HASSAN AND SYLVIA Opens At The Fresh Fruit Festival July 14

Manuel Igrejas' new play HASSAN AND SYLVIA is set to premiere at the Cherry Lane Studio Theatre July 14 through July 17. The play is presented as a part of The Fresh Fruit Festival, now in its 8th year.

HASSAN AND SYLVIA is directed by David Hilder. The cast features Marilyn Bernard, John Wernke, Erik Kever Ryle, Vandit Bhatt, Karin de la Penha and Casey Burden.

According to producers of HASSAN AND SYLVIA the show surrounds, "a thirtysomething gay man reeling from the sudden death of his longtime lover and the home they shared. After months of isolation, he makes his first venture into the world and goes to a nightclub to hear an old friend sing. There he meets an exotic couple - a dashing, young Arabic man and a glamorous older woman, Hassan and Sylvia - who surround him with their charms. Along for the ride is their driver, Jimmy, who has more than traffic on his mind, and Velma, a foul-mouthed bag lady who may or may not know exactly what's going on. This mysterious quartet draws our hero into a spicy soup from which he may or may not emerge in one piece."

Tickets are available online http://www.freshfruitfestival.com/tickets.htm

For more information visit www.freshfruitfestival.com and http://www.cherrylanetheatre.org/

The Fresh Fruit Festival encompasses theater, performance, poetry, comedy, spoken word, music, dance, visual arts and some talents that defy categorization. Artists come from around the city, nation and, indeed, the world. Australia, Canada, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, France, Mauii, Israel, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and all of New York City's boroughs and suburbs have been represented.

Fresh Fruit is the most inclusive expression of LGBT arts ever held in the City of New York. Performers of all racial and many ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, gender orientation fill out stages. They have been African-, Caribbean-, Chinese-, East Indian-, Filipina-, Hispanic-Japanese-, Korean-, Native-, and even unhyphenated Americans were among groups represented by both performers and audience.

Four of the Festival's productions have gone on to commercial runs. Festival performers have been recognized with OOBR, G.L.A.A.D, and Theatermania "Best Documentary In A Festival Award."

It is notable that the work of Lesbian and Transgender artists was represented in proportion more representative of their numbers in the LGBT community than is usually seen in such events. Our audiences are equally diverse.

Fresh Fruit has established a community of artists and audiences who connect with each other not only on the personal level (for friends have been made during the Festival itself) but also through listserv and our awards for outstanding work in the festival- The Fresh Fruit Award of Distinction.

Photo by Web Begole