FPAC Presents Double Bill Of Modern Classic Plays

Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) presents a riveting duo of one-act plays - The Dumb Waiter, by Nobel Poet Laureate Harold Pinter, and The Zoo Story, by American dramatist Edward Albee. Performances will be staged May 1-3 at THE BLACK BOX, FPAC's theater, music, and event venue in downtown Franklin.

The two-character, single scene plays unfold in real time with unnerving dissonance and minimal staging. Pinter's darkly comic tale finds two hit men waiting in an abandoned basement for their next assignment. The Zoo Story probes themes of loneliness and isolation through two strangers, troubled outcast, Jerry, and middle-class everyman, Peter. The though-provoking double bill of modern classics will be staged on May 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on May 3.

Franklin's Nick Paone and Charley Eastman star in both dramas. A prolific FPAC performer and director, the versatile Paone has been featured this season as Harold Hill and Captain Hook in FPAC productions of The Music Man and Peter Pan, respectively. Recent roles with FPAC also include Scrooge in Humbug!, Jean Valjean in LES MISERABLES and Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. Nick is the founder and creative force behind FPAC's annual summer Whatever Theater Festival and has starred in many of the festival's presentations of Shakespeare on the Common. Pastor of Franklin Federated Church, Charley Eastman has been featured as Rooster in FPAC's Annie, Freddy Mack in Humbug! and Prospero in The Tempest.

THE BLACK BOX, the home of the Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC), is located at 15 West Central Street. Tickets are $24. For tickets and more information, visit www.THEBLACKBOXonline.com or call (508) 528-3370.