Break A Leg Productions to Present Staged Reading of THE BROTHER

Break A Leg Productions kicks off its Historically Speaking series with a staged reading of The Brother. Written by John Hancock and Dorothy Tristan and based on the book by New York Times reporter Sam Roberts, The Brother looks at the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg from the viewpoint of Ethel's brother David Greenglass. The reading will take place on Monday, September 28 at 6:30pm at The Unity Center of New York City, located at 213 West 58th Street (between 7th Avenue and Broadway).

Directed by Elowyn Castle, this event is FREE and open to the public. Immediately following the reading, there will be a talk back with Sam Roberts, whose conversations with Mr. Greenglass formed the basis of the play. This event is not open for review, but press coverage is welcome.

During the Second World War, David Greenglass was a U.S. Army Machinist assigned to the Manhattan Project, giving him a prime opportunity to steal atomic secrets for the Soviet Union. Recruited by his brother-in-law Julius Rosenberg, David did just that, feeling he was doing nothing wrong by providing a then-ally of the United States with such information. But when the political winds changed, and when the FBI closed in, David's only chance to protect both himself and the wife he loves dearly was to tell the authorities exactly what they want to hear, even if it meant a possibly innocent woman might pay the ultimate price.

The cast of The Brother includes Bruce Barton*, Michael Basile*, Teri Black,* Doug Chapman*, Michael Edmund, Kevin Hauver*, Keith Herron*, Richard Litt*, Elisa London*, John Quilty*, Susan Richard*, Stewart Schneck and Wendy Scott*.

Elowyn Castle's directorial credits include The Norwegians (The Drilling Company), The Understanding (Colleagues' Theatre Company), Happy Birthday Wanda June and Much Ado About Nothing (Equity Library Theatre), LovePlay (La Mama), Cowboy Mouth (Dubrovnik Festival) and The Cemetery Club (The Snarks). She most recently directed Kallie for the American Renaissance Theater Company. She is currently President of the Episcopal Actors' Guild. SDC, AEA, SAG-AFTRA.

John Hancock (Co-Playwright) is an Oscar-nominated stage and film director best known for Bang the Drum Slowly with Robert De Niro. His wife Dorothy Tristan (Co-Playwright) is an actress and screenwriter. Her memoir Joy Street is available on Amazon, and she stars in the film The Looking Glass, which she also wrote, opening October 23 at Cinema Village.

Sam Roberts (Author, The Brother) has been The New York Times Urban Affairs Correspondent since 2005. Before that, he was deputy editor of their Week In Review section and urban affairs columnist. He is the host of The New York Times Close Up, an hour-long weekly news and interview TV program on New York 1. His articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the New Republic, the Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, New York, and Foreign Affairs. His book The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Atom Spy Case was first published by Random House in 2001. It was reissued by Simon & Schuster in 2014 and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of Who We Are, A Kind of Genius, Grand Central, Only in New York and A History of New York in 101 Objects.

Break A Leg Productions believes in theatre as an invaluable tool illuminating what all people, no matter one's origin, life experience, spiritual, sexual or cultural identification, have in common. The Brother marks the beginning of the company's Historically Speaking Reading Series, which joins such other Break A Leg programs as their Delicious Comedy, Unexplored Territory (new, unpublished works) and The Art of Science series. Through humor, historical drama, science and social criticism, Break A Leg aims to bridge the gap that separates people by enabling audiences to recognize and even laugh at the obstacles that divide them. www.breakalegproductions.com

* - Member of Actors' Equity Association

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