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PRESS CONTACT: Brett Singer (212)575-0263

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The WorkShop Theater Company Presents

5 O’Clock

A new play by Richard Brockman

Directed by Mirra Bank

Opening Night October 7th

At The WorkShop, 312 West 36th Street

The WorkShop Theater Company will continue their second season in their new space with 5 O’CLOCK, a new play by Richard Brockman, directed by Mirra Bank.  Performances will be at the The WorkShop (312 West 36th Street) in the Mainstage Theater.  Previews will begin on Friday, October 3rd for a Tuesday, October 7th opening; the play will continue through Saturday, October 25th.

On March 9th, 1938, the German army crossed into Austria to reclaim Hitler's native land for the Reich.  In Vienna, the Gestapo entered Berggasse 19, home of Dr. Sigmund Freud.  They left with only one person - Freud's daughter, Anna.  Held for many hours alone in an interrogation room, Anna engaged with the Gestapo in an intimate, epic struggle.  How she fared determined, not just her own fate, but the fate of her father - a key 'enemy of the Reich' - and of her entire family.

5 O’CLOCK - the hour of Anna's psychoanalytic appointments with her father years before the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria by Germany) - follows the transformation of a brilliant, dutiful daughter as she defies the authority of a domineering father, and the terrors of a totalitarian state, to become her true self - and a free woman.  No record exists of exactly what happened during Anna and Freud’s analytic sessions, nor during Anna’s interrogation, but Brockman and director Mirra Bank use archival film and video projections from the period, passages from Freud’s writing, Nazi-era speeches and propaganda, as well as figures from both Freud’s and Anna’s life to evoke the hidden story.

Richard Brockman’s previous plays include Angels Don’t Dance and Black Devil, both directed by Mirra Bank.  A practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Brockman is a Professor at Columbia University and has been published in The Los Angeles Times, Atlantic Monthly as well as numerous academic journals.  Mirra Bank directed Murray Schisgal’s play Slouching Towards The Millennium at the WorkShop, as well as the recent feature Last Dance, a critically acclaimed documentary about the collaboration between Maurice Sendak and the Pilobolus dance company.  She also directed the film Enormous Changes At The Last Minute, which starred Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, Maria Tucci and David Strathairn.

The WorkShop Theater Company, founded in 1994, recently moved to a new two-theater facility on West 36th Street.  Among the highlights of the WorkShop's history is the development of The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee, which has been adapted for the screen and produced as Neverland, a Miramax film with Johnny Depp, Dustin Hoffman and Kate Winslet, scheduled to open in Fall 2004.  The WorkShop has also presented premiere productions of the plays Angel Wings by Murray Schisgal (who is best known for Luv and the screenplay of Tootsie) and 1348 by Tom Dulack (author of the Off-Broadway hit Breaking Legs).  The WorkShop specializes in the development of new plays as well as in the nurturing of talented actors, writers and directors.

5 O’CLOCK will open on Tuesday, October 7th, and will continue through Saturday, October 25th.  Performances will be Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm, with an additional performance on Sunday, October 12th at 7pm.  Tickets will be $15 and may be purchased by calling (212) 695-4173, or online at www.theatermania.com.  Photos will be available for download at www.brettsinger.com/clients/workshop.html.

5 O’CLOCK

Written by Richard Brockman, directed by Mirra Bank

At The WorkShop, 312 West 36th Street (West of 8th Avenue), Main Stage Theater

This production made possible in part with support from NYSCA, fiscal agent: New York Foundation For The Arts

PLEASE NOTE: No Performances Until Tuesday, October 7th

Opening Night: Tuesday, October 7th

Through Saturday, October 25th Only

SCHEDULE: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm

Additional performance: Sunday, October 12th at 7pm

TICKETS: $15.00; Call (212) 695-4173, or online at Theatermania.com; TDF Vouchers Accepted