MAHIDA'S EXTRA KEY TO HEAVEN Extends Through 10/18 At Signature Theatre's Peter Norton Space

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) today announced that their world premiere production of Mahida's Extra Key To Heaven has been extended by one week at Signature Theatre's Peter Norton Space (555 West 42nd Street). The Off Broadway production, by Russell Davis (winner of the 2008 Pew Fellowship in the Arts) and directed by Will Pomerantz, celebrated its official opening night this past Saturday, September 26 and will now play through October 18, 2009.

Mahida's Extra Key To Heaven is a poetic, funny and haunting story about crossing borders of all kinds. Thomas is visiting his mother's island home when he encounters Mahida, an Iranian college student stranded after an argument with her brother. The two strangers begin a beautifully awkward search for a common country, but discover that sometimes the smaller the world the bigger the invasions. The four-person cast features Tony Award-winner Michele Pawk with Roxanna Hope, Arian Moayed and James Wallert.

As previously announced, Epic continues their cutting-edge and thought-provoking Post-Show Forum Series. The series is unique in New York City as Epic is the only Off Broadway company committed to providing a post-show discussion following every performance of every show they produce. Guest speakers from various areas of expertise and multiple perspectives join the company onstage to discuss the key questions and ideas that emerged during that particular performance. Epic's Post-Show Forum Series is made possible in part by funds from the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Please visit www.epictheatreensemble.org for programming updates and participating speakers.

The creative team includes Mimi Lien (Scenic Design), Theresa Squire (Costume Design), Justin Townsend, (Lighting Design) and Katie Down (Sound Design). The Production Stage Manager is Erin Koster.

Tickets are priced at $38.50, with all matinee performances at $15, and may be purchased by calling (212) 352-3101 or (866) 811-4111, or by visiting Epic's website at www.epictheatreensemble.org.

The 2009-2010 Epic Theatre Ensemble season continues with the return of the nationally acclaimed REMIX Series with Shakespeare Remix Macbeth, a collision of Shakespeare's classic play about ambition, mysticism and war colliding with new writing by students from NYC's Chelsea High School. Directed by Epic co-founder, Melissa Friedman (Hannah and Martin, A More Perfect Union), Shakespeare Remix Macbeth features a fusion acting ensemble of professional and student performers.

From Broadway to Brooklyn! In Spring 2010, Epic Theatre Ensemble will present the New York premiere of Passion Play by Sarah Ruhl (In The Next Room (or the vibrator play)) at the Irondale Center, a converted Sunday School inside the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Passion Play is a wildly imaginative, adventurous and moving exploration of the timeless intersection of religion, art and politics. Inspired by the historic festivals where everyday citizens came together to elevate their communities by staging the life and death of Christ, Passion Play transports audiences first to 16th century England, where Queen Elizabeth threatens to shut down a small town's production; then to Nazi Germany, where Adolf Hitler's arrival at the famous Oberammergau Passion Play influences the lives of its cast and finally to Spearfish, South Dakota in 1984, as a local production becomes a campaign stop for a famous actor-turned-President running for re-election. MarK Wing-Davey will return as director following his highly acclaimed productions of Passion Play at the Goodman Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre, but will be re-envisioning the play for this site-specific production.