Standard Bear Productions Brings ARMS AND THE MAN to Secret Theatre, Now thru 10/13

Standard Bear Productions, dedicated to quality storytelling that makes audiences think while they laugh, and Byronic Women, committed to staging classic texts with strong female characters, have teamed up to breathe life into George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man this October at the Secret Theatre.

A hilarious satire about the ironies of war and fallacies of romantic idealism, Arms and the Man is one of Shaw's most beloved plays. George Orwell called it "the wittiest play (Shaw) ever wrote, the most flawless technically, and in spite of being a very light comedy, the most telling." We call it a hilarious portrayal of the triumph of practicality over false pretenses.

This production of Arms and the Man will run 90 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission. The cast features, in order of appearance, Kacie Laforest* (The Apocalypse of John), Victoria Bundonis* (Sweeney Todd), Julia Jones (Twelfth Night), Alain Laforest (Cyrano de Bergerac), Morgan Hooper (Hamlet), John Kinsherf *(Merry Wives of Windsor), and Brian Wallace* (The Taming of the Shrew). The production is helmed by director Salvatore Brienik. *Appearing courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association.

This adventure represents the collaboration of two innovative NYC theatre companies: Standard Bear Productions and Byronic Women.

Standard Bear Productions is the husband and wife team of Salvatore Brienik and Miriam Lipner. Actors and writers, they've spent over 13 years producing and performing everything from Shakespeare to standup all around NYC. SBP strives to tell quality stories that inspire with their message, make you think while you're laughing, and present the best of what that medium (stage, screen, TV or the internet) has to offer.

Byronic Women is the red-headed brainchild of Julia Jones and Kacie Laforest. Frustrated by the lack of opportunities for actresses in the contemporary industry, they decided to take matters into their own hungry hands and create a company dedicated to the exploration of female roles in classical texts. Kacie and Julia have a combined total of 32 NYC theatre credits, and are delighted to be teaming up with Standard Bear Productions in their presentation of this classic.

In the spirit of making theatre economically accessible to young audiences, a percentage of every performance's seats will be reserves for student audience members.

Performances of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man run from tonight, October 2nd thru October 13th at the Secret Theatre (44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY). Performances run Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8PM, with two Sunday matinees at 3PM. All tickets are $18.00. Tickets may be purchased online at armsandtheman.brownpapertickets.com.

For more information, find Standard Bear Productions and Byronic Women on Facebook.