BOOTY CANDY
** 10 short plays written and directed by Robert O'Hara **
February 19 - March 14

Partial Comfort Productions will present the World Premiere of Booty Candy, written and directed by award-winning playwright Robert O’Hara. This evening of short, satiric plays will begin performances on February 19th at The Kraine Theater. The production features sets by Dawn Robyn Petrlick, lighting by Colin D. Young, and original music by Bill Brittelle.

Booty Candy is an irreverent series of ten short comic plays dealing with such topics as childhood sexual development, religious hypocrisy, color blind casting, gay sex, reparations for slavery, genitalia, and August Wilson. In addition to the titular "Booty Candy," other short plays in the evening include: "Dreamin' In Church," in which a minister comes out the closet to his congregation; "Scenework," a comic look at two white grad school actors rehearsing a scene from A Raisin in the Sun; "Dirt," about a college student who takes a commencement day speaker hostage; "Cluck," a satiric look at a court battle over slavery reparations; and "The Beauty In Queens, Jackson Heights," in which a black family living in the ghetto await a call from Broadway.

Robert O'Hara received his MFA in Directing from Columbia in 1996. It was there that he wrote and directed Insurrection: Holding History as his graduate thesis which later premiered at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater and went on to win Newsday's 1996 Oppenheimer Award for Best New American Play. O’Hara is also the recipient of the 1995 Van Lier Fellow at New Dramatists, Mark Taper Forum's Sherwood Award, the John Golden Award, and a 1996 NEA/TCG Residency for Playwrights at American Conservatory Theater. His screenplay White Folks has been optioned by Artisan Entertainment. His other plays include Brave Brood, Beowulf (workshopped by Seattle Rep), Leigh, and An American Ma(u)l which will receive its New York premiere by Reverie Productions in April at 45 Bleecker.

Partial Comfort Productions is a collaborative ensemble devoted to the development and presentation of original, groundbreaking new theater. Whether staging a world premiere or reinterpreting old favorites, Partial Comfort Productions aims to spotlight relevant social, political, and cultural issues by producing work that challenges both the artist and the audience. The company was co-founded in January 2002 by Chad Beckim and Molly Pearson. Other company members include Melody Bates, David Bennett, Hasani Issa, Sam Marks, Tiffany O’Hara, and Joey Rich.

Booty Candy runs February 19 - March 14, Wednesday - Friday at 8pm. The Kraine Theater is located at 85 East 4th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Aves -- accessible from the F train at 2nd Ave). Tickets are $10. For information and reservations call 212-696-6602.