eve live from Times Square in 2009-2011. He is an Emerson College graduate.

Kyle Ancowitz (Lighting Design) is a founding member of Blue Coyote Theater Group. After settling in New York City, he worked as a directing resident at Playwrights Horizons, participating in such productions as The Uneasy Chair by EVan Smith and Betty's Summer Vacation by Christopher Durang, assisting Nicholas Martin. Directing credits with Blue Coyote include Brilliant Traces; Wanda's Visit; The Author's Voice; Nebraska; Psychopathia Sexualis; Kingfish; Dimly Perceived Threats to the System; A Phone Call from Washington State, Late at Night; Saturday with Martin; The Great Escape; The Most Wonderful Love; for The Standards of Decency Project: A Funeral Home in Brooklyn, What to Do to a Girl, Something Decent; Departures; for Blue Coyote's Happy Endings: Peep Show, The White Swallow, The Guest; When Is a Clock; and Glee Club. For the Brick Theater: Matthew Freeman's Trayf and An Interview With the Author. He currently serves as Technical Director for Access Theater. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.