Bleecker 45 Proudly Announces The New York Debut of Lyras & McCaskill's The Common Air -- "Everyone Travels with Baggage ..."

Bleecker 45 presents Lyras & McCaskill's The Common Air, an elaborately structured one-man play about the anxiety faced by anyone traveling anywhere through an airport. Performed/Written by Alex Lyras and Directed/Written by Robert McCaskill.

New York City, NY (PRWEB) October 28, 2009 -- Bleecker 45 presents, Lyras & McCaskill's The Common Air at Bleecker Street Theatre in New York City, NY. Show opens for its New York City debut on Friday, November 6, 2009 and plays Fridays through December 18th, with a special presentation on Wednesday, December 30th. All shows begin at 8 p.m. at the Bleecker Street Theatre, 45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012 (corner of Lafayette St.). Information and reviews available at www.thecommonair.com.

Lyras & McCaskill's The Common Air written by Lyras & McCaskill, performed by Alex Lyras and directed by Robert McCaskill, with an intricate, original score and sound design by Ken Rich.

Lyras brilliantly transforms into six distinct characters in Lyras and McCaskill's The Common Air. The inventive structure involves multiple conversations that link one character to another, eventually coming full circle in a startling climax.

What happens when the cell phones and laptops lose their charge? When we are forced to revert to non-high-speed communication? Are we capable anymore, or have our brains devolved into hard drives that crash at the slightest wave of turbulence? The play juggles several themes: the dangers of today's "you-create-your-own-reality" self-help culture, technology's depreciating effects on face to face humanity, the unconscious temptation to suicide bomb, and how we use language as a surrogate for goals we may never attain . The airport delay -- the common bond linking the characters -- is rumored to be a result of a terrorist conspiracy.

"...the play, by Alex Lyras and Robert McCaskill, is so plangent and poetic that it could well stand on its own. ...tensile energy and unflagging skill in his well-crafted, must-see show." Los Angeles Times, Critics Choice

"Since the script is a collaboration between Lyras and McCaskill (two years in the making), this is even more than usual a collaboration between actor and director, and one would be hard pressed to say where the work of one ends and the other's work begins. " LA Stage Scene

"A complex network of ideas. Characters are developed with subtly and depth... Punctuated with precision and sensitivity." Backstage West

Playwrights Lyras & McCaskill received rave reviews from theater critics at The New York Times, Variety, The Los Angeles Times, The LA Weekly, Backstage West and East, among others, for their last two collaborations: Desperelics (2000) and Unequalibrium (2003). Both shows played in New York and Los Angeles. Unequalibrium was published in Best Plays 2002 and Best Men's Monologues For the Twenty First Century. And was nominated for a Dramalogue Award. The Common Air was produced in LA in 2008 and received 8 award nominations (LADCC, Ovations and LA WEEKLY) for best acting, best writing, best direction and best sound design, winning two.

Composer Ken Rich has recorded with Lou Reed, Shabba Ranks, Laurie Anderson, Deborah Harry, and David Byrne. He has written music for HBO, VH1, the NBA and the film Whipped. This is his second collaboration with Lyras and McCaskill.

OFF-BROADWAY LISTINGS INFORMATION
LYRAS & McCASKILL'S THE COMMON AIR - a new comedy starring ALEX LYRAS written by Lyras & McCaskill, directed by ROBERT McCASKILL explores 6 characters thrown together during an airport delay. Opens FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6 @ 8 PM at 45 Bleecker Street Theatre, 45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012. Continues Fridays @ 8 PM through December 18th (with additional performance Dec 30 @ 8 PM) Tickets: $35 through TeleCharge.com or (212) 239-6200.

Publicity for the New York debut of Lyras & McCaskill's The Common Air contact New York City based General Press Representative: Susan L. Schulman (Schulman Publicity) at susan @schulmanpublicity.com / (212) 921-4344.

Press and media inquiries for Alex Lyras or Lyras & McCaskill's The Common Air contact Los Angeles based Publicist: Pamela Spyrs (INSPYRS public relations) at inspyrs @yahoo.com / (562) 216-0095.

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