Photo Coverage: New Drama Explores Man's Role as Creator and Destroyer GEIST!

f GEIST! based on plays by August Stramm, Franz Kafka, Ernst Toller, Gottfried Benn, and Lothar Schreyer. Conceived and directed by Rafael De Mussa, previews begin September 15 at 4th Street Theater with opening night slated for September 18.

In the waning days of World War I, a platoon of soldiers vanished without a trace. But tapes of short plays they enacted to pass away the time have recently been discovered. GEIST! documents these short plays, read and performed at a bombed out Church by soldiers waiting for their next orders.

The production includes "Sancta Susanna" (1911) by August Stramm, translated by Henry Marx; "The Guardian of the Tomb" (1916) by Franz Kafka (Kafka's only play), translated by J. M. Ritchie; "The Transfiguration. 3rd station" (1919) by Ernst Toller, translated by Edward Crankshaw; "Ithaka" (1914) by Gottfried Benn, translated by J.M. Ritchie and "Crucifixion" (1920) by Lothar Schreyer, translated by Mel Gordon.

The production stars Cory Asinofsky, Angela Dahl, Sean M. Bell, and Adam A. Keller with lighting by Yuriy Nayer and sound/Qlab programming by Aristides Li.

Rafael De Mussa, Artistic Director of Horizon Theatre Rep, has been managing and directing for HTR for over fifteen seasons. Under his leadership HTR has produced 15 main stage productions by some of the world's greatest writers, garnering critical acclaim and consistently employing an eclectic family of artists to reflect New York City. Directing projects for Horizon Theatre Rep: In The Solitude Of Cotton Fields (Grand Central Terminal), 3XPirandello (FringeNYC), Nights of Wrath (Greenwich St. Theatre), Caligula (Kirk Theatre), The Balcony (Access Theatre), Araberlin (4th Street Theatre) and Culture Shock (Access Theatre).

Horizon Theatre Rep is dedicated to staging seldom-produced masterpieces of world theatre. Since 2001, it has produced 15 mainstage productions including Benito Cereno by Robert Lowell, The Misunderstanding by Camus, Vassa Zheleznova by Gorky, Nights Of Wrath by Armand Salacrou, Powder Keg by Dejan Dukovski, Man Without Shadows by Sartre, In The Solitude Of Cotton Fields by Bernard-Marie Koltès, and The Balcony by Genet, among others. The company endeavors to find a contemporary vocabulary to tell stories on stage and to bridge the generation gap. Their goal is to get audiences to see these classic plays with new eyes and understand them in new contexts.

GEIST! runs September 15 - October 2, Wednesday-Saturday at 8:30PM and Sunday at 3:30PM. The 4th Street Theater is located at 83 East 4th Street between Bowery & 2nd Ave. Tickets are $18, available at 212-868-4444 or www.SmartTix.com.