Project: Theater's OCCUPATION Begins 6/6

Project: Theater will present the World Premiere of OCCUPATION, written by Ken Ferrigni and directed by Joe Jung. OCCUPATION begins performances on Thursday, June 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 23. Press opening is Wednesday, June 12 at 8 PM. The performance schedule is Wednesday - Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, Sunday at 2 PM. Please note there is no performance on Sunday, June 9 but an added performance on Monday, June 10 at 8 PM. There is no matinee performance on Saturday, June 15. Performances are at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Tickets are $18 and are available by calling Smartix at (212) 868-4444 or online at www.smarttix.com. For more information, visit www.projecttheater.org.

In 2017, a crushing national debt, skyrocketing inflation, and crippling unemployment have frozen the United States' access to global credit. Against the backdrop of economic catastrophe, the US government finds an unexpected savior when China purchases Florida for $5 trillion. But there is a radical, violent insurgency holed up in the Everglades attempting to oust the Chinese proconsul and his army. How far will this militia go to keep the States united?

The cast and design team will be announced soon.

Ken Ferrigni (Mangella) returns to Project: Theater with this darkly comic pre-apocalyptic look at a future where Disney World, orange groves, and the Kennedy Space Station are no longer part of the USA.

As Artistic Director of Project: Theater, Joe Jung (director) has staged the world premiere of Michael Hilliard's The Florentine, J.B. by Archibald MacLeish, The Secretaries by the Five Lesbian Brothers, Shel's Shorts by Shel Silverstein, as well as the company's adaptation of Michael Ian Black's My Custom Van. At the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, he had the pleasure to direct Spring Awakening, Waiting for Godot, and The Laramie Project (co-directed with Bob McDonald). Joe has also committed his directing, writing and acting talents to Project: Theater's monthly performing/writing series OUR BAR and has led Suzuki training sessions with the company since its inception in 2004. As an actor, he has been seen in various Project: Theater Productions, regionally at the Berkshire Theatre Festival and the Connecticut Repertory Theatre and Off and On Broadway in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Last spring, he performed in Ghost Brothers of Darkland County at the ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta.

Ken Ferrigni (playwright) is the resident playwright at Project: Theater. New York plays include Mangella ("A virtual, LOL hoot" NY Post) and ANGEL/BUDDY (Backstage Magazine Critic's Pick, New York International Fringe Festival). His one-act play Swing State was evaluated at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. He has written for taxdeductible theatre's "Dare Project" and writes and performs regularly at Project: Theater's actor/writer's collective, Our Bar. Additionally, he has written several plays for young audiences at the Dynamo Light Opera Company in California.