THE BATTLE OF SPANKTOWN Premieres at FringeNYC 8/14

The Potluck presents THE BATTLE OF SPANKTOWN by Jeffrey Pfeiffer as part of the 14th annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. Heidi Handelsman, who helmed MARY BRIGIT POPPLETON IS WRITING A MEMOIR in the 2007 FringeNYC and Encore Series, directs.

In January of 1777, the Patriots take on the British at the Battle ofSpanktown, near present-day Rahway, New Jersey. In 1881,?J. Atticus Filch publishes his real, true, secret history of the American Revolution, and this battle's mystery is revealed in print for the first time. Now, the shock-storical, complete, and 100% accurate history of the Battle? of Spanktown comes to life on stage - with fairies, talking animals,?robots and George Washington.

THE BATTLE OF SPANKTOWN is a hallucinatory and historical pageant that blurs the lines between history and fantasy, offering an outrageous, epic fairytale for a post-Obama, Tea Partying America.

THE BATTLE OF SPANKTOWN stars Matthew Baldiga, Chris Bannow, David Michael Brown, Jarett Karlsberg, Adam Laupus, Patricia Lynn, Rebeca Miller, Samantha B. Northart, Ben Sumrall, Ari Vigoda, Brett Waldon and I.B. White. The production team includes Ashley Pridmore (scenic design), Emily DeSimone (costume design), Jeffrey Collier (lighting design), Ian Roettger (fight choreography), Samantha B. Northart (choreography), Samantha Hirsch (assistant director), Miriam Hyfler (stage manager), and Aaron Rubinstein (assistant stage manager). The producer is Lanie Zipoy (award-wining UNIVERSAL ROBOTS by Mac Rogers and the first New York revival of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE for Gallery Players). Allison Bressi is the assistant producer.

Founded in June 2006, the Potluck is an on-going play-reading series based in Astoria, Queens, dedicated exclusively to new plays. At the Potluck, each play-reading is also a potluck. The Potluck serves as a resource for playwrights who have a play that they need to hear out loud and want to hear it in a casual, supportive setting. Actors, writers, friends and neighbors sit around in a living room, without any separation between performers and audience, read a play, and enjoy good food and drink. Most playwrights opt to have a feedback session after the reading, which can be as general or specific, brief or extensive as each prefers. Several plays developed through the Potluck have received full productions, including Mark Lindberg's Self-Portrait as Schiele (FringeNYC 2008), Rebecca Louise Miller's Fault Lines, and Kate Marks' Bird House.

Performances of THE BATTLE OF SPANKTOWN are Saturday, August 14th at 7:45 pm; Monday, August 16th at 2:00 pm; Sunday, August 22nd at noon; Wednesday, August 25th at 10:00 pm; and Friday, August 27th at 10:45 pm at Venue #1 Dixon Place (161A Chrystie St., between Rivington and Delancey, Subway: F to 2nd Ave., B/D to Grand St. or J/Z to Essex). Tickets are $15 in advance at www.fringenyc.org or (866) 468-7619. Tickets are $18 at the door. For more information, visit www.battleofspanktown.com.