Open Fist Theatre presents Curse Of The Starving Class

The Open Fist Theatre Company is thrilled to announce the second production of its 2011 Season, the Los Angeles premiere of a newly revised version of Sam Shepard's CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS, directed by Scott Paulin (who played Wesley in Magic Theatre's production where Mr. Shepard was playwright-in-residence). CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS will preview on Friday, April 8; Saturday, April 9 at 8pm; and Thursday, April 14 at 8pm and will open on Friday, April 15 at 8pm and run through Saturday, June 4 at the Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS is Sam Shepard's most autobiographical play to date. This newly revised version with over an hour of edits by Mr. Shepard himself is set in the early 1970s in the foothills east of Los Angeles Curse of the Starving Class is a darkly comic melodrama about a fractious, hapless Every Family scrambling to hold onto their small sheep and avocado ranch as land values crash and speculators circle their home like coyotes. Like an All-American Samuel Beckett, Sam Shepard sees a dark vein of comedy in the coming apocalypse. "Curses" abound: a boy mysteriously turns into his father, a teenage girl gets "the curse," a man "falls off the wagon," and a mother is left behind. Wildly theatrical, the play is filled with surreal imagery, vivid poetry, and crackling comedy, Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard's masterful vision of the Last Stand of the American Dream.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 2pm. Ticket prices are $25; tickets for the opening night gala are $35. Previews are $15. Pay-What-You-Can Sundays are April 17, April 24 and May 1. Special group rates available for parties of 10 or more. For tickets, please call (323) 882-6912 for details or visit www.openfist.org to purchase tickets online.