For Immediate Release: August 6, 2005
Media Contact: Liam Castellan, Philadelphia Dramatists Center, 610.291.5186

Liam Castellan along with the Philadelphia Dramatists Center will present the professional world premiere of "A Cuckold's Tale" by Paul Leeper at the 2005 Philly Fringe. Performances will run September 7th through the 17th at The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, 2111 Sansom St.

After traveling the world as a member of the US Intelligence community, Paul Leeper now works in Harrisburg. He has been a member of PDC for several years, and this marks his first professional production in Philadelphia. "A CUCKOLD'S TALE has an extensive history with PDC," Leeper said. "PDC members and PDC affiliated artists have worked on the play in various stages of development. The mentoring and fellowship I have received [as a PDC member] has proven quite valuable." As part of the ninth annual Fringe, producer/director Liam Castellan is one of many artists who have partnered with Philadelphia Dramatists Center to bring new work to Philadelphia this coming September.

The play concerns the fate of two captive diplomats awaiting execution, interrogation, or salvation. Hamilton Cokewald (played by Jim Bergwall) starts the play with a bloody nose from his recent interrogation. Eoghan Finn (played by Jack Barrett) waits for his own interrogation with apprehension. Cokewald has been promised that both men will die tomorrow, but how will they know when tomorrow is? As they wait for someone to come – whether interrogator, rescuer, or executioner – both men must deal with each other, their wives' infidelities, the possibility of afterlife, the possibility they're already dead, and Finn's full bladder.

Castellan and Leeper met at Hedgerow Theatre in the summer of 2001, while Castellan read stage directions for a reading of Leeper's play Theology, and have worked together on several occasions since then. During 2002-2003, Leeper was Playwright-in-Residence at Northwestern University's Jones Fine & Performing Arts Residential College in Evanston, IL. During that year, Castellan produced and performed in an amateur production of A Cuckold's Tale, and also produced and directed Theology. Castellan also directed a reading of Leeper's Safe House at Philadelphia Dramatists Center in the summer of 2002, which then went on to a professional production this past May by the Tennessee Stage Company in the 2005 Knoxville New Play Festival.

"I've always been impressed by Paul's writing," says Liam Castellan. "It's lean, sharp, and unafraid of big issues. A Cuckold's Tale is one of his best scripts, and I'm proud to bring it to the Fringe with a fantastic cast and introduce a fellow Pennsylvanian to the city."

Liam Castellan is a 2004 graduate of Northwestern University's Theatre program. This past winter he toured with Living Arts, Inc.'s production of Porgy and Bess, serving as Production Assistant and performing the role of the Detective. He stage-managed Hedgerow Theatre's Philly Fringe debut last year with the world premiere of The Lives of Bosie, starring Austin Pendleton and Tobias Segal. Castellan served as Assistant Stage Manager for Curtis Opera Theatre's Cosi fan tutte at the Prince. He has worked in various capacities at the Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Co., and the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival. He lives in Philadelphia.

Paul Leeper formerly worked for the U.S. government as a Special Agent and contracted advisor traveling worldwide with assignments in North Africa, Central America and the Arabian Peninsula. He produced and directed the feature-length motion picture ECCLESIASTES, screened at the New York International Film and Video Festival. The Tennessee Stage Company presented his plays SURVEILLANCE and A CUCKOLD'S TALE in readings at the 2001 and 2002 Knoxville New Play Festival and presented a full production of his play SAFE HOUSE in May 2005. His play SHE was produced in 2003 at Center for Women's Creative Expression in Harrisburg. Leeper is a member of the Dramatist Guild and the Philadelphia Dramatist Center, and currently serves on the professional staff at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, residing in Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.

Performance Summary:
Show Title: A Cuckold's Tale, by Paul Leeper
Artist: Liam Castellan with the Philadelphia Dramatists Center
Dates: September 7th, 9th, 15th and 17th at 7pm, September 8th, 13th, 14th, and 16th at 9pm, September 10th at 4pm, and September 11th at 2pm
Location: Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, 2111 Sansom St., 2nd Floor
Running Time: 80 minutes
Tickets: $15, $3 off for festival members, $2 off for students/seniors
Box Office: 215-413-1318 (opens August 22nd), www.livearts-fringe.org (tickets available August 9th)

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