'Zombie' is Part of Fringe Festival

Razors Edge Productions presents the World Premiere of Zombie as part of the 12th annual New York International Fringe Festival – FringeNYC. Zombie is a novella by Joyce Carol Oates, adapted for the stage and performed by Bill Connington, and directed by Thomas Caruso (resident director of MAMMA MIA!). Performances will run from August 9th to 21st, 2008 at The Players Theatre Loft Space (Venue #13), located at 115 MacDougal Street (3rd floor) between West 3rd Street & Minetta Lane in NYC. Cast members of Joyce Carol Oates' Zombie and The Corn Maiden will be featured at a FringeU event entitled "Behind the Production: Zombie and Corn Maiden", on Monday August 18th from 6pm to 7:30pm at FringeCENTRAL (201 Mulberry Street).

Performances of Zombie take place on Sat 8/9 at 7:15pm, Sun 8/10 at 5:15pm, Wed 8/13 at 3:30pm, Thu 8/14 at 9:30pm, Fri 8/15 at 5:15pm, Sun 8/17 at 1pm and Thu 8/21 at 7:15pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at http://www.FringeNYC.org or by calling 1-866-468-7619. Running time is one hour. For more information on the show visit http://www.ZombieNYFringe.com.

"I'm not Jeffrey Dahmer, I'm Quentin P__. They say I murder, torture and rape young boys. That's not how I see it. I'm trying to create a zombie. Join me. I'll tell you my side of the story."

What happens when outwardly "normal" people snap? Joyce Carol Oates' Zombie sheds insight into this question by taking you inside the mind of a sexual psychopath. In Zombie, a Jeffrey Dahmer-esque serial killer by the name of "Quentin P__" describes the murder, torture and rape of his young male victims. A sexual psychopath, he aspires to create zombie slaves to meet his every need. Zombie received the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel and was awarded the Lilla Risk Rand fiction prize by the Boston Book Review. Warning: Zombie contains sexually graphic and violent language - no one under 18 will be admitted.

"When people say there is too much violence in my books, what they are saying is there is too much reality in life." ~ Joyce Carol Oates in The New York Times

Joyce Carol Oates has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time. In a prolific and varied career that ranges over several genres of fiction, Joyce Carol Oates has proven herself one of the most influential and important storytellers in the literary world. She is a New York Times best-selling author of more than 70 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry volumes, plays, literary
criticism and essays. She is a recipient of the National Book Award, the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the Common Wealth Award for Distinguished Service in Literature. She has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize, and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.

Director Thomas Caruso is the resident director of MAMMA MIA! on Broadway. His other directing credits include Mimi Le Duck (starring Eartha Kitt) at New World Stages, a national tour of Master Class (with Charlotte Cornwell of the Royal Shakespeare Company), Diagnosis (The Play Company) at 59E59, Two Boys… at Rattlestick and the musical Bingo at St. Luke's Theatre. Thomas was the associate director for both Bombay Dreams and the musical revival of Follies. He received the Kenneth Frankel Memorial Directing Fellowship from Manhattan Theatre Club.

Bill Connington's acting credits include Mr. Gallico at HERE, Spectacle of Spectacles at La MaMa and All Mixed Up Inside My Head at La MaMa. As a playwright, his credits include Lord Byron's Lover, Teach Me All About Love, Johnny Mathis, and his own adaptation of The Picture Of Dorian Gray, all of which have been seen in New York. Bill has twice been a finalist at The O'Neill Theater Conference.

Zombie includes an original score composed by Deirdre Broderick. The design/production team consists of Joel E. Silver (Lighting Design), Josh Zangen (Scenic Design) and Naomi Anhorn (Stage Manager).

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