FRIGID FESTIVAL Presents Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN

Today, as our young soldiers return home with scarred psyches and injuries never before imagined, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN's relevance is once again clear. Based on American author Dalton Trumbo's classic 1939 novel and adapted for the stage by Bradley Rand Smith, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN is the inspiring story of twenty-year-old Joe Bonham, a quadruple amputee who has lost his ability to see, hear and speak during his service in World War I. Regaining consciousness, Joe discovers that while his brain is healthy and able to reason, the rest of his body is irreparably shattered, leaving him trapped forever within the confines of his own imagination. The play follows his valiant struggle to find some way to communicate with the outside world, to rejoin humanity and to confront society as a living example of the cost of war.

JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN has been performed in countries around the world, has received two L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards in 2003, including Best Adaptation, and has been hailed by the L.A. Times as "a visceral and timely challenge." Ricardo Pérez-Gonzalez's portrayal of Joe at FringeNYC was deemed "utterly compelling" by Curtain Up, and as "extraordinary" and "stunning" by nytheatre.com, which stated that "Johnny Got His Gun is... one of the most moving, life-affirming, and masterfully executed shows I've ever seen." Pérez-Gonzalez has also performed the role at Sacramento's Eagle Theatre, where his "remarkable performance" was hailed by the Sacramento News and Review. He was also praised for his "emotional performance that is thrilling to watch... as relevant today as the novel was 65 years ago" by the Sacramento Bee. He will be touring the show (in English and Spanish, translated by Pérez-Gonzalez) to colleges and universities in 2009, and preparing for an international tour of the Spanish version.

For tickets visit www.frigidnewyork.info/shows03/Dalton.html. Tickets are $15/$10 for students and seniors. To request industry tickets, please e-mail JohnnyGotHisGunNYC@gmail.com.