HOSPITAL
July 16 - August 28

Axis Company will present the 6th and most spectacular installment of its annual Hospital series. The serial opens July 16th and runs through August 28th; there are four separate episodes which run for two weeks each. Conceived, written and produced by Axis, Hospital is directed by Randy Sharp.

In this all-new Hospital series, the audience once again comes face-to-face with a man in a deep, terminal coma. In past years he has arrived in this state through varied means: an illness, a house fire, drowning in a swimming pool, freezing, and murder. The audience travels along with him in his coma as he lives out his last few days roaming the vast, dark interiors of his own brain.

In the newest installments of Hospital, a soldier with a questionable past abandons his post during the last battle of a mid nineteenth century war. Running away in fear, he is blown back into his trench by a massive explosion and is buried in mud and debris. Pulled from the trench and taken to a field hospital in a barn, he falls into a terminal coma and dies alone on the floor.

Although Hospital is a serial play, each evening can be viewed separately as a self- contained short play. A cult phenomenon in the downtown performance world, the annual serial commonly lists among its cast many rock music, indie film and downtown theater celebrities. Ths year, the cast includes Wren Arthur, David Balutanski, Brian Barnhart, Nancy Cashman, David Crabb, George Demas, Joe Fuer, Valerie Hallier, Laurie Kilmartin, Randall McFadden, Sue Ann Molinell, Matt Neely, Edgar Oliver, Brian Osborne, Marc Palmieri, Margo Passalaqua, Sayra Player, Kevin Raney, Jim Sterling, Christopher Swift, and Ian Tooley. All installments include film and original music and run about 30 minutes.

Axis Company was formed with a mission to present aggressive surrealism, classic vaudeville turns, and vanguard adaptation. Past productions include the New York Premiere of Sarah Kane’s Crave (starring Deborah Harry), Samuel Beckett’s Play, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Buchner’s Woyczek, and a revival of Benjamin Baker’s A Glance at New York, among numerous original works.

Hospital will be presented July 16 - August 28, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm. The Axis Theatre is located at One Sheridan Square (just off 7th Avenue, accessible from the 1/9 train at Sheridan Square). Tickets are $10; $5 for Seniors & Student. For information and reservations, call 212-807-9300 or visit AxisCompany.org.