For Immediate Release: January 7, 2006
Media Contact: Erin Lucas, Flashpoint Theatre Company, 215.514.8965

Autobahn - PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE!
by Neil LaBute
directed by Michael Osinski
February 1-18, 2006
Shubin Theatre - 407 Bainbridge Street
Tickets: $15, $12 (Students/Seniors)

What other locale hosts as much human drama as the front seat of the American automobile? Through seven brief vignettes, critically acclaimed playwright and filmmaker Neil LaBute offers us a brutally honest and almost voyeuristic peek at the things we say - and the things we leave unsaid - from behind the steering wheel. Whether it's a make-out session with some serious consequences, a long ride home from rehab, or a kidnapping disturbingly disguised as a camping trip, each encounter is a startlingly accurate portrayal of life and relationships in Middle America.

One of America's most discussed writers and filmmakers, Neil LaBute is known for his true-to-life cynical and self-absorbed characters and all-too-true social themes. LaBute's screenplays include Your Friends and Neighbors and The Shape of Things, and his film directing credits include Nurse Betty. Other plays include bash: latterday plays and The Distance from Here, and Fat Pig. Autobahn was originally produced as a staged reading in 2004 to raise funds for MCC Theater in New York; the production featured Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon, Tony Award winner Brian Dennehy, Kevin Bacon, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Kyra Sedgwick, and Paul Rudd, among others. The World Premiere production of Autobahn will open this January at The Studio Theatre in Washington DC.

Director Michael Osinski, whose production of Wendy MacLeod's Schoolgirl Figure closed Flashpoint's first season this spring, will tackle LaBute's unique and unforgiving script this winter. Osinski's previous directing credits include the Chicago premiere of Licks by Meghann Williams for the Bailiwick Repertory Directors' Festival, Fix for CollaborAction Theatre Company's Summer Sketchbook, Neil LaBute's bash: latterday plays, and Stupid Kids.

The cast of Autobahn includes ten of Philadelphia's most exciting up-and-coming actors. Featured are Rob Hargraves, Allison Heishman, Jackie Kay Knox, Sara Madden, Gigi Naglak, Robert Neddoff, Josh Sauerman, Megan Slater, David Stanger and Nicholas Wilder.

Information about performance dates and times, as well as ticket prices and artists featured in each production, can be found at www.flashpointtheatre.org. Tickets can be purchased online at Flashpoint's website, and they can also be reserved for purchase at the door by calling the box office at 215-514-0361. Discounted season subscriptions are also available online.

Flashpoint Theatre Company is dedicated to expanding cultural arts awareness in the greater Philadelphia area through the production of socially provocative and emotionally resonant works of theatre, through the development of educational programming within the community, and through collaboration with new and emerging voices from all artistic disciplines. Flashpoint's season is sponsored by Philadelphia City Paper.

Photos available upon request - erin@flashpointtheatre.org, 215-514-8965

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