Rarely-performed vintage works by absurdist masters Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco and Harold Pinter, and a hilarious parody of classic Tennessee Williams by Christopher Durang are featured in Four of A Kind: One Pinter, One Ionesco, A Beckett and A Durang as part of the annual Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festival beginning August 31, 2007 in Philadelphia. The hour-long show will be presented by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, the Philadelphia-based theater company whose mission is to present classic absurdist theater to audiences in the Philadelphia region.

Four of A Kind is a rare opportunity to see short works from four authors representative of the absurdist style. The works were chosen to illustrate each author’s unique perspective and the influences each had on the later work of the others. Harold Pinter’s Trouble in the Works was written in 1958 and is one of his earliest plays. A classic comedy sketch with a strain of surrealism, it foreshadowed the famed Monty Python series by 12 years. Samuel Beckett’s Come and Go, a 121-word movement piece for three women, is rarely performed unless paired with other Beckett pieces. Beckett included a diagram of each character’s movement in the text of his exactingly precise piece. In Eugene Ionesco’s Foursome, written in 1959, three men attempt to settle an argument with decidedly disastrous results. This early Ionesco recalls the vaudevillian antics of Laurel and Hardy and The Marx Brothers. Christopher Durang’s For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls is a disturbingly gleeful send-up of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass enagerie.

L’Étage Cabaret, the intimate 50-seat theater above Beau Monde Creperie at 6th and Bainbridge Streets in Philadelphia, will host Four of A Kind. The distinctive setting of L’Étage evokes the rich artistic atmosphere in which Ionesco and Beckett created their work.

This is the IRC’s third production since the company’s formation in 2006. In addition to last year’s Fringe show featuring the works of Beckett, Ionesco and Albee, the company presented the rarely-seen full length Ionesco gem Victims of Duty in March 2007. The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote of Victims: “This new company’s name says it all: Ionesco’s absurdist drama isn’t for everybody, but if you like this kind of theater, you’ll like this solid production of a bizarre play about a man sent by a detective on a search for himself.”

Four of a Kind features Philadelphia-based actors Liam Castellan, Dylan Clements, Bonnie Grant, Tim Gross, Jefferson Haynes, Jessica Marcus, Sarah McCarron, Robert Neddoff, Bob Schmidt and Megan Slater. Four is directed by Tina Brock, the IRC’s Artistic Director.

Four of a Kind will have five performances at L'Étage Cabaret: Wednesday, September 5; Sunday, September 9; Tuesday, September 11; Wednesday, September 12, and Thursday, September 13, 2007. All shows begin at 8:00 pm; doors open at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10.00. Seating is very limited.

More information and photos for Four of a Kind: One Pinter, One Ionesco, A Beckett and A Durang, The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, and the many other shows and companies participating in the Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival can be found at www.livearts-fringe.org or 215.413.1318. Information on the IRC can be found at www.idiopathicridiculopathyconsortium.com.

This year's festival begins August 31 and runs through September 15.