Broken Watch Theater Company Presents 'The Framer'

Broken Watch Theatre Company (Drew DeCorleto, Artistic Director) will present The Framer by Edward Allan Baker, directed by Kevin Confoy. The Framer will be the last production to grace the stage of the Michael Weller Theatre (311 West 43rd Street).  It will begin performances on Saturday, May 31, opening, Thursday, June 5 and will run through June 22.

Edward Allan Baker returns to Broken Watch with The Framer, a tragic-comedy set in a picture framing shop in a New England mill town. A dying man ceaselessly toils in order to leave his once-abused wife some post-mortem financial security while retracting the emotional brutality of his past but he's side-tracked due to a request from his high-strung brother in-law.

Question: "If you had two weeks to live, who would YOU kill?"

The cast includes: Craig Bockhorn (Broadway: On Golden Pond, Prelude to a Kiss), Suzanne DiDonna (TV: "The Sopranos,"  "Law and Order:SVU"), David Fraioli (Trojan Women), Lori Garrabrant (Never Tell)   Matt Walton (Off-Broadway: Hair, Beirut, The Sweepers; Film: Burn After Reading Coen Brothers; TV: "All My Children") and Dared Wright (Film: Broken Flowers).  Creative team includes: Daniel Kluger (Sound Design), Rebecca Bernstein (Costume Design), Jito Lee (Set Design)

THE FRAMER

Edward Allan Baker, directed by Kevin Confoy

Begins performances Saturday, May 31; Opens June 5 through June 22, 2008

Performance schedule: Monday, Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 7pm;

Dark on Tuesday

The Michael Weller Theatre is located at 311 West 43rd Street, 6th Floor

Tickets are $20. www.TheaterMania.com or call (212) 352-3101

Running Time: 90 minutes with one intermission

For more info visit www.brokenwatch.org

Press dates: Sunday, June 1; Monday, June 2; Wednesday, June 4 & Thursday, June 5 at 8PM

 Edward Allan Baker (Playwright ) Prairie Avenue (1980), A Public Street Marriage (1981), North of Providence (1985), Dolores (1986, starring Joan Allen), The Buffer (1986), Lady of Fadima (1988), Face Divided (1989, starring Sam Rockwell), Rosemary with Ginger (1994), The Bride of Olneyville Square  (1995), A Deadman's Apartment (1995), In the Spirit (1995 co-authored with Native American Theatre Company, Chukka Lokoli), Mafia on Prozac  (1997), Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty and Truth (1999), The 17th of June (2000), Larry's Charm (2001), and  Jane's Exchange (2002), and Ray on The Water (2002) Broken Watch Theatre premieres Bakers' American Storage.  Numerous play have been published including North Of Providence, Dolores, Lady Of Fadima, Face Divided, Rosemary with Ginger, A Deadman's Apartment, The Best Short Plays-1989, (includes Dolores) Rosemary With Ginger (EST Marathon 1994), A Deadman's Apartment (EST Marathon 1995 and Act One '95), Mafia on Prozac (EST Marathon 1997)
Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty and Truth (EST Marathon '99), The Seventeenth of June (EST Marathon 2000)

Broken Watch Theatre Company (producer) has produced critically acclaimed Off-Broadway shows since 2001. Beginning as a producer of Off-Broadway revivals, Broken Watch found quick success with Howard Korder's Boys' Life and soon followed with Michael Weller's Split, produced at Theatre Row. Having two productions under the belt, Broken Watch now enjoyed an increasing presence in the New York theatre community but was finding it difficult to curate material that was appropriate for its emerging style. Based upon an inherent belief in the value of total collaboration, a decision was made to focus on new work. Broken Watch commissioned its first new play from Edward Allan Baker. By all accounts, Edward Allan Baker's American Storage was an artistic and critical success, but failed to hit its financial mark. Broken Watch was on the right artistic track but needed to curb its production expenses while its reputation continued to grow. Shortly thereafter, an opportunity presented itself. The Sande Shurin Theatre, in the heart of the theatre district, was seeking a resident company to manage their daily operations. It was an opportunity that not only cut production expenses by thousands per show but offered additional income for the company as well. After a successful trial run, Broken Watch took over the Sande Shurin in 2005 and renamed it the Michael Weller Theatre. Using its new home to its artistic benefit, Broken Watch created a series of new play workshops that often developed into subsequent productions including Padric Lillis' Two Thirds Home, James Christy's Never Tell, Hunt Holman's The Kidney, Christopher Kyle's The Safety Net, A Broken Christmas Carol by Jim Christy, J.Holtham and Kendra Levin, and the Broken Workshop readings of Michael Puzzo's She Talks to Rainbows, Edward Allan Baker's The Framer and Robert Lewis Vaughan's The Good Red Road are all examples of this new play development series. Four of these plays went to production and three of them have been published.
 

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