WORK
May 19 - June 23 at The Flea

"Don’t you know that if you died tomorrow we’d simply pack up your plants and photos, put them in a brown box, carry them to the freight elevator, then go out and pick up the next stupid, tired piece of ass on the street and shove her into your chair?" -- from Work

The Flea Theater announces the New York premiere of WORK by Charlotte Meehan. Subtitled "a madcap tragi-parody of corporate America," this six character farce is directed by Jim Simpson (The Guys, Benten Kozo, Mrs. Farnsworth) with a cast culled from The Fea’s resident acting company The Bats. Previews begin May 19th with opening night scheduled for May 28th.

WORK takes us into a world of employee sex scandals, nepotism, body odor, insider trading, subservience to the boss, the gay guy, falsified documents and the inevitable restructuring. Just another day at work? It is in corporate America. One big happy family. With guns.

The production stars Adeel Akhtar, Nicola Barber, Michael Diskint, Parrish Hurley, Audrey Lynn Weston, and Kerry-Jane Wilson with costumes by Melissa Schlactmeyer, lighting by Joe Novak, and sound design by Greg Duffin.

Charlotte Meehan’s stage works have been developed and produced in New York at numerous venues including The Culture Project, Blue Heron Arts Center, La MaMa, HERE, Ohio Theatre, and Pratt Institute; in Providence, RI at Perishable Theatre and Brown University; and in Bristol, England at The Alma Theatre. Her awards include a 2004 Mars Fellowship, a 2002-03 artist residency at HERE, and a Lucille Lortel Playwriting Fellowship. Meehan is Playwright-in-Residence at Wheaton College in Massachusetts.

The Flea Theater, under Artistic Director Jim Simpson and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York’s leading off-off-Broadway companies. In May 2004, The Flea received a special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement and in June 2005 The Flea will receive an Otto for Political Theater. Since its inception in 1996, The Flea has presented 70 plays and numerous dance and live music performances. Past productions include Anne Nelson’s The Guys, A.R. Gurney’s O Jerusalem and Mrs. Farnsworth, Kate Robin’s The Light Outside, Talking Band’s The Parrot, Karen Finley’s The Return of the Chocolate Smeared Woman and Glyn O’Malley’s A Heartbeat to Baghdad.

The Bats are the resident company of The Flea Theater. Each year over a thousand actors audition for a place in this unique repertory company. The Bats perform in extended runs of challenging classic and new plays and support all the visiting performing artists at The Flea Theater. Past Bat productions include the Obie Award winning Benten Kozo, Alice Tuan’s Ajax (por nobody), an acclaimed revival of Brecht’s Baal, Mac Wellman's Cellophane and Liz Swados’ JABU.

WORK runs May 19 - June 23 on the following schedule: May 19 - 21, 27, 28, June 1-4, 8, 9, 17, 18, 22 & 23 at 9pm. The Flea Theater is located at 41 White Street (between Broadway & Church Streets -- accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,Q,W,6,J,M,Z to Canal or 1,9 to Franklin Street). Tickets are $15. For tickets call 212-352-3101 or visit www.TheaterMania.com.