THE SCREENWRITER DIES OF HIS OWN FREE WILL to Run 11/15-24 at Davenport Theatre

Winner for the award in Overall Excellence in Playwriting at FringeNYC 2015, award-winning playwright Jim Shankman's The Screenwriter Dies Of His Own Free Will gets an extended run at the Davenport Theatre in NYC. The acclaimed new metafictional comedy on the art of the deal was called "overwhelmingly brilliant," "laugh-out-loud funny," "hilariously on-target," "a damn good one act," and "fascinating" by critics. Craig J. George directs a cast of two including Jim Shankman* (Winner, Best Actor - United Solo 2013) and Steven Mark Friedman*. Performances will be staged at the Davenport Theatre - Black Box, 354 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036. *Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. AEA Approved Showcase.

Willy Shotz is a heavyweight screenwriter. Producers kill for his stylish violence and gritty sci-fi. But Willy is facing the big deadline in the sky, which has given him a new vision of art and cinema and a new screenplay to go with it. Can he overcome the indignities of his illness to pitch his craftiest foe? Can he talk art like a man with his boyhood friend and sell this script before his expiration date? The Screenwriter Dies Of His Own Free Will is a two character metafictional comedy on the art of the deal.

Craig J. George (Director) Off-Broadway: Taming of the Shrew: Extreme (The Duke on 42nd Street) and over a dozen world premieres, including: Titus: A Grand and Gory Rock Musical (Cleveland Public Theatre), The Calico Buffalo & God's Country (NYMF), The Aperture (FringeNYC). Regional: Measure for Measure, Standing on Ceremony (Cleveland Public Theatre) Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew (Hamptons Shakespeare Festival). Other theaters worked at include South Coast Repertory, George Street Playhouse, The New Group, and York Theatre Company. www.craigjgeorge.com

Jim Shankman is a playwright, actor and teacher. As an actor he has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway and at regional theatres throughout the East Coast including The Dorset Theatre Festival, Florida Stage, New Jersey Rep, Playhouse on Park and The Rainbow Theatre. His plays Suicide Math, Kiss Your Brutal Hands and The Screenwriter Dies Of His Own Free Will have been presented in the New York International Fringe Festival. Kiss Your Brutal Hands,which he performed at the 2013 United Solo Festival on Theatre Row, won the festival's Best Actor Award. His plays have had staged readings at The New Group, Emerging Artists Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, New Jersey Rep, Penguin Rep, Michael Howard Studios and the T. Schreiber Studio. He taught theatre for seven years in the professional conservatory program at Michael Howard Studios. He has had short fiction published with Lumina and Popcorn Fiction. He has a BA from Princeton in Philosophy and an MFA in Fiction from the Writing Program at Sarah Lawrence College.

Steven Mark Friedman Theater work includes "Hung," by Tom Gilroy, TheHeidi Chronicles directed by Robert Moss, a stint in the long running off-Broadway hit Beau Jeste and many productions with Circle Repertory's LAB Theater. Steve has acted in several Jim Shankman plays, including Teardown, Magic Dad and Don Loco. Film work includes "American Lesion," "The Next Karate Kid," "Sullivan's Last Call," "The Beauty" (Brooklyn Film Fest 2014) Steve was the corporate national spokesman for Symantec/Peter Norton Utilities, traveling the states and abroad to perform in trade shows and live presentations. He continues to work contracts in just about every arena, including theater, live and taped industrials, film and television, commercials and voiceovers. He is currently the TV voice of Crest Pro Health, Miralax and Toujeo...among others. In addition to coaching and teaching, Steve developed Able To Leap Films, a production company specializing in short films for actors. Visit abletoleapfilms.com and stevenmarkfriedman.com

Director & Sound Designer: Craig J. George; General Management: Simpson & Longthorne Theatricals; Public Relations: Paul Siebold / Off Off PR.

Performances of The Screenwriter Dies Of His Own Free Will will be held from November 15-24, 2015 on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at 7pm. The runtime is 40 minutes with no intermission.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by visiting SmartTix.com or by calling 212-868-4444.