August Strindberg's "Playing With Fire" at Gene Frankel Theatre June 15, 2012

AUGUST STRINDBERG'S "PLAYING WITH FIRE" WITH ALL BLACK CAST STEPS UP TO OFF-BROADWAY AND EXTENDS THREE WEEKS, MOVING TO GENE FRANKEL THEATRE.

To share its innovative debut performance with a wider audience, August Strindberg Repertory will move its all black cast production of Strindberg's "Playing With Fire" to the Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street, from June 15 to June 30, raising it to an Off-Broadway contract. With this production, August Strindberg Rep becomes a resident company of the Gene Frankel Theatre. The play, one of Strindberg's rare comedies, is translated by Ulrika Brand and newly adapted by Obie-winner Leslie Lee, Executive Director of Negro Ensemble Company. Directed by Robert Greer, the production is co-presented by August Strindberg Repertory Theatre and Negro Ensemble Company in association with Theater Resources Unlimited.

The production opened Off-off Broadway at New School for Drama, 151 Bank Street (West Village) on May 18 and will finish its scheduled run there on June 10.

"Playing With Fire," one of Strindberg's rare comedies, was written in 1893 after the playwright found himself involved in a love triangle within a love triangle within a love triangle. Leslie Lee has transformed its setting from a Swedish summer house in 1893 to a summer cottage of the black social elite in Oak Ridge, a neighborhood of Martha's Vineyard, in 1926. That is around the time Oak Bluffs beach first became a mecca for the black upper crust from around the country.

Performances will move to Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street (East Village) from June 15-30. Previews are June 15-17 and the Off-Broadway opening is June 21. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM; Sundays at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $30 general admission, $15 for seniors and students. TDF is accepted. The box office is SMARTTIX (212) 868-4444, www.smarttix.com.