ROGERANDTOM Begins Previews at HERE Tonight

Julien Schwab's critically acclaimed, mind-bending comedy rogerandtom is back by popular demand and begins previews tonight, July 6th. The play, which moves to HERE's Main Stage (145 Sixth Avenue - enter on Dominick) for an extended summer engagement opens Saturday, July 13th. Presented by Personal Space Theatrics, rogerandtom will continue for a limited run through Saturday, August 24th. The play is directed by Nicholas Cotz, the company's artistic director. For tickets and more information visit www.here.org or call 212-352-3101.

rogerandtom is a comedy about a man who has come to see the same show that the audience has, only to find out that he's actually a member of the cast. Much like an episode of the Twilight Zone the show's only boundaries are between imagination and infinity. The play uses a twist to challenge the conventions of theatre while raising a series of profound questions about the role of theatre in theatre itself.

The cast will feature: Suzy Jane Hunt (Dead Accounts), Eric T. Miller (Sweet Storm), and Richard Thieriot (Clybourne Park).

rogerandtom received its world-premiere in 2003 as the inaugural production of Personal Space Theatrics. The show has been presented in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and to critical praise at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. rogerandtom is returning to HERE after taking audiences by storm this past March.

Design team for rogerandtom is: David Esler (set design), Casey Smith (properties design), Chris Rummel (sound design), Holly Rihn (costume design) and Nastassia Jimenez (lighting design).

Julien Schwab's other works include: Nicotine, (Personal Space Theatrics), Beautiful Morning (4th Wall Productions). Mr. Schwab has worked as a contributing writer to many projects including the short film Across the Hall (starring Adrian Grenier) and the subsequent feature film starring Brittany Murphy.

Since founding PST in 2001, Nicholas Cotz has helped produce over 15 shows. Among his directing credits are Erika Sheffer's Something in your Stomach, the first NYC revival of Arthur Kopit's BecauseHeCan, PST's collage of Americana Myth America (including works by Theresa Rebeck, Israel Horovitz, Arthur Kopit, and Julien Schwab), the first NYC production of Tim Firth's The Safari Party, and Woken' Glacier Theatre Company'sLocomotive, written by Matthew Paul Olmos (winner of the Ellen Stewart Emerging Playwright Award). In 2011 Cotz took rogerandtom across the Atlantic as both Executive Producer and Director of the production in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show received rave reviews at the festival, including this from ThreeWeeks, "rogerandtom is profoundly intelligent, hilarious, tragic, captivating from start to finish, and performed superbly throughout."

Personal Space Theatrics is a non-profit theater company dedicated to serving a curious and passionate audience by fundamentally changing the way they experience theatre. They produce innovative theatre that returns to the root of storytelling by removing the barrier between the stage and audience to create a community within a shared space. www.personalspacetheatrics.org

Scheduled today, July 6th through August 24th. Performances run Tuesday thru Saturday at 8:30, and Sundays at 4:00pm. There will be no performances on July 20th and July 21st. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at www.here.org or by calling (212) 352-3101. Senior and Student tickets are $25.

Photo Credit: Taylor Hooper