TURTLE SHELL PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES
THE NEW YORK PREMIERE OF

“ON A DARKLING PLAIN”

Norman Beim’s prize-winning comedy/drama inspired by
the McCarthy era blacklisting and testimony of
Elia Kazan 55 years later.

TURTLE SHELL PRODUCTIONS and JOHN W. COOPER, Artistic Director, present the New York premiere of NORMAN BEIM’S comedy/drama. ON A DARKLING PLAIN won the Americana Theatre’s David James Ellis Memorial Award and was chosen as best new play in a nationwide competition conducted by the Street Players Theatre in Norman, Oklahoma. The production begins performance on Wednesday, January 10th at 8:00 pm and opens on Friday, January 12th at 8:00 pm. Performances run Wednesdays through Fridays at 8:00 pm and Saturdays at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm through January 27th. There is an additional performance on Monday, January 22nd at 7:00 pm.
All tickets are $18.00.
For reservations call (212) 868-4444 or visit www.SmartTix.com.
TURTLE SHELL THEATER is located directly across the street from Second Stage at 300 West 43rd Street on the 4th Floor.

ON A DARKLING PLAIN was inspired by the reunion of Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller for the production of Miller's play, AFTER THE FALL which occurred 46 years ago this January. Set in 1964, ON A DARKLING PLAIN tells the story of Guy Leonard, a blacklisted Broadway star and film actor who has been driving a cab for 12 years in order to support his family.

	He is suddenly confronted with a dilemma: should he demean himself by appearing on TV in a commercial for toilet paper, or accept a leading role in a Broadway show staged by a director and former friend of his who named names and was responsible for not only ruining lives but causing the death of fellow actors?

John Brandenburg, of The Daily Oklahoman wrote: “A comedy/drama in the best sense, with both the comedic and dramatic sides of the theatrical equation, complimenting and enriching each other…a play one could easily imagine being done on Broadway.”

 

NORMAN BEIM, prize-winning playwright, author and veteran actor, has had his work produced nationally and internationally. His comedy/drama, SUCCESS, ran for more than a year in The Netherlands with two major Dutch stars and was followed immediately by a long running production of his modern comedy, PYGMALION AND GALATEA, also featuring major stars. SUCCESS is already being revived in the Netherlands with two popular soap opera stars, and has been optioned for a film there. Six collections of Norman’s plays have been published: SIX AWARD WINNING PLAYS, PLAYS AT HOME AND ABROAD, MY FAMILY THE JEWISH IMMIGRANTS, GIANTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, INFAMOUS PEOPLE and, most recently, COMEDY TONITE! Two of these collections, SIX AWARD WINNING PLAYS and MY FAMILY THE JEWISH IMMIGRANTS have been used as textbooks at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. His debut novel, HYMIE AND THE ANGEL, received glowing reviews and has been adapted into a screenplay.

In April Turtle Shell Productions will be presenting the world premiere of a new musical, FRTIZ & FROYIM, based on the novel “The Dance of Genghis Cohn” by the renown European author, Romain Gary. A staged reading of this unique musical was sponsored by The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation. The music was written by Mark Barkan, a talented composer whose songs have been recorded by Nat King Cole and Elvis Presely, among many others. He has also written songs for a Doris Day film and for Broadway.

Cast

Jon Freda	Joan Barber	Bristol Pomeroy	Tom Sminkey