A NEW ABSURDITY FROM FIERCE BACKBONE...

The BEATING

THE BEATING
Written by Mona Deutsch Miller
Directed by Sam Szabo

PERFORMANCES BEGIN
FRIDAY, JUNE 7th
AT THE LOUNGE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD

You have been summoned…

May 20, 2013…Hollywood…Fierce Backbone presents a world premiere rhythmic play at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival – THE BEATING, written by Mona Deutsch Miller and directed by Sam Szabo. THE BEATING will have it’s press preview on Friday, June 7th at 6:00pm, and have a total of 6 festival performances, all at The Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027.

Should a parent ever strike a child? What if it’s not their own child? Is it a right of parents everywhere to strike any child? What if they deserve it? Should the government be involved? The jury has been summoned, the lawyers’ antics begin, and the judge holds court as the absurdity of it all turns a trial into performance art in this absurdist romp filled with rhythm and choreography in the most surprising of places.
(more)

THE CREATIVE TEAM

MONA DEUTSCH MILLER (Playwright) is a playwright, screenwriter and practicing attorney. She graduated from Cornell University and Stanford Law School. Her plays The Violent Seduction and THE BEATING each won Lisa Soland’s All Original Playwrights Fellowship Award. Publications include her short comedy, Strangers on a Train, and a monologue. Previous productions include “I’Rock Around the Campfire,” Secret Rose Theater, NoHo, January 2010; “The Photograph,” StillSpeaking Theater, San Marino, August 2010; “Receipts,” El Centro Theater, Hollywood, November 2010; “The End of the Line,” Open Fist Theater, June 2012 [Hollywood Fringe Festival]. She is a member of Fierce Backbone, ALAP, LAFPI and the Dramatists Guild. She has studied playwriting with Leon Martell, Lisa Soland and Jean Claude van Itallie.

SAM SZABO (Director)
Sam Szabo is an interdisciplinary performance artist, driven by the realms of dance, music and theater. His first original work, Into The Fog premiered in 2011 at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs. After graduating from Skidmore in May 2011 with a BS in Theater, Sam danced with Zoé Dance and Urbanity Dance Project in Boston, MA. In the spring of 2012 he moved to Los Angeles and began working with his friend and collaborator Samantha Shay. Their work has included Angel Fragments, I Should Have a Party For All the Thoughts I Didn’t Say, and his first film project, METONYMI. After re-exploring Into The Fog with Samantha, they took the piece to the International Festival Fringe in Edinburgh last August. There, their work has been called “profoundly moving and totally absorbing” – ThreeweeksEdinburgh. For Sam, it has been a true pleasure getting to know the Fierce Backbone Family. “Many thanks!”

FIERCE BACKBONE (Producing Company) is a collaborative organization of writers, directors and actors committed to developing and producing new dramatic works in Los Angeles. We endeavor to provide opportunities where the skills and artistry of our membership can flourish. THE BEATING is a unique piece developed in our workshop program, and very much suited to the Fringe Festival. A combination of rhythm, choreography, and words that is far from a straight play, yet also manages to paint the heavy topic of the legal system in an absurdist light. This is the second Hollywood Fringe Festival for Fierce Backbone. In 2012, the company produced 7 Fringe shows, which were nominated for 6 awards and won 3, including “Best Comedy” for TEXAS LOVES LYLA!. For more information, please visit www.fiercebackbone.com.

THE BEATING will have a press preview on Friday, June 7th at 6:00pm, with a special pay what you can price. Other shows dates are: Saturday, June 16th at 6:00pm; Sunday, June 16th at 4:00pm; Saturday, June 22nd at 6:00pm;Thursday, June 22nd at 10:00pm. Tickets for these shows are all $12.

Tickets are available at www.hollywoodfringe.org/1333 or by calling 818-693-9774.

For more information, photos, press interviews or for press comps, please contact Victoria Watson at 818-693-9774 or [email protected], or request press seats online through the website www.hollywoodfringe.org/1333.